Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein

Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Given the state of today's current volatile partisan politics this book is still relevant and does shed some light onto the beginnings of it. The book looks at the beginnings of Barry Goldwater and what led up to his unprecedented popularity and then to his eventual landslide defeat in 1964 to President Johnson.

My recent reading obsession has been the 1960's. I was born in the middle of the decade but have not recollection of it. It perhaps growing up in the shadow of this tumultuous time in our country(and the world to) that has peaked my curiosity. The more I learn of this decade the more I realize it's impact it had on our society. I'm often curious as to attitudes and the way we looked at our government before and after this era. Obviously I only have the benefit of seeing what happened afterward which may not be perceptible as I don't have anything to compare it to.

Back to the book. Before this book I didn't really have an in depth knowledge of Senator Barry Goldwater. I did get the sense he was an icon in the conservative politics. I had heard of his defeat and his famous book "Conscience of a Conservative"but not much more.

I got the sense he was popular because he had a no nonsense approach and spoke his mind with out sugar coating his ideas or speech. These days we call it not being politically correct. He tended to say what people wished to express but were afraid to. I could help but draw parallels to supporters of our current President whom often quote a similar quality. He was a pilot and often projected a tough cowboy-like image. He was loved by many but scorned by establishment Republicans of the time.

The book paints his as sort of a reluctant Presidential candidate. He would often ignore prepared remarks or speeches and go off on tangents that would give those trying to help him fits. He wasn't much interested in being a polished candidate and it would seem he'd rather lose than do compromise his beliefs. He was also reluctant to disavow extremists in his party who supported him. It was probably this stubbornness that lead to his defeat but ironically enamored him to the conservative cause.

Although the book focuses on Goldwater the author also fills us in on what is going on in society at the time. Delves into events like the turmoil in Berkeley, the Kennedy assassination, the beginnings of trouble in Vietnam and the growing conservative movement that would continue long after his inevitable defeat.

It was hard not to draw comparisons to today's political climate. It's certainly an interesting book if you're looking into the roots of today's politics and conservatives in general. This is also first of a trilogy by the author the next s called "Nixonland" which I have listened too and also recommend.

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Everything We Had by Al Santoli

Everything We Had by Al Santoli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A gripping oral history from veteran's who served in the Vietnam War. It roughly follows the war chronologically but there is a lot of over lapping of time periods. Experiences range from Green Berets, grunts, officers in the field, medics, those working for CIA, pilots, POW's and so on. Some of its heartbreaking and other times savage. An excellent book if you'd like to hear from the boots on the ground point of view of the war.

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The Final Days by Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward

The Final Days by Carl Bernstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a behind the scenes look at the final days of the Nixon Administration. A quick background summary is that in 1972 burglars were caught breaking in into Democratic National Committee located in Washington D.C. . Eventually the the burglars were connected to the White House and Nixon. Much of this is covered in Bernstein and Woodwards more well known book(and movie) All the Presidents Men.

This book picks up in mid 1974 about the time the famous tapes were an issue before the Supreme Court because Nixon had refused to turn them over. These tapes are recordings of conversations and phone calls Nixon had started recording in 1971. Nixon tried various tactics like releasing only transcripts of tapes and then only certain tapes. Finally after a fruitless battle in the Supreme Court he was ordered to release them all. It was with this final tape release the now famous "smoking gun" tape that showed he had been lying since nearly the beginning about a cover-up. It was after that his support in Congress crumbled and impeachment proceedings were being started. Rather than going thru a certain impeachment and removal from office that could take months of turmoil and distraction he resigned in August 1974.

The book has a slow pace at first as it builds up to the impending finally. It does pick up towards the end as the drama builds. Nixon spends a lot of time fluctuating whether to resign or fight until the end the last few days.

The book still feels relevant today given current political climate and talk of impeachment. This kind of gives an idea of what it may take for it to happen again. It's not quite as easy as some may think. I recommend this for political junkies and 20th century U.S. history buffs.

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The Last Chapter

 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us"

- Gandalf(The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien)

On a free morning before work I decided to head up to "The Shire" a couple of towns over from me to look for a book I've had a hard time finding, at least reasonably priced. It's out of print and thought what better place than this used bookshop to look for it. I had only in the past five years or so discovered "The Shire" and it's wonders. It is not your normal bookstore as it's part of a long retired mill factory typical in New England that also houses a fabric store, church and other business.

Caught at The Shire.

Upon entering won can not be at the very least awed at the shear volume books almost immediately. The height, length of shelves and sheer volume of books gives it the illusion of having no end. Upon first entering one might get the impression of chaos but if one looked closely you see stuff was organized by either subject or genre into little nooks. I usually had a hard time getting ten feet past the door as immediately after entering the door was the section on local New England books which I had a special interest in.

Imagine my surprise as I walk toward the door on a hot summer day to see a small handmade sign saying closed. At first I wondered if it was a normal day closed for some reason but in another window another sign saying "Permanently closed". That got my attention. I peer in the windows and sure enough it looked like someone was in process of packing boxes in books with some shelves already gone and a two wheel dolly waiting for someone to cart a load away. I went inside the foyer and looked in the tall bookshelves that dominated the rear 2/3's of the build were still full of books but area in front looked different and was in disarray as shelves were missing boxes looked like in the midst of being packed. I saw no one inside nor any further signage telling any information or reason of closing.

I got home and I did a little research and found an article mentioning "The Shire" and found out the elderly gentleman's name whom I always working there. It was co-owned by Jack Boland and Jean Wallick. The articles I found were not current so it didn't shed any light onto the reasoning of the closing. I Googled Jack Boland's name and came up an obituary of John Boland who recently passed away. Someone mentioned "The Shire" in the guestbook and I knew I had the right one. I had feared this was reason behind the closing. 

 

The news of Jack's passing made me wonder what is the future happening to The Shire Bookstore and it's vast collection. The Facebook page and website are still up as of this writing and with no news. I will miss the smell of old books and the site tall shelves that seemed endless. It makes me wish I had visited more often than I did. I will miss Jack who's gentle manner and looks reminded me of Gandalf from the fictional Shire and Jean who once even covered a book for me cause it had a small tear in jacket cover.  It's like the old adage that you don't know how much you'll miss something until it's gone.