Lincoln and Jefferson, not to mention Jesus Christ, are still ahead of Franklin D. Roosevelt as compelling, complex figures fated to endure never-ending revisionist biographical inquiry—historical fact vying with gospel. But F.D.R. is closing the gap, edged forward by powerful images and tropes: a paralyzed man saving a paralyzed nation, a traitor to his Read More
Lincoln and Jefferson, not to mention Jesus Christ, are still ahead of Franklin D. Roosevelt as compelling, complex figures fated to endure never-ending revisionist biographical inquiry—historical fact vying with gospel. But F.D.R. is closing the gap, edged forward by powerful images and tropes: a paralyzed man saving a paralyzed nation, a traitor to his class. Read More
My Father the Spy is a tracking down of the old man, who’s poised somewhere between public and private life, deep in secrets. There are two reasons for writing this sort of memoir: as redistribution of generational power (revenge); or as inquiry (adventure). The former tends to come from the gut; the latter is sometimes Read More
My Father the Spy: An Investigative Memoir, by John H. Richardson. HarperCollins, 314 pages, $24.95
My Father the Spy is a tracking down of the old man, who’s poised somewhere between public and private life, deep in secrets. There are two reasons for writing this sort of memoir: as redistribution of generational power (revenge); or as Read MoreEugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism , by Dominic Sandbrook. Alfred A. Knopf, 397 pages, $25.95.
Eugene McCarthy was steely and whimsical, inspired and doomed, gallant and cruel, self-possessed andself-destructive, thoughthelastgets mixed up with the issue of sacrifice. They used to burn people like him: He could see into dark places. "Intellectual Read More
