Literary Review
"America, Empire of Liberty: A New History of the United States" by David Reynolds (Basic Books, $35) Reviewed by Larry Cox
“America, Empire of Liberty” will change the way you think about the history of the United States. Author David Reynolds, a professor of International History at Cambridge University and a Fellow of the British Academy, concentrates on three basic themes: empire, liberty and faith.
Although our Founding Fathers perceived their new country as anti-empire, almost from the beginning, it wasn’t. Thomas Jefferson himself envisioned the United States as a great “empire of liberty,” which eventually evolved to become the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. How a country offering liberty and opportunity on a scale unmatched in Europe developed and grew by the sweat of black slaves and the dispossession of Native Americans is not an easy story to document, but Reynolds does it fairly, accurately and without an agenda.
Despite the fact that our history is complex and varied, Reynolds examines it through the lenses of one central truth, namely that America has always existed despite the opposite pulls of both tension and liberty. His narrative follows a chronological timeline while parsing the major game-changing events and putting them into context. This is what gives this book its legs.
For example, in the vivid accounts of such historical events as the Battle of Gettysburg, the tragic Trail of Tears, the civil-rights struggle in Montgomery, Ala., and even our current War on Terror, Reynolds shows that our history was, for the most part, the result of the deeds and actions of ordinary men and women.
According to Reynolds, “history, like living, is rooted in time: every day we tell stories about what has happened, giving narrative shape to the flux of events.” Indeed. Reading about those events in chronological - rather than thematic and analytical - structure and allowing the voices of the past to speak for themselves are one of the major reasons why this new book is such an exciting read.
"Soulless" by Gail Carriger (Orbit, $7.99) Reviewed by Ealish Waddell
With her unfashionably dusky skin, ample curves and propensity for speaking her mind, Alexia Tarabotti is used to not fitting in. And that’s saying something in her version of Victorian London, where vampires, werewolves, ghosts and other supernatural creatures walk freely and are even accepted into the upper echelons of society.
But the attribute that sets her apart most profoundly is a hidden one: Alexia has no soul. This doesn’t mean that she is cruel or unfeeling - far from it - but rather that in a world where the measurement of the soul can be used to control or be controlled, Alexia is a force unto herself.
Unfortunately, this unusual feature makes her a target for any number of villains, from boorish vampires who neglect to introduce themselves before chowing down, to mad scientists united in a sinister cabal that somehow involves octopuses, to a terrifyingly freakish man with a grinning face made of wax.
Fortunately, Alexia can call on the Bureau of Unnatural Registry for protection. Unfortunately, the BUR is led by the coarse, churlish and maddeningly appealing Lord Maccon, Scottish nobleman and Alpha werewolf, who seems to have taken a disturbingly personal interest in Alexia’s well-being.
Does the mighty breast of the fearsome wolf hide a smoldering passion? Will the proud Alexia ever realize where her heart truly lies? What do you think? It’s the getting there that’s the fun part.
Equal parts peril and playfulness, goth and giggles, Carriger’s rollicking tale imbues the shadowy, smoky streets of Victorian London with a little brassy steampunk shine. There is real danger here, creepy and macabre, but also a great deal of humor as Alexia trains her gimlet eye (and her stout parasol) on the vulgarities around her, keeping a lookout along the way just in case there’s treacle tart.
