Book Reviews 273 James Burrill Angell: An American Influence. By Shirley W. Smith. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1954, pp. xvi, 380. Illustrations and index. $7.50) James Burrill Angell was the president of the University of Michigan from 1871 to 1909. During that period he not only led this great state university in its remarkable growth and achievements, but also played a leading role in furthering the cause of education as a whole in the state of Michigan and participated in important diplomatic missions for the Department of State. For these reasons he can be called “an American influence.” President Angell was evidently a person of great personal charm, for the Michigan alumni who had come into contact with him as students greatly venerated him, and Shirley Wheeler Smith, his biographer-an alumnus who served as teacher of English, secretary and chief financial officer, and general secretary of the Alumni Associafion during his in- cumbency-has helped preserve this veneration. Unlike most presidents of large universities today, Presi- dent Angell was not solely an administrator. He gave in- struction in international law and the history of American treaties, personally interviewed all the students who entered the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, main- tained cordial relations with the faculty, and addressed the students and alumni on many occasions. It is not surprising that his biographer, who recalls with pride the welcome which he received from the president at his matriculation, should find it difficult to see mistakes in the man. A personal friend of John W. Foster, John Hay-one of his former students at Brown University-and other import- ant political figures of his day, President Angell devoted much time and thought to political, particularly diplomatic, matters. He served as minister and chairman of a commission of three in China from 1880 to 1881; on the fishery commis- sion comprising British, Canadian, and American members which met in Washington, D.C., in the winter of 1887-1888; as chairman of the deep waterways commission which met with the Canadian commission in 1896; and as minister to Turkey from August, 1897, to August, 1898. Although his missions produced no remarkable results, they displayed his wisdom and tact in dealing with difficult problems and personalities and increased his reputation both at home and abroad. 274 Indiana Magazine of History Although Smith brings a great amount of detail into his biography, beginning with a discussion of President Angell’s ancestors and concluding with a summary of his personal con- tacts with students, he holds the reader’s interest throughout. More attention might have been devoted to the growth of the university during its thirty-eight years under President Angell. The book contains a good index and a number of interesting illustrations. Indiana University Harold J. Grim The Reputation of the American Business Man. By Sigmund Diamond. (Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard Univer- sity Press, 1955, pp. 209. Notes on sources and index. $4.00.) This volume, based on a Harvard doctoral thesis, is a study of obituaries and opinions expressed in various journals at the time of the death of six of America’s most important business men: Stephen Gerard, John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. The research obviously involved much persistent and tedious work; the author, for example, examined 194 newspapers on Astor and found material in 164; of the maga- zines he examined 296 on Ford, but found material in only 28. On the last three tycoons named above, the author also had the use of trade union publications and. house organs. The general method used by the author was to begin with the majority opinion as illustrated by the publications of the Northeast, where all but Ford operated, and then the dis- senting opinions, followed by the reactions of those of the West and South. On none of these men was there a unanimity of opinion, although with the development of the commercial press and associated news gathering agencies the reactions and inter- pretations revealed a certain sameness. Perhaps the most significant contribution of the author is his effort to explain the opinions of the press in relation to the spirit of the times, and the efforts of the upholders of these business men to interpret their life and deeds as representing the true Ameri- can way. As might be expected the major portion of the book is given over to quotations; these alone tell the story, but the author injects enough interpretation to clarify the picture, .