“Caesar: Life of a Colossus”, by Adrian Goldsworthy

608 pages, Yale University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0300120486

Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy is an excellent combination of a scholarly and popular biography. The author is able to explain in both technical and historical terms concisely and comprehensively (there is also a glossary included) just how and why ol' Gaius Julius did what he did, with detailed end-notes and a thorough bibliography included. The author's writing style is both lively and engaging, and although obviously sympathetic to Caesar, Goldsworthy is also objective, both with the general and his adversaries. He portrays both Caesar and Rome in the late Republic in a vivid and understandable manner.

Two interesting aspects that Goldsworthy ponders are Caesar's view on religious matters and the impact that the general's personal life had on political events. Our historical resources are meager on these two subjects, so Goldsworthy makes some educated guesses. Caesar was the "Pontifex Maximus", the head priest of Rome, though some of the ancient sources and modern historians portray the dictator as a skeptic. Still, Goldsworthy speculates on how religion impacted Caesar's life and actions. For the scholar, Stefan Weinstock's Divus Julius presents the official political-religious aspects of Caesar's reign, as well as his successors' contribution to the cult of Caesar. There is also some discussion on the role that Caesar's family played in his formation, particularly the women in his life, such as his mother Aurelia and his daughter Julia. Again, the primary sources are limited, but the author tries to piece together the familial relationships.

Caesar has been a complicated subject for biographers through the ages, as critical assessment of him has tended to depend almost entirely upon the political prism of the times. Objective biographies of the man have been rare, and even the classical sources are tinged with bias one way or the other. Life of a Colossus succeeds largely because Goldsworthy presents Caesar's accomplishments dispassionately and never divorces the man from his times, allowing the reader to reach the inevitable conclusion himself. A true colossus, Caesar requires no embellishment to convince the world of his greatness.

“Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism”, by James Piereson

250 pages, Encounter Books, ISBN-13: 978-1594031885

There are no guarantees when buying books; we often eagerly anticipate a release hoping it will be a classic but soon discover that it belongs on the ash heap of history alongside the collected works of Marx, recordings of the Back Street Boys and every single movie featuring Madonna. Occasionally however, we unfurl a package and find that its contents widely exceed our expectations, such as James Piereson's Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism.

Pierson convincingly argues that a dedicated left wing campaign turned John F. Kennedy's murder by a dreary little communist into a martyrdom on behalf of fighting racism. This was the exact opposite of the truth: Kennedy was first, last and foremost an opponent of Communism; he was, at best, mildly interested in racial integration. This situation, while unjust, could not be allowed to become a part of our national myth; instead, Kennedy's Presidency was rewritten it to be an existential fight to the death against racism. Furthermore, the motivations of his murderer had to be adjusted, and so a Lee Harvey Oswald was transformed into a right-wing reactionary racist, instead of the pro-Castro Marxist that he really was. Our national sins had nothing to do with it.

Regrettably, however, a large majority of Americans bought into this con game perpetuated by the Communists and their fellow travelers (and some very well meaning individuals close to the assassinated president). Jacqueline Kennedy, adds the author, unwittingly did enormous damage. These efforts to distort the truth resulted in pervasive American self-hating by many members of the Democratic Party. Our nation is allegedly vile and a real threat to peace on this planet. We should be deeply ashamed of ourselves. How could we legitimately oppose Communist tyranny when the United States itself is so morally bankrupt? And so on and so forth.

This book is assuredly a must read, especially for any conservative looking for ammunition against the Left. However, it would serve equally well any person, regardless of political persuasion. What makes this book invaluable is that it accomplishes, in a mere 211 pages, to elucidate likely every key fact that is directly related to the Kennedy assassination. As a result, any debunking of conspiracy theories is the product of how the reader perceives the facts of the case as set forth by Piereson. He is especially effective at making use of the opinions of liberals from the '60s to bolster his point. For example, why would a big liberal like Earl Warren fabricate a report that implicated a communist in the death of Kennedy, when other liberals disregarded the facts and suspected a right-wing conspiracy? In other words, a reader can apply simple logic in analyzing the facts, and conclude that Lee Harvey Oswald was almost surely the assassin.

With regard to the "liberal crackup" aspect of the book, Piereson dances around a thorough assessment of this until the end, although he peppers every chapter with references of how liberals of the day misinterpreted the national attitude as well as the facts of the case. When he puts the final nail in the coffin of New Liberalism, at book's end, the reader is thoroughly convinced. Still, the book ends on a positive note for those not of the conservative persuasion. Piereson notes that neoconservatives (Irving and William Kristol and the like) have reignited the tradition liberals abandoned in favor of a more irrational liberalism. One may be familiar with Irving Kristol's statement that a neoconservative is “a liberal that has been mugged by reality”, and thus we can take comfort that all pre-60s liberal progress has not been completely lost. For those who are currently members of the Left, perhaps you should reevaluate your core principles, because you may find that you are part of that clique just because it is “cool”. After all, as Piereson asserts, this irrational movement would likely not have come about if not for Kennedy's assassination.

“A History of Prussia”, by H.W. Koch

326 pages, Dorset Press, ISBN-13: 978-0880291583

Although the book is clearly written from a (very) German and (very) Protestant perspective – and the author never lets the reader forget where his sympathies and loyalties lay – H.W. Koch's A History of Prussia is a small masterpiece. From the origins of the Teutonic Knights; through the medieval Order's politics; to the Thirty Years War; the unstoppable advancement of Sweden; the Great Elector Frederick William's statesmanship; Prussia's own 18^th Century expansion under the indomitable Frederick the Great; the liquidation of Poland; the trauma of the Napoleonic Wars; the bitter Austro-Prussian rivalry; the wars against the Danes, Austrians and French; and finally on to the creation of the unified German State, the modestly named A History of Prussia is an absolutely breathtaking journey documenting the meteoric rise of Prussia and, indirectly, the emergence of modern Germany.

Dense with information, A History of Prussia serves more as an academic reference work than a book which is merely read once and placed on the shelf (although, come to think of it, that's just what I did). This is due to the fact that the very denseness of the factual material may make reading the book for the first time somewhat difficult, yet the book does have a good index by which information can be retrieved at a later point in time; it thus serves as an excellent companion book to have on hand while reading any other book on German/Prussian History. 

One question that is answered by Koch is the cause of Prussian/German paranoia, and it is this: if you feel you are always surrounded by hostile powers and have no choice but to push back, at times, you push too hard and believe that you will always be victorious. In the end, that feeling of claustrophobia that Prussia had led to its demise by a king that “Was more German than Prussian and half English”. That was the very sad truth about Prussia, a country whose name no one evokes and when one does many different feelings come to one’s mind. Let's not remember the goose stepping, but what it gave Germany its greatest gift: unity.