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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Afterthoughts make poor subjects.,
By
This review is from: The Life & Times of William Howard Taft (VOL. 1) (Hardcover)
I have read nearly every book in print about WHT. Pringle's effort is quintessential. Pringle begins his treatment by admitting that his interest in Taft is superficial: He decided to write these books only after completing works on Teddy Roosevelt. Taft is usually treated as a moon to Roosevelt's planet. Pringle typifies this treatment. One gets the impression that Pringle is a lifeguard forced to rescue a man whom he loathes. In the end, the entire effort devolves into an apologia. The lifeguard, after struggling against the currents of his own indifference, pulls his lifeless charge to shore, explaining to a hostile crowd: "Every man, even this loathsome creature, deserves a chance." He then walks away while Taft turns blue. I give this book three stars because it is better than nothing, but just barely.
If you truly want a picture of the man, read his own writings. His collected works are now widely available.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a flawed but indispensible study,
This review is from: The Life & Times of William Howard Taft (VOL. 1) (Hardcover)
This two-volume work still stands as a definitive biography of Taft. This is unfortunate, as a previous reviewer noted, since Pringle approaches his subject without enthusiasm. Nevertheless, with his access to the Taft papers and his thorough management of the history, Pringle's work stands as the appropriate start for anyone interested in the Taft presidency.
Readers should note that Pringle was trapped in his own era during the writing of his book, the Great Depression, and this bias comes out consistently throughout the work (1st published in 1939). Pringle sides with the progressives, and he sees the FDR regime as its fulfillment. By contrast, the conservatism of Taft's presidency and judicial career seems to Pringle part of a failed past, especially for its complicity, as Pringle sees it, in the Harding presidency. Pringle can't be faulted for not seeing past his own era, but the modern reader should do it for him while reading this work. Four stars for being important, although as a "definitive" biography it deserves no more than three.
3.0 out of 5 stars
disappointed, but will live,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Life & Times of William Howard Taft (VOL. 1) (Hardcover)
1- book cover on vol 1 (bought both) was damaged.
2- big issue here. The item is listed as published in 1998 "American Political Biography Press (June 1998)" However this is blatantly false. It was published in 1939..and this is a republish. Why is this an issue? I try to get a bio from as far away in date as the presidency to get a more objective view of the times and issues. This one is not even 30 years out from his presidency. Not near enough time for real information to have come to surface as most of the players are still alive or recently deceased on printing. It is like trying to read a book on ronald reagon now...with tons of information still classified, tons of people still alive with important docs and diaries not open to a researcher. It would be nothing but a slanted pro/anti reagan book with little of what really happened. Horribly disappointed. This item is falsely listed. ==== I have now read both volumes. It is well written and quite a story. Obviously so much is left out as unknown written so quickly after his death. Still a good read. Unfortunately a second book actually written later taking into account unpublished and unknown items from other people at the time would flesh it out. Most is from his papers...and those who had already died...so much is left out. still a good read though.
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