Reader’s Diary

William Kauffman Scarborough

This is a study of the largest slaveholders of the Old South, the relative handful of men who owned hundreds of other humans. It’s more statistical than personal, though Scarborough does quote extensively from letters and diaries. The extent of the big slaveholders’ business and social connections with the North and with Europe surprised me; these were not provincials. A small but significant number of them, particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi, were born in the North and had gone south to make their fortunes.

virtually none of the people Scarborough writes about had any qualms about owning slaves. In fact, most of them professed slave owning as a positive force that benefited society and even the slaves themselves. This book is not about the slaves’ lives, and a reader seeking to learn about their lot will be disappointed. However, it is a revealing look at the wealthiest ante bellum Southerners.

Jimmy Carter

Former President Jimmy Carter does a good job of portraying the complexities and ambiguities of the Revolution in the southern colonies in this detailed historical novel. But be forewarned: if you’re not as fascinated as he is with the subject, you may find that his writing isn’t enough to draw you in. It reads rather like Alan W. Eckert’s “Winning of America” series, but without the historical veracity of Eckert’s non-fiction; Carter’s novel unfortunately lacks end material explaining which of his characters and situations are actual and which are fictional.

A. J. Jacobs

This is a funny, funny memoir about a year spent reading the entire 33 volume 2002 edition of the”Encyclopaedia Britannica” - all 33,000 pages of it, every one of its 44 million words. In addition to sharing with his readers some of what he learned, he tells us how the project affected his life, meditates on the nature of intelligence, and recounts a series of misadventures that include attending a MENSA meeting, competing in a crossword contest, and appearing on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”.

This is a very enjoyable read.

Michael Farmer

Michael Farmer once again delivers solid, realistic modern combat fiction that seems to take place in an alternate universe. He would be well advised to give up on speculative Middle East scenarios for his novels: events there move too quickly for a novelist who likes to create his own geopolitics.