Conservative Book Talk

This book makes it clear that Lincoln was not what contemporary historians claim he was, in that he was a racist, a tyrant, and a facilitator if not generator of mass genocide. I will not go into the proof, as I’m simply reviewing this book. Feel free to leave a comment.

Positive: In a very concise and factual manner this book reveals the true nature of Lincoln and his war. It answers many questions, and is full of excellent quotes that waterproof the author’s case.

Negative: In the chapter on the manner in which Southern civilians were targeted by the U.S. Army, there can be somewhat graphic content. The author also has a tendency to draw conclusions for you such as “See? (Fill in the blank).” This is something my dad and I dislike, and it can be rather distracting. If you can overlook that, this book was very helpful.

Overall: Very good. Convincing evidence, good writing style despite the flaw alluded to above, and not terribly long. I very highly recommend it. It is a little over 300 pages.

This and “The South Was Right!” are probably the two best histories of the War of Northern Aggression out there.

Tags: Civil War, History, Johann Van De Leeuw, Lincoln, Real Lincoln, Thomas J. DiLorenzo

This book is about 630 pages, and includes 37 short stories and “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. It has 350+ original illustrations by Sidney Paget, and is quite an engrossing read. The Hound of the Baskervilles is about an old curse on the Baskerville family that dates back to the 16th century. It involves a great hound which haunts the descendents of the family, and had of late been seen about the family estate, and caused the present owner to die of heart failure while running from the beast. Sherlock Holmes and his ever present Dr. Watson arrive to investigate, and find that the beast had left tracks, and was truly of monstrous size. Yet the fact remained: where had this terrible beast sprung from, until of late last seen hundreds of years earlier? All in all quite engrossing.

Positive: Sherlock Holmes uses his, or rather the author’s, superb reasoning, observational and deductive faculties to solve a great number of crimes. The results of each story are usually quite satisfying, and Mr. Holmes pursues mercy as well as justice in a few cases.

Negative: As always when dealing with crime, the subject matter is sad, and often quite morbid. Holmes, though in most matters quite noble and of good habit, he does have failings such as smoking &c.

Overall: The writing style is excellent and the plot lines almost universally superb and varied. He has a mix of mostly stories that you can’t quite solve, with a few that you can with a bit of imagination – again, quite satisfying. A highly recommended read, even to those who dislike large books.

Tags: Arthur Conan Doyle, Johann Van De Leeuw, Sherlock Holmes

Plot: To give you a bit of background on the author. Henry Winterfeld began writing for children in 1933, when he wrote Trouble at Timpetill to entertain his son, who was sick with scarlet fever. He went on to write a number of books which have been published around the world.

This book begins with a class of boys presenting a slave to their school teacher for his fiftieth birthday. After letting the boys know in no uncertain terms that he has no desire for a slave, and that he is not fifty but seventy-two, Master Xanthos orders them to return the slave to the seller.

The boys attempt to do so, but find that the seller has fled town after being threatened for selling this slave.

Unhappy at their new circumstance, the boys make their way back to their school master. However, on the way they are attacked by an old, one eyed, gladiator who wants to take Udo, the slave. The boys manage to escape the Roman market place, after pouring a pot of honey on the man’s head.

Later they find that the slave was carrying a message to an unknown man, this message contained the name of a famous Roman senator who they plan to murder. This senator turns out to be one of the boys fathers, the race is on the figure out whose father, and change his fate before it is too late.

Negative: No swearing that I can recall, a bit of fighting, but nothing that produces blood. A man threatens the life of a boy, and a boy pours a pot of honey over bad guys head. Nothing serious

Overall: I loved this book, it was so funny! I read the first and it was equally funny. I recommend this to all with no reserves, Henry Winterfeld knows how to write a good and funny mystery.