An Age of Kings

In a number of posts, I have written about how my introduction to Shakespeare and English literature came through a BBC television series called "An Age of Kings." Televised first in England live in the late 1950's, they were shown in the United States during the winter and spring of 1961. After the initial series was over, I do remember seeing at least some of the episodes a few years later. Since then, however, they have been unavailable in any format - a period of almost 50 years.

As a result it was fantastic to read on the Shakesper e-mail list that the full 15 episodes are now available via DVD. Bless Hardy Cook for his work in maintaining this list, there was apparently a story in the New York Times last week, but I missed it. The news was so exciting that I immediately went to Amazon.com and ordered the full set which should be here in about a week. Of course, my next step was to send an e-mail to my cultural buddy DT, as expected his reaction displayed new levels of his feelings about Shakespeare. If I read the Amazon website correctly, John Barton's series on acting Shakespeare which has also been unavailable for some time, will be issued in June.

The Age of Kings series included some great actors early in their careers beginning with Sean Connery as Hotspur. To me he has always been the ultimate Hotspur, far better than Tim Piggot-Smith in the BBC version or Ethan Hawke in the 2003 Broadway hit. The only one who came close in my mind was Lex Shrapnel who played the part in the RSC productions we saw last winter in Stratford. In fact, Shrapnel was great in a variety of parts in the plays including Williams in Henry V, young Talbot in Henry VI, Part I, and Richmond in Richard III, but I digress. In the Age of Kings series, Robert Hardy (pictured above) was my introduction to Hal/Henry V, I remember his performance as creating a positive image of the character and I look forward to seeing it again. Pictured with Hardy is a young Judy Dench as Princess Katherine of France, long before she would go on play several other English queens.

I look forward to the arrival of the these DVD's and revisiting something that moved me almost 50 years ago and still does so today. I am sure it will be the subject of future posts.

Live and Learn

In the British television series "As Time Goes By," one of the story lines is that the male lead, Lionel Hardcastle is writing a book called, "My Life in Kenya." When the book is published, the
publisher, Alstair Deacon arranges a book signing at a London bookstore. In preparing Lionel for the event, he tells him that he has planted some people on the line, who will wink at him, meaning that they really don't want to buy the book, they are just there for appearances.

I probably should have thought of something like that for my book signing this past Saturday at the Town Book Store in Westfield. My sister and nephew were there to provide moral support and since we forgot our camera, my nephew saved the day with the picture to the right.

When this book came out, I contacted about a half-dozen or so independent bookstores in New Jersey about a possible book signing. I got two responses and this was the only one that came to fruition. I was there two hours, had three lengthy conversations and sold two books. When we got there, a man talked to me for a good 20 minutes, but he apparently thought I was going to give a talk and left without buying a book. Another man talked to Carol and I for some time, he said he wasn't that much of a baseball fan, but bought a book to support local authors - bless him!

Then just as we were thinking of ending it early, a woman came in, interested in her grandfather who played for the Brooklyn Tip-tops of the Federal League as well as (I think) the Phillies and the Yankees. The Federal League was a third major league that lasted for about three years, dying out after the 1915 season. I was able to give her some ideas on where she could find information about her grandfather and she very graciously bought a copy of my book.

I entitled this post, "Live and Learn" because that is what I am basically doing with this book. When "The Mutinous Regiment" came out, I was to busy to try to promote it much and I didn't want to get involved in selling them myself. Now with more time, I am trying different things to see what happens. Thus far the really productive approach is where I give a talk of some kind that builds interest in the book. To this point it has primarily been Civil War Roundtables, but I have some baseball talks scheduled and I think that will progress. I am attending the 19th century baseball conference at the Hall of Fame on April 18th and there will be a book signing for any authors attending at the bookstore so we will see what happens. In any event thanks to Anne Laird, the owner of the Town Book Store for the opportunity and we will continue to live and learn.

Best Seller # 2 - "The Yankee Years"

The second best seller that I finished this week was Joe Torre and Tom Verducci's account of Joe Torre's 12 years as Yankee manager. This is not a book I would have even considered buying, but after Paul Zinn bought it and read it, he was kind enough to loan it to me. Having read it, I have to say that I don't understand why Joe Torre did this and that I have lost a great deal of respect for him for having done so.

The shocking revelation of this book is that the Steinbrenners and their coterie didn't appreciate everything that Torre did in his years as Yankee manager, offering him a degrading contract that he had no choice, but to reject. If anyone reading this is not shocked by that revelation, neither am I - that was all very clear when it happened back in October of 2007. Since it was so clear then, there doesn't seem to be much reason for this book. I will say, however, that if what Torre wanted to do this to clearly tell his side of the story and publicly criticize the owners for that treatment, it wouldn't bother me at all. I greatly appreciated Torre's comments at the time ,criticizing the idea that any Yankee season that ended without winning the World Series was a failure. That philosophy shows a lack of respect for the game, something that is very important to me.

Unfortunately the book doesn't stop there, it seems to have two further agendas, to further praise Torre's record as manager and to get back at anyone else who wasn't part of his first teams of grinders. Why anything more needs to be said about how good a job Torre did as Yankee manager is beyond me, but apparently Torre and Verducci think so. What was really incredible to me how the book tries to quantify how many games better Torre made the Yankees in at least two seasons.

In a book with constant criticism of Brian Cashman for becoming too enamoured with statistics and forgetting in Torre's words that the game "has a heart," the authors try a similar approach to confirm Torre's contribution. I forget the specific season, but the book takes the Yankees statistics for that season and use Saber metrics to determine that the Yankees should have only one X number of games. Since they actually won about a dozen more than that, the difference is obviously due to Torre - "the game has a heart indeed!"

The criticism of Cashman goes hand in hand with that of Alex Rodriguez who is clearly the anti-Christ of this story. Cashman may have let Torre down and Rodriguez may have been a disappointment, but what is the point of Torre saying so in print. After all what made Torre so appealing as a Yankee manager was that he was above that kind of the thing, a star of calmness in the chaos of the Steinbrenner galaxy. There is an old locker room cliche that "what you say here, what you do here and what you hear here, must stay here." That kind of an attitude was what made Torre admirable - team first and all that kind of thing. Why he would go against that so dramatically is a mystery - unless, however, that in spite of what Torre says, it is really about the money. The book has some appeal as an account of life on the inside of a major league team, but frankly I don't think it is worth the time or the money.

Best Seller #1 - The Lost City of Z

I don't usually choose books by looking at the best seller list, but ironically, I have just finished two books that are well up there in today's New York Times Book Review. The first is David Grann's "The Lost City of Z," which I purchased based upon both the topic and the very favorable review in the Times. I made a similar purchase of Adam Cohen's "Nothing to Fear" and regretted doing so. The good news it that I read that book almost right away instead of putting it away for some future unknown date, but after reading it I realized that I just as easily could have waited and borrowed it from some library.

After that experience, I purchased "The Lost City of Z" with more than a little trepidation that it would end up with the same feelings of dissatisfaction. However in this case it wasn't just the favorable review it was the topic of searching for an ancient civilization that appealed to me. Whether it is Heinrich Schliemann's search for the Troy of the Iliad and Odyssey or H. Rider Haggard's novels such as "King Solomon's Mines," such stories or possibilities have always fascinated me. Especially from the perspective of an armchair explorer.

In this case David Grann tells the story of British explorer Henry Fawcett's obsession with finding a lost city in the depths of the Amazon jungle - a city he named "Z." Grann tells the story by alternating Fawcett's story with his own (Grann's) story of researching Fawcett. This is not limited to academic research in archives, but Grann's attempt to follow Fawcett's route on his last journey. Since Fawcett, his son, and another young man disappeared on that journey in 1925, there are really two searches - one to find out what happened to them, the other for the city of Z.

One thing that Grann accomplishes is to end any illusions anyone might have about the glamour and romance of jungle exploration. His description of the risks from dangerous insects alone was enough to make me wonder how any one survived such expeditions, even before worrying about other animals, starvation, and hostile natives. Some of these are repeated on Grann's own journey perhaps illustrating his own obsession, if not with Z, with telling the story.

As I read the book, I wasn't sure that it was a good purchase. After all how could Grann or anyone hope to find out what happened to Fawcett more than 80 years after he disappeared. Certainly neither he nor his companions could still be alive and it was equally unlikely that any traces of them could have survived that long as well. However after all his research and journeying, Grann reasons his way to the most likely explanation, one that is hard to refute - almost an application of Ockham's Razor.

On the larger issue of the city of Z, however, Grann ends up with something much more interesting, a satisfying ending to such a quest. An ending that suggests that one of the first challenges is such an enterprise is to be clear about what it really is that we are looking for in the first place. The ending brought the story full circle and made me glad not only that I had read it, but that I had bought it. I would recommend the book for anyone who has an interest in stories of discovery - especially reading them from the comforts of home.

August Folly

After finishing "Mary Barton," my second book in the Victorian Challenge, I decided to take a break and read one of Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels - "Wild Strawberries." As noted in that post I had started that book several times, but couldn't get into it. Once I did, however, I enjoyed it which led me to tempted to go on to the next of these 29 novels - "August Folly."

I gave into temptation and I am glad I did, thus far "August Folly" is my favorite of the half dozen or so that I have read to this point. The story takes place in the little village of Worsted which according to the map in my copy is in east Barsetshire almost at the opposite end of this mythical county from Rushwater Manor, the site of "Wild Strawberries."

The story focuses on three families, the Tebbens, Deans, and Palmers. The latter two families are related and are well off financially while the Tebbens live a middle class life, but struggle to do so. The events in the book take place in the summer and sort of revolve around an amateur production of a Greek tragedy - thus the picture on the cover. Like all of Thirkell novels the book is funny and contains "This England" moments typically subtle descriptions of the beauty of the English countryside.

I also like the literary references that are sort of planted in the book appealing to those who get them, but in no way insulting to those who don't. There are several allusions in this book to some of Thirkell's other novels, one of which concerns a bull being brought from the Leslie's home at Rushwater Manor which was a frequent topic in "Wild Strawberries." There is an incident where the bull momentarily threatens a young child and Richard Tebben intervenes to prevent the crisis from getting worse. Reluctant to tell his parents the full story, the Tebben cottage is overrun with people exaggerating the story including the number of bulls involved. When the really story is finally told, Thirkell notes that "the bulls in buckram dwindled to one." This is a reference to the great tavern scene in "Henry IV, Part I," when as Falstaff tells the story of being "robbed" the number of thieves in buckram grows exponentially with each sentence.

All of this is very enjoyable and at some level escapist, but as I noted in my post about "Wild Strawberries" there is a deeper side to Thirkell's writing. This is even more fully developed in "August Folly" where the author takes us deep into the minds of a number of the characters to understand their desires, fears and to some extent sadness and loneliness. This is especially true of Charles Fanshowe, a bachelor, an Oxford tutor and close friend of the Deans who spends part of the summer with them. Deeply a part of the Dean family, Fanshowe is more than a little lonely, but has a hard time coming to grips with the need to decide what he wants and then pursue it. I am not doing true justice to this, but my point is that Thirkell has created characters who are fully human and, therefore, sympathetic. In the past I have been critical of Jane Austen's work because every character gets what he or she deserves. The same can be said of Thirkell, but it doesn't both me anywhere as much - perhaps the explanation is her ability to create such sympathetic characters.

Now in spite of all Thirkell temptations, I will go on to "The Way We Live Now."

Going Back Home Again

Last Wednesday night I had the opportunity to speak about the 33rd New Jersey at the monthly meeting of the Phil Kearny Civil War Roundtable. The PKCWRT meets at the Wayne library - my family moved to Wayne when I was eight and I went through the Wayne public schools attending what was then Wayne High School in the early 1960's.

In addition to everything else that happened in the early 1860's, those were the years of the Civil War centennial. While I don't remember extensive media coverage at the time, those were the years when I became interested in the Civil War. I remember reading historical novels about Antietam and Gettysburg when I was a freshman and then moving on to Bruce Catton's "This Hallowed Ground" in American History through literature.

Since the Wayne library is literally across the parking lot from Wayne High School, this was a way of coming full circle. Over the years I also borrowed enough Civil War books from the Wayne library which added to the effect. It was nice to be back in Wayne, but it would have been nice to be with this group regardless of where they met. Joe Truglio, Bob Gerber, and Henry Ballone from this roundtable have been early and enthusiastic supporters of the New Jersey Civil War 150 committee and are helping move the whole process forward in very positive ways. I look forward to working them and another member of the group, Sylvia Mogerman as, we continue to work on this important anniversary.

The talk was well received and both Carol and I enjoyed the evening. My basic talk on the 33rd continues to evolve. I continue to use the opening to talk about the formation of the regiment and where the name "Mutinous Regiment" comes from. Recently I have substituted talking about the Atlanta campaign for an overview of the regiment's service. It works well, but I am still tinkering with it. If I can figure out the technical issues, I would like to think about using my computer to include pictures of some of the key battle sites, a case where a picture would well be worth a lot of words. It looks like I will have the chance to keep working on that aspect, before the program, I received another invitation this time for a group that meets at West Point - something I am really looking forward to doing.

New Jersey State Budget Hearings - The Senate

The New Jersey State budget works on a June 30th fiscal year. That means that the budget process begins with the Governor proposing a budget in February and March which the legislature has to act on by June 30th. Unlike other states there is no provision for delaying budget adoption or adopting a deficit budget so the June 30th deadline is hard and fast.

I have had a particular interest in the state budget ever since I became involved at the New Jersey Historical Society. NJHS does not receive direct state funding, rather it and other historical organizations apply to the New Jersey Historical Commission for grant funds. Since 2004 the Historical Commission has received its grant funds from the hotel/motel tax. This means that the funds do not come from the state income or sales taxes so that state residents pay very little if any of these costs. That would only be the case where state residents stay in hotels or motels in New Jersey.

The law did not mandate how much of this tax should go to history and the arts, allowing each governor and legislature to make that decision as part of the budget - to the extent the funds don't go for those purposes they can go to other state budget expenses. When the change was made a poison pill provision was added to the law. Under that provision if funding for history and the arts falls below a certain level, the tax then lapses. The purpose was to provide some minimal level of funding for history and the arts. The state FY 2010 budget presented by the governor proposes funding under the poison pill level minimum. Theoretically that means the tax would lapse, but apparently the administration will introduce something in the budget bill suspending or changing the poison pill.

Along with the rest of the history and arts community, I think this proposal is outrageous. So once again, I am involved in trying to get the budget changed. Each year we have had some success, how we will do in this climate is hard to say. Below is my testimony at today's state senate budget hearing at Montclair State, I will give more or less the same testimony to the assembly budget committee next week. I will have more to say about this, but this is an introduction.

"I am here to testify about funding for the Historical Commission’s grant program. As you know the proposed budget would cut funding for the grant program by almost $900,000. As you also know a cut of this magnitude will bring funding for the grants program below the legally mandated minimums.
The proposed cut comes at the worst possible time. This is true at many levels, but I want to focus on two aspects of the economic impact of the proposed cuts. However long the overall economy has been in recession, I believe the not-for-profit world in New Jersey has been in a recession for a much longer time. All sources of revenue for history organizations have been declining for some time. In response to that decline history organizations have been forced to down size their organizations, cut back on staff and, therefore cut back on programs.
The hard times and the resulting down sizing have continued to the point that it is no exaggeration to say that history organizations in New Jersey are on the brink of disaster. Expenses can be cut only so far before there is insufficient money to produce programs. Once that happens leaving only institutional maintenance, other sources of revenue will also dry up, putting some history organizations out of business perhaps for good. The loss of jobs will be one more blow to our state’s economy.
But this is not the only issue, a lack of financial support for history organizations means missing opportunities to help our state’s economy. History and other not-for-profit organizations do not return to health through cutting expenses. Rather they do so, by developing high quality programming that generates revenue, using that revenue to develop more programs, which, in turn generate more revenue and so on. This helps not only the history organization itself, but the economy both locally and across the state. At a time when financial circumstances will force many families to vacation closer to home, can we afford not to provide them with a less expensive New Jersey alternative?
Let me give just one example of what I am talking about. The 150th anniversary of the Civil War is just two years away. The commonwealth of Virginia has appropriated almost $3 million to plan their observations plus creating a government commission with state employees. We in the New Jersey Civil War community take this anniversary just as seriously, but we are taking a different approach. In developing that approach we have had a lot of help from the Historical Commission and, in particular, Marc Mappen. We have formed a not-for-profit volunteer group to lead in this effort. Our work has been endorsed by the Governor, but there will be no request for government funding for administrative expenses.
The Historical Commission’s grants program, however, could be a very important source of program funding to do things to help attract tourism and bring revenue to New Jersey. Insufficient funding of the Historical Commission will mean failing to take advantage of these opportunities. I ask you to restore the proposed cut in funding to the Historical Commission’s grant program. Please help New Jersey history organizations so that we can help New Jersey."

Ebbets Field Project - We Have A Team

About a week or so ago, I wrote that Paul and I were considering a second father and son writing project. The idea came from a request for proposals for a book about Ebbets Field (pictured above right) to be published by McFarland and Co. as part of an historic ball parks series.

The good news is that Paul and I have decided to submit a proposal which is due to the series editors by May 1st. The most important thing in getting this organized is finding contributors who will write some of the chapters in the book. The even better news is that we are making real progress in putting together what I think is an impressive team. I don't want to mention names at this point, but two other published authors have agreed to be contributors so that with Paul and myself, four members of are team have already been published. I am in the process of talking to two more people both of whom are good writers and could round out our team in an exciting way. There is, of course, no guarantee that our proposal will be successful, but it looks like we will be able to make the strongest case possible.

While focusing on this, I am also moving ahead with the William Lloyd letters project. Lloyd was a member of the 33rd New Jersey, for whatever reason, more of his letters survive than for any other member of the regiment. I am now focusing on preparing commentary and footnotes for the letters. More research is also needed on Lloyd's long post war life (he died in 1928). I hope to have that manuscript ready by the end of the summer.

Of course, just to keep things interesting, there will be a meeting next week of the New Jersey Civil War 150th's book subcommittee to begin discussions about a book about New Jersey and the Civil War. Reading and writing some of the short bios for the website has reminded me of the many stories out there that should be told. There are two that especially appeal to me, one would be about Lincoln's two railroad trips through New Jersey, one on the way to his inauguration, the other his funeral trains journey on the way to Springfield. The second would be about the Newark newspapers during the Civil War, that could be called "A War of Words." There were three daily newspapers during this time, the Mercury was pro-war, the Daily Journal vehemently anti-war and the Daily Advertiser, more middle of the road. I think there is a real story there. Another possibility is an article about the two presidential elections in New Jersey - there are a lot of myths out there as to why Lincoln failed to carry New Jersey in either election - a well researched objective article would have some real value.

Originally the idea was that 2009 was to be devoted to Lloyd letters and then a break from research/writing. It doesn't seem to be shaping up that way, but all of the above is exciting and well worth pursuing.

Wild Strawberries

After the complexity and length of Daniel Deronda followed by the intensity of Mary Barton, I decided to take a break by reading the second of Angela Thirkell's 29 novels about the mythical
English county of Barsetshire. Barsetshire was, of course, created by Anthony Trollope for his six Victorian novels about the Church of England. Thirkell adopted it as the locate of her novels which begin in the 1930's and run through the 1950's. Frequently the literary descendants of characters from Trollope's work appear in Thirkell's stories. I didn't notice any in Wild Strawberries, but that doesn't mean they weren't there.

I have realized that I have been reading these novels out of order which isn't a major issue, but isn't the way that I like to do things. So now I have gone back to the beginning and had a hard time getting started on this one. I had begun a number of times, but couldn't get past the first chapter. The story focuses on the Leslie family and I think I was turned off somewhat by Lady Emily Leslie, the matriarch who's approach to life is best described as chaotic. However, once I got past that first chapter, I was, once again, hooked and read it over the course of three nights.

Like all Thirkell novels the only real plot is how the romantic lives of the characters will turn out. This story is a little different than others I have read in that the author does not rely as much on a 2/1 or 3/2 kind of dynamic among the characters. Rather there are an equal number of relationships and, therefore, an equal number of possibilities. Thirkell also does a good job of keeping the character's own views either confused or hidden so that while I thought I knew how things would turn out, it certainly held my attention.

At one level Wild Strawberries can be read as a light comedy of life in the English countryside between the wars. But on another level some of the main characters live with real pain. The Leslies' eldest son was killed in France during World War I, in the book, his son turns 17 reminding his grandparents painfully of their loss. On the day of the birthday party Lady Emily recalls "the vision to which she had so steadfastly barred the way rose before her: her first-born, wandering somewhere beyond life, wanting her, thinking she had forsaken him, not knowing that it was he who had left her to grow old without him." Likewise her second son, John, still mourns the death of his young wife, yet at the same time losing his memory of her because "Time devours everything." This darker side of the character's lives sometimes rests below the surfaces, rarely is front and center, but sometimes intersects with the lighter aspects in a powerful way.

Finally I think Wild Strawberries is what I will now call a "This England" novel. There is a book that I haven't read called - "The Long Weekend, England Between the Wars." To me that implies some combination of trying to recover what was lost during WWI while gradually descending into the abyss of the WWII. I sense that spirit in this book. To her credit Thirkell does this in a way that captures not only "This royal throne of kings," but also "This happy breed of men," (and women) as well as "This earth, this realm." That is it captures the spirit of everything that is England, to the extent that an American can understand that spirit.

I am already looking longingly at the next book, August Folly, I have to figure out a way to blend this kind of book in with my other reading. I also plan to re-read Pomfret Towers and Before Lunch which I read out of sequence, but don't remember. So basically that means there are about 26 to go, when I do finish them, I know I will be disappointed that there aren't any more.

"Mary Barton" - "Books such as this cannot fail to be of value"

The above epigram from Victor Hugo's classic novel, "Les Miserables' could also apply to Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel. Set in the city of Manchester during the industrial revolution, "Mary Barton," is as MacDonald Daly points out in the introduction to the Penguin edition, really two novels. The first tells the story of the radicalization of John Barton as he watches his fellow mill workers and their families suffer as factory owners watch with indifference, if they watch at all. The second part is more of a melodrama as the reaction to terrible crime threatens to engulf "Jem" Wilson, Mary Barton's lover, as well as Mary herself. Gaskell apparently wanted to call the work, "John Barton," but her publisher forced her to change the name.

There was certainly plenty of drama in the second part which easily held my attention, but in my view it is the description of the plight of the workers and their families that makes "Mary Barton" an enduring work. Gaskell shows clearly, if not graphically, how poverty and death were omnipresent for these families. Ironically Daly seems to fell that Gaskell does not go near far enough with possible solutions for these problems. Ironically because the book was apparently not well received by the Manchester mill owners and other leading families who made up the congregation where Gaskell's husband as an assistant minister. That kind of contemporary reaction illustrates the importance of books like "Mary Barton" in its own time. The Victorian reading public would have consisted primarily of those in a position to do something about similar situations in real life. The book could also have sent a message to the workers themselves, but my guess is that they were both less literate and less able to afford books.

The book's relevance to its own time does not, however, guarantee relevance for future generations. That relevance can, I think, be seen in how it can keep things in balance for those of us who love Victorian fiction more than 100 years later. Many, if not most, of the leading novelists of the time focused on the upper and middle classes with the working classes somewhat invisible. Reading "Mary Barton," like much of Dickens, gives us a better sense of the larger picture. As a direct descendant of the Winder (Worcester) and Proctor (Audley) families, this balance is especially important to me on a personal level. Reading this book reminds me that the working class characters are my ancestors in literary or symbolic form. Certainly the late 19th century members of those families did not cross the ocean by boat because things were going so well in England. Reading about the struggles of the workers in "Mary Barton" gives me a better sense of what my ancestors lives were really like.

I am really glad that I read this book and I look forward to reading the rest of Elizabeth Gaskell's work. After that is, I finish the Victorian Challenge by reading Anthony Trollope's "The Way We Live Now."

Talking about the Civil War

One of the comments frequently read or heard about Shakespeare's "Henry V" is that it is a play about war. In fact, it is really a play about talking about war. There are far more battle scenes in "Henry IV, Part I," and/or the three "Henry VI" plays. Actually after having just seen "Twelfth Night," I would say that the comic duel scene in that play is more like fighting than what we seenin "Henry V."

This came to mind as I was thinking about my ongoing interest in the Civil War especially as I work on some of the short biographies of prominent New Jerseyans of the Civil War era. My interest in the Civil War goes back at least as far as high school (which happened during the Centennial observations) and like most people, my focus was pretty much on the battles. Now even though I have written a history of New Jersey Civil War regiment, I find that while I am still interested in the experience of New Jersey's soldiers, I am much more interested in the non-military aspects of the war - must be my pacifist conscience speaking.

As I have worked on these biographies, I have realized the important things that were taking place on the home front during those years and the diverse group of people who were involved. Take for example, Edward N. Fuller (picture above) who was the editor of the Newark Daily Journal, the Democratic paper of New Jersey's largest city. Fuller was vehemently anti-Lincoln, anti-war and probably quite racist as well. He was naturally detested by the Republicans, but, in fact, many of the Democrats came to loathe him as well. Fuller finally went too far when he advocated resistance to the 1864 draft which led to his arrest, but wisely not his martyrdom.

Another example is David Morrill who was the chaplain of the 26th New Jersey. Morrill helped recruit the nine month regiment and volunteered to serve as its chaplain. It didn't take long for him to become disillusioned by the incompetent leadership that plagued much of the Union army in the 1862-63 period. Unlike most people, however, Morrill had a pulpit (albeit not a wooden one) for his feelings - his role as a correspondent to the Newark Daily Advertiser. He wrote with frequency about his frustrations which resulted in severe criticism from New Jersey Republicans who tried to have him removed from his position. Fighting back, Morrill stressed the truth as an important value especially when men were risking their lives for their country.

Both of these stories give a sense of the complexity of life in New Jersey during the Civil War. It doesn't denigrate the contributions of the soldiers in any way to claim the importance of all of this in understanding New Jersey's Civil War history which can, in turn, help us to understand New Jersey today.

Rabbits, Ducks and Jonathan Bate

The title of this post is a play on words from a relatively well known essay by Shakespearean scholar, Norman Rabkin - "Rabbits, Ducks, and Henry V." The rabbit/duck reference, of course, refers to the famous optical illusion, one version of which is shown here.
Tilt your head one way and the figure looks like a duck, tilt it to the other and it looks like a rabbit. Rabkin used this optical illusion to show how, in his opinion, "Henry V" can be seen as both a patriotic and an anti-war play.

Last night I finished reading, Jonathan Bate's "The Genius of Shakespeare" which I posted about a few days ago. That post talked about one chapter in the book where Bate brilliantly shows how the history plays create a "This England" that can be seen both as the monarchs and as the people. As noted, my concern was that Bate seems not to consider the possibility that Shakespeare brings these two aspects of England together through the "Band of Brothers" speech.

Now having read the last chapter of the book, entitled "The Laws of the Shakespeare Universe," I have more of an understanding of why Bate either didn't consider this or didn't write about it. Much of the chapter focuses on how it took the development of quantum physics, specifically the idea that two contradictory things can exist simultaneously - "both and" as opposed to "either or" for Shakespearean criticism to fully appreciate the genius of Shakespeare. My running and cultural buddy DT will really appreciatioe the Quantum physics bit, since he loves science almost as much as Shakespeare.

To me Bates seems to be saying that a lot of the genius of Shakespeare has to do with how these rabbit/duck illusions permeate his work. "Henry V" is a patriotic play or "Henry V" is an anti-patriotic play - in this theory, both are there and can be seen, although not simultaneously. I do agree that ambiguity is part of the appeal of Shakespeare, primarily because the characters are more fully human. But I part company when Bate writes that the genius of Shakespeare "is certainly not the wisdom that can be extracted from Shakespeare" or at least as far as the history plays are concerned.

Unlike Shakespeare's other work the eight plays that make up the two tetralogies represent a specific focus on a specific period of English history (1399-1485). I think it highly unlikely that Shakespeare devoted that much time and effort to exploring his country's past without having some wisdom that he was trying to communicate. As noted in previously posts, I think the eight plays, especially looked at in the order they were written, represent his attempt to explore national leadership. The genius in these plays lies, I think, in that exploration and the conclusions that come from it. The ambiguity, the both/and,whatever it is called, is part of what makes the plays about real people facing real problems.

My goal remains to write a book about the history plays exploring Shakespeare's exploration of those issues and to try to discern what his conclusions were. It is a little disconcerting to read someone who has a lot more knowledge and expertise than I do discounting the "wisdom," but that just increases the challenge and my resolve. Supposedly someone told the great English actor Alan Howard, that "Henry V" is intended to be ironic. Howard's response was something along the lines of - "Well they haven't had to play it have they?"

Father and Son - Book Two - A Possibility

In a post last week I wrote about how Paul and I have been discussing working together on another book. We had been talking about another season history, but there were a lot of negatives in terms of the amount of work involved and other priorities. To my surprise another possibility came up this week that has some real potential.

Potential and possibility are key words in this context as there is a competitive process involved. Through SABR (Society for American Baseball Research - for DT who hates acronyms) I read that McFarland & Company (publisher of both of my books) has issued a request for proposals for a new series about famous baseball stadiums. One of the stadiums in question is none other than Ebbets Field (pictured above), the legendary home of my beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. It is to my lasting regret that I never got to Ebbets Field, but as someone pointed out to me, it certainly wasn't my fault - I was only 11 in 1957.

Anyway what McFarland and the series editors are looking for are proposals from potential editors who would write a chapter or two, but more importantly would organize a group of writers who would contribute articles and work on oral histories from living eyewitnesses. While it would certainly take some work, it sounds like something that would be manageable for Paul and myself. So we are going to try, I will start working on the basic proposal which is due by May 1st and we will see what happens. Ebbets Field was opened in 1913 so some of the research done for "The Major League Pennant Races of 1916" gives us something to build on. Paul's interviewing skills developed at three different newspapers will also be an asset. It would be great if we can do this - both in terms of the topic and the chance to do another father and son project.

This England

"This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea, . . .
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England"

I was first introduced to these lines from Shakespeare's "Richard II" sometime during my freshman year in high school, probably as part of the television adaption of the history plays called "An Age of Kings." They have aptly been referred to as the most famous words ever written about England and they certainly had their impact on me, creating an almost mystical type view of the home of my maternal ancestors.

Ancestors is probably a key word in this context because, while I am of English descent, I am a citizen of the United States and proud of that fact. Yet it was this early introduction to the history plays that gave me an abiding interest in the land of the Winders, the Proctors and all the others who made up those families.

I have had cause to think again of "This England" while I have been reading Jonathan Bate's'"The Genius of Shakespeare." Written by one of England's leading Shakespearean scholars, this book is highly recommended but hard to come by in the United States, even in major academic libraries. I was able to get a copy over the Internet and the positive recommendations were well founded. Bate has a lot of interesting insights into Shakespeare such as how his plays are in some ways a response to the work of Christopher Marlowe.

However, to me the best chapter in the book, by far, is the one entitled "The National Poet." In this chapter Bate sets out to refute claims that Shakespeare is solely the voice and champion of the establishment by proving how Shakespeare's vision of "This England" was a broad one encompassing the land and its people. He does this in large measure by stressing the important roles of every day people in the two parts of "Henry IV" and "Henry V." A prime example of this is Michael Williams who is presumptuous enough to debate the disguised Henry V on the eve of Agincourt. The fact that Williams and his two comrades have both first and last names is evidence to some of their importance to Shakespeare.

Bate then goes on to write about a World War I era writer Edward Thomas who wrote and collected writings with this broader view of "This England." He brilliantly concludes the chapter by showing how Thomas may have gotten this view from his reading of Shakespeare and how it influenced his attitude as a British army officer. This is, as I say, brilliantly thought out and written, yet it surprises me that Bate (who knows far more about Shakespeare than I do) doesn't see something very similar within "Henry V" itself.

Like many critics, Bate takes the different scenes in Act IV individually, without looking at or commenting on how they might be interpreted as a whole - a gradual progression. First, the disguised Henry's encounter with the three soldiers suggesting they aren't much interested in his cause and don't believe his claim that he won't be ransomed. This leads to Henry's bitter soliloquy on ceremony and his desperate prayer that God will "steel his soldier's hearts." But then when the scene switches to the morning of Agincourt, Henry delivers the stirring "band of brothers" speech that rallies his heavily outnumbered army to defeat their French enemies.

Looked at as a whole, it seems to me that Shakespeare is showing how the young king gradually learns how to provide the leadership necessary in this crisis, a crisis largely of his own making. The "band of brothers" speech is full of images of that larger view of "This England" which I believe Henry has gradually come to claim as his own. Some critics who recognize this possibility claim that the speech is only contrived rhetoric that has no meaning after the battle, I disagree, but that is something for another day.

One thing that anyone reading Shakespeare's history plays has to remember is there are certain historical facts that he couldn't change. No matter how much critics and others would like Henry not to invade France and claim the French crown, the fact is that he did and Shakespeare cannot change that. I believe the main issue for Shakespeare is how did Henry lead his army to victory against such great odds. The author chooses not to use material available to him in his sources that gives credit to the king's tactics and/or his personal bravery. In addition unlike almost every other history play, the nobility is almost written out of the play to allow more voice for both the king and the common people. "Henry V" is indeed evidence of Shakespeare's broader definition of "This England" and, I believe intended to show how one king used that definition to his and his country's advantage.

New Jersey Civil War 150

I haven't written much recently about the work of the New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee, but the group continues to be very active. Having gotten the organizational issues done as well as adopting vision and mission statements, we are on to working on specific projects.

The first thing that will become public is our website, www.njcivil150.com which should go live before the end of the month. At the beginning it will consist of a front page and links to other Civil War sites. Then we will gradually start posting short biographies of 150 prominent New Jerseyans from the Civil War era. We plan to continue to work on lists of 150 - 150 locations, 150 events etc.

Our committee is now working on writing these biographies and I thought of writing one on Charles Deshler who was mentioned in "The Mutinous Regiment." The current draft of the biography is listed below, but it can hardly do justice to the breath of Deshler's life. A drug store owner in New Brunswick, active in national politics, editor of two New Jersey newspapers, literary critic, business and civic leader. Yet in addition to all these achievements, he stands out in the Civil War for his two month mission of mercy to visit wounded and sick New Jersey soldiers in what was then called the west. Deshler was active in the Know Nothing movement which opposed immigration and Catholicism, yet many of the soldiers he visited had to have been Catholic immigrants.

My guess is that Deshler's name is little known today, even in New Brunswick where he was a community leader in many different areas. Part of my hope for the work of our committee is that we can help to honor New Jersey's men and women from the Civil War era so that their stories will be remembered. It is a great honor and a great responsibility for me to serve as the chair of this committee.

"Charles D. Deshler was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on March 1, 1819, but moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey as a child. He was apprenticed into the drug store business as a teenager, ultimately becoming the store owner. Originally a Whig, he became very active in the Know Nothing party before becoming a Democrat. Switching careers, Deshler became the editor of the American Standard, leaving that paper for an editorial position with the Newark Daily Advertiser.

Although not a big supporter of the war, Deshler provided invaluable service to New Jersey soldiers and their families in the summer of 1864. During the Atlanta campaign, a large number of men from New Jersey regiments were in western hospitals suffering from wounds and disease. The distance from the state made it extremely difficult for officials and families to communicate with the men, much less attend to their care. Appointed as state military agent, Deshler spent at least two months visiting some 275 men in Tennessee and Kentucky. In addition to arranging furloughs, pay, clothing and other necessities, he provided New Jersey newspapers with soldier’s addresses down to the specific tent so their families could contact them.

After the war, Deshler returned to New Brunswick, where he was active in civic, business, and educational affairs. He also did literary work for Harpers and wrote two books about poetry. Deshler’s long life ended in New Brunswick on May 10, 1909 at the age of 90."

"Everybody talks about the weather"

When I was an adolescent, I remember my father (a junior high school teacher) putting a quotation from Mark Twain (below left) on a piece of poster board for use at his school. The quote was something to the effect that "When I was 14 my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. However by the time I was 21, I was amazed how much my father had learned in the interim." At the time I couldn't figure out why my father liked the quote so much, by the time I was the father of an adolescent I understood completely.

Twain's lines are like that, another was (again paraphrasing) "What bothers me about the bible isn't the parts that I don't understand, it is the parts that I do understand." All of this was brought to mind by thinking about another Twain quote in relationship to yesterday's snow storm - "Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." I learned once again yesterday never to anticipate the weather - prepare for it yes, but anticipate it, never.

My experiences with running have taught me this lesson and I would have thought I would have remembered it. More than once there was a forecast for heavy rain early in the morning so I either didn't get up to run or got up looking for a reason not to run, when, in fact, the promised/threatened rain never materialized. As a result I developed the attitude that if I am scheduled to run, I plan on doing so and don't anticipate that the weather will be a problem. That's probably part of why I have become an AWR (all weather runner) unlike, for example, DT who has been known to consider a slight drizzle, the Johnstown flood, but I digress.

I haven't been running recently while awaiting an appointment with the podiatrist which was scheduled, of course, for Monday morning at 8:30. With a forecast of a foot of snow, I was sure that the office hours would be cancelled (foot problems don't tend to be medical emergencies). So once again, I anticipated the weather and was wrong. I should have set the alarm early enough to allow me enough time to get there, if the storm wasn't as bad as forecast. Of course, it wasn't, we had only a couple of inches of snow and with adequate time, I could have cleaned off the car and gotten there on time.

I was not pleased as this realization set in about 7:45. So now the appointment is off for another week and I can only hope that I have learned this lesson once and for all. We may not be able to do anything about the weather, but we can certainly prepare for it or, at least, prepare better than I did this time around.