Saturday, December 07, 2019

Review: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History

Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History by Timothy J. Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An informative history of the Iroquois's complex relationships with the British(later Americans) and French in the 17th and 18th centuries. At times, I got bogged down in names, dates, and some of the finer details (a function, for me, of listening rather than reading) but the general account was worth it. Granted some of this is limited by the available sources, but I would have liked more about the Iroquois and their relationship to their indigenous neighbors. Most of this history is about the diplomacy with the European powers.

The history here is fascinating and nuanced. The author balances things well; and anyone coming in with a view that the Europeans were simply and only just imperialistic, racist land grabbers or that the Iroquois were innocent noble savages that were exploited will be disabused of these notions. The Europeans were often that but not only or always that. Along with the cynical treaties merely meant to push the Iroquois off their land, there were sincere efforts at relationship building that were successful and long-lasting. And the Iroquois were far from innocent dupes being played and exploited. They were quite astute and played the French and British off each to great effect. And the Iroquois were sometimes intentionally party to the exploitation of other native nations by the Europeans. History is always a lot more complicated and lot more interesting than what we learned in school.


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Review: Eight Million Ways to Die

Eight Million Ways to Die Eight Million Ways to Die by John K. Snyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A classic detective noir retold in graphic novel form. I haven't read the original, but the graphic presentation was excellent. It helped to set the mood and setting; it captured the tension felt by Scudder and his relationship to alcohol. The story was well-plotted and interesting; though the resolution came rather quickly. I wish there were more graphic novel adaptations like this.

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Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Review: Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes

Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes by Ace Atkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really do miss Robert Parker. Nevertheless, Atkins does a great job at capturing Parker's style, the feel of a Spenser novel, and the underlying morality of it. He even gets close to Spenser's wit--though it's not quite as snappy or droll as Parker's dialogue.

Atkins had some fun with this one. He always does some call-backs to earlier Parker novels, but this one had several laugh-out-loud references. One was a hilarious and not-so-subtle dig (maybe?) at the new Wahlberg Netflix series. Another was a completely out of the blue and unprecedented Joe Pike sighting. There was also another not-so-subtle dig at Robert Kraft (which as a Pats fan I found less amusing).

If you miss Spenser and want to spend time in that world, Atkins provides a reasonable simulacrum of it. There is always something a little off, but it is still a good read.

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