Books for Christmas

......................................... Books for Christmas Our annual list of holiday gift suggestionsfvorn distinguished readers and writers. The other is Dead Right, by David Frum. He dislikes that to Randolph Churchill, Leland Hayward, and Averell new breed, the “big government conservative.” He gives me Harriman and on to being the real “first lady of the credit for coining the phrase. Thanks a lot. I wish I’d never Democratic party.” heard of it. My idea wasn’t big spenders, but those who’d Having met Mrs. Harriman while in Washington, D.C. rather slow the growth of spending than break their pick in with then-Governor Bill Clinton, I think Ogden has truly search of spending cuts in Social Security, Medicare, etc., captured the real Pamela Harriman, who reveals her that never materialize. Frum argues, from a libertarian argu- thoughts at the time on the man who would eventually ment, for breaking your pick. It’s an interesting argument, reward her with the ambassadorship to France. one conservatives need to hear, then reject. I’ll not miss the opportunity in this space to suggest you I read few novels, but I grabbed a paperback my 12-year- reread William Manchester’s One Brief Shining Moment, a old nephew left behind. It was Killer Angels by Michael recollection of John Kennedy’s presidency. Commissioned Shaara. The subject is Gettysburg, and Shaara sides with by the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis, it will be interesting to Longstreet against Lee. Absolutely riveting, the best (though see if Bill Clinton can commission someone to write such a maybe the only) historical novel I’ve read since I went glowing tome after he leaves office. Even the master through those books by Kenneth Roberts as a teenager. Manchester may not be able to pull this one off. Fred Barnes is a senior editor of the New Republic. L.D. Brown is an Arkansas State Trooper. 40 The American Spectator December 1994 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED sive rise in the U.S. House of Representatives, his selection as vice president, and finally his assumption of the presidency. Robert P. Casey Cannon reminds us that Ford‘s greatest professional ambition First Things: An Inquiry into the First Principles of Morals was to become House Republican leader; he never sought the and Justice. Hadley Arkes’ clear, provocative, and witty vice presidency much less the presidency. Yet he served in the treatise on moral reasoning. White House honorably and with great distinction and bravely Plain Speaking: An Oral History of Harry S. Truman. led our nation through one of its most turbulent times. Merle Miller’s marvelous portrait of an American original Finally, being a lifelong fly-fisherman, I console myself and a forgotten art. when not actually fly-fishing by reading about it. Although Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. James M. I’ve plowed through several new titles this year, the classic in McPherson’s epic account of America’s defining moment. the field remains Ray Bergman’s Trout. Originally published Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography. Malcolm in 1938, Bergman’s book has been reprinted thirteen times. Muggeridge’s brilliant memoir. It’s the most complete text on trout fishing available both for Shane. Jack Schaeffer’s timeless western about a reluctant the experienced angler and the novice. As the 1975 introduc- but deadly gunslinger saving a group of struggling farmers. tory note says, “In Trout, waters will forever run pure and Before the Shooting Begins: Searching for Democracy in sparkling and fish will rise in clear, untrammeled streams.” America’s Cultural War. James Davison Hunter’s account ~ of the current struggle for the soul of America. Dick Cheney is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to and the former secretary of defense. Reagan. Michael Barone’s magisterial rendering of modem American political history. Robert P. Casey is the governor of Pennsylvania. Arthur Cooper Henry and Clara, by Thomas Mallon. The best novel of 1994. People will be reading it in 2094. Unless Newt Gingrich gets the bomb. Dick Cheney Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. The funniest novel ever Over the years, my favorite books have been about written by an American, I think it’s the closest we’ve come American history-and in particular, military history. to The Great American Novel. The 50th anniversary of Normandy provided a fitting Cocksure, by Mordecai Richler. The funniest novel ever occasion to review some of the most recent books on World written by a Canadian. Actually, Richler has also written the War 11. One of the best is D-Day: June 6, 1944, by the his- second, third, and fourth funniest novels ever written by a torian Stephen Ambrose. In magnificent detail, Ambrose Canadian. recounts the battles at Omaha and Utah beaches. By focus- A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway’s ing on the individual troops in the field-from the enlisted most appealing book. It made my generation want to starve men to the generals-Ambrose allows the reader to witness in Paris for art. None of us starved. None of us wrote any- the bravery and strength of our armed forces under the most thing worth a damn. demanding wartime environment. The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers. The great English Leaping forward a few decades one gets to A1 Santoli’s mystery. Lord Peter Wimsey and Ms. Sayers at the very top Leading the Way. This oral history of the Vietnam War is a of their game. riveting portrait of a generation of troops who proudly A Piece of the Action, by Joseph Nocera. A lucid, impec- served our nation in Southeast Asia and then-upon return- cably researched history of personal finance that is exquis- ing to this country- passed through one of the most diffi- itely reader-friendly. There are as many “characters” in this cult times for our armed forces. Many of my good friends book as in a Dickens novel. and colleagues from the Pentagon-Gens. Colin Powell, Barry McCaffrey, Freddie Franks-remained committed to Arthur Cooper is editor-in-chiefof GQ. the U.S. military and led the way toward restoring the digni- ty and professionalism of our armed forces. To appreciate just what a magnificent force we could field after this period of rebuilding, one can turn to Bob Dole Washington Post reporter Rick Atkinson’s Crusadeione of Aside from wading through the 1,342 pages of the Clinton the best accounts of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. health care plan this year, I have recently had the pleasure As well as any reporter I’ve read, Atkinson moves seam- of turning the pages of several good books. I would like to lessly between interagency meetings in Washington and the recommend the following titles: decision-making and actual fighting in the desert. Beyond Peace, by Richard Nixon. President Nixon’s last In a completely different category of books, I’d recom- book was also his best-a compelling analysis of world mend James Cannon’s Time and Chance. Cannon traces affairs, common sense solutions for America’s domestic Gerald Ford’s early political career in Michigan, his impres- problems, and a call for a return to American leadership. + The American Spectator December 1994 41 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED D-Day: June 6, 1994, by Stephen Ambrose. The defini- m tive account of the young soldiers who put their lives on the John H. Fund line to ensure the survival of democracy. In this time of revolutionary political change in America, Truman, by David McCullough. For some reason, I my suggestions for Christmas gift books focus on the loved this fascinating biography about a no-nonsense lessons we can learn from the demise of Communism. I straight-talking senator from the Midwest who became pres- believe Bill Clinton will be to welfare-state liberalism ident. what Mikhail Gorbachev was to the Soviet Union-a Eisenhower, by Stephen Ambrose. President Dwight D. transitional figure who tried to keep a failing system alive Eisenhower, a fellow Kansan, has served as a role model but actually accelerated its collapse. Here are some books throughout my career. Not only was Eisenhower an that help us hasten the collapse of liberalism’s Berlin admirable chief executive, but he also was a great comman- Wall: der of those he led in the Army. To date, this book is my Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski. A Polish foreign favorite source of Ike inspiration, correspondent, Kapuscinski gives a surprisingly witty and The American Red Cross First Aid and Safety Handbook. insightful perspective on the collapse of the Soviet This handy reference book might save the life of someone Empire. As a citizen of a Warsaw Pact nation, he was in your family. allowed far greater access to Communist countries than Bob Dole is the Republican leader in the United States Senate. any Westerner. Dismantling Utopia: How Information Ended the Soviet Union, by Scott Shane. Shane, a Moscow correspondent for m the Baltimore Sun, tells the fascinating story of how the Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr. Soviet system was undermined by the new information The best but most underpublicized book of 1994 is Bruce technologies and the growing press freedom the Gorbachev Porter’s War and the Rise of the State: The Military regime was prompted to tolerate. Not only was George Foundations of Modem Politics. Beginning with medieval Orwell wrong in 1984, he was spectacularly wrong. Thank Europe, the book chronicles how warfare reshaped the map goodness. and governments of Europe. The chapters on the U.S.

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