In Under God; Garry Wills; one of our liveliest and most eminent political observers; moves through the tapestry of American history; illuminating the instances where American politics and American religion have collided. Beginning with the 1988 presidential contest; an election that included two ministers and a senator accused of sin; Wills surveys our history to show the continuity of present controversies with past religious struggles and argues that the secular standards of the Founding Fathers have been misunderstood. He shows that despite reactionary fire-breathers and fanatics; religion has often been a progressive force in American politics and explains why the policy of a separate church and state has; ironically; made the position of the church stronger. Marked by the extraordinary quality of observation that has defined the work of Garry Wills; Under God is a rich; original look at why religion and politics will never be separate in the United States.
#178279 in Books 2002-10-29 2002-10-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.48 x 1.04 x 4.84l; .84 #File Name: 0141391014320 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Buyer beware...By Bookworm64This is probably the most biased book on Napoleon I ever read. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing in and of itself; but it certainly doesn't help. Much of the book is mere recounting; and if you are looking at his military career; I'm not sure how much when he changed his name from the Italian spelling to the French should matter; or how his Corsican upbringing made him inherently criminal and prone to trust family...which sounds like every ancient regime France fought during the wars; but it's different because he's Napoleon; I guess. There really wasn't much explanation for why things were a mistake; either. At Essling; he makes it sound more like Archduke Charles gave up than Napoleon won; and somehow gave the French far more casualties than some sources; but he doesn't explain just HOW Charles's trap would have worked to begin with. It pretty much continues in this vein...call something a mistake; 'failure' is proof it was a mistake; move on without details or explaining. There was really no discussion of his ability to inspire his men; his organization; anything; and this permeated the whole book. He's calls Lannes a mediocre at best general; then states how bad this loss was to Napoleon when he got killed. What?!? There's minimal at best discussion about why he made major decisions or movements (leave Spain after effectively winning in order to fight the Austrians and Prussians; then has to deal with other things; and finally his invasion of Russia) but no linking them together in a coherent fashion. Certainly no mention about how Britain was always supporting everyone against France in order to maintain the policy of making sure no one nation gained hegemony on the continent in order to keep Britain safe. Also: the author worked for the SOE in WWII...and they did not do too many smart things themselves; and were big on guerilla and terror tactics. Not sure how well that qualifies him for discussing 'honest' warfare.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy D. OlpadwalaExcellent book with rich details of Napoleon' campaigns.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. OuchBy HistorianVery dry. There must be better studies out there
