An Imperfect God is a major new biography of Washington; and the first to explore his engagement with American slaveryWhen George Washington wrote his will; he made the startling decision to set his slaves free; earlier he had said that holding slaves was his "only unavoidable subject of regret." In this groundbreaking work; Henry Wiencek explores the founding father's engagement with slavery at every stage of his life--as a Virginia planter; soldier; politician; president and statesman. Washington was born and raised among blacks and mixed-race people; he and his wife had blood ties to the slave community. Yet as a young man he bought and sold slaves without scruple; even raffled off children to collect debts (an incident ignored by earlier biographers). Then; on the Revolutionary battlefields where he commanded both black and white troops; Washington's attitudes began to change. He and the other framers enshrined slavery in the Constitution; but; Wiencek shows; even before he became president Washington had begun to see the system's evil. Wiencek's revelatory narrative; based on a meticulous examination of private papers; court records; and the voluminous Washington archives; documents for the first time the moral transformation culminating in Washington's determination to emancipate his slaves. He acted too late to keep the new republic from perpetuating slavery; but his repentance was genuine. And it was perhaps related to the possibility--as the oral history of Mount Vernon's slave descendants has long asserted--that a slave named West Ford was the son of George and a woman named Venus; Wiencek has new evidence that this could indeed have been true.George Washington's heroic stature as Father of Our Country is not diminished in this superb; nuanced portrait: now we see Washington in full as a man of his time and ahead of his time.
#362908 in Books Anna Bikont 2015-09-15 2015-09-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.16 x 1.71 x 6.38l; 1.00 #File Name: 0374178798560 pagesThe Crime and the Silence Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful. ... for the Gazeta Wyborcza is drawn to revisit in amazing depth the book "Neighbors"‎ by Jan Gross which was ...By Bernard . PuckerConfronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime JedwabneAnna Bikont reporter for the Gazeta Wyborcza is drawn to revisit in amazing depth the book "Neighbors"‎ by Jan Gross which was published in 2001. He claimed that the Poles killed their neighbors the Jews with little participation of the occupying Germans. 10 July 1941 was the date and the horrific events are recounted based on various testimonies and earlier trials. The book created a furor of criticism so much so that Bikont began to investigate the events and takes the reader on a detail and painful journey through the killers; their children; the Jews and the few survivors and their children as well as the local authorities and the leaders of the Catholic church. She records an immense reservoir of anti semitism inflamed alongside deep anti Soviet hatred.As I read I continued to look for deeds of kindness and courage which are sprinkled throughout but the enormity of the burning of some hundreds of "neighbors" plus the bestial killings along the way made it ever so depressing. If this tale is a reflection of one aspect of the human capacity for cruelty and inhumanity we all have much work to do make even a small difference.It is not clear if this fine book will help us face history and improve our behavior. This book is only for the tenacious and deeply drawn to trying to better understanding human or inhuman behavior.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I have not yet finished it but it is amazing work dealing with a very painful topicBy Moshe KMI have not yet finished it but it is amazing work dealing with a very painful topic. Having read hundreds of Holocaust books I still find this one very difficult as it deals with crimes committed by ordinary people and the lies that cover up the crime. Very painful but the author deals with this very well. I admire her for her patience and wisdom.12 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Is anyone's religion his or her nationality?By Gilbert C. BrownA very dad; but fully researched chronicle of what Hannah Arendt termed "the banality of evil." Any of us; however liberal we may think we are; however accepting; however tolerant; can be turned into a killer of our neighbors under the proper stimulus. As the author pointed out; in all of our communities people; and leaders; live who command this stimulus and have their fingers on the magic button wheever they wish to push it. There is a scene in the documentary film; "Watermarks;" about the teen-age swimming team of the old Hakoah Club; the traditional Jewsih club when Jews could not belong to other clubs in Vienna in which; post war; a now elderly former member of pre-war championship swimming teams of the club returns to Vienna at the invitation of the film maker. She is photographed in a taxi going to a commemorative luncheon. The driver asks her how she knows the city so well. She responds that she was born in Vienna; grew up there; but had to leave in 1938. The driver then asks; as Bikont points out among the Poles; "But you're not Austiran?" She protests her birth and upbringing; but again he says; knowing who left Austria at the time of the 'aunschluss;' "BUT YOU'RE NOT AUSTRIAN!" I am fortunate to live in country where I can declare my American nationality; my religion and my Hungarian roots. Bikont hit me hard with her analysis that one can't be a Pole and Jewish at the same time; as in Austria with the swimmer; just as my parents; immigrants to the US in 1919 at the end of WW I;could never feel that they were Hungarians; although my father served and was wounded in the Austo-Hungarian army. Bikont's book is a lesson to all of us; even more poignantly driven home in 2015 when many feel that a Syrian refugee can never become an American but; in their minds; will always remain a terrorist.
