Reviews for The Diplomatic History of the Administrations of Washington and Adams, 1789-1801

The average rating for The Diplomatic History of the Administrations of Washington and Adams, 1789-1801 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-08 00:00:00 Barry Young Wonderful book on baseball legend Ted Williams, though the book Williams wrote, MY TURN AT BAT, is probably just as good. Leigh Montville is a fine writer, but I really don't envy him taking on this huge project. When you think about it, Babe Ruth retired from baseball in 1935 and just seemed to quietly fade away. He was dead not long after World War II. But Ted Williams, as Montville says, lived a whole life after baseball -- and a lot of really painful, ugly, shocking stuff went on in that lifetime. Poor old Montville gets the short end of the stick, having to write over and over again stuff like "Ted just lost it" or "Ted couldn't help himself" or "Ted's thunderous rage was just something he couldn't control and once again he was forced against his will to destroy his marriage, ruin his kids' lives, humiliate his fans, and tarnish his legend." So like, when he hit .400 that's because he worked at it and made it happen. But the other stuff was beyond his control? Inside the batter's box Ted had almost superhuman patience and self-control. That's because he worked at it. And people encouraged him. Maybe he should have worked at not being a monster who hurt people all the time? But why bother being a grown-up when guys like Montville will forgive anything the Kid says or does? I could see, reading the book, why Ted was so angry all the time. His father was never around. His mother was like something out of PSYCHO, a repressed religious fruitcake. Problem is, Montville doesn't really connect the dots. He doesn't analyze, doesn't have a vision or an explanation. He just piles on everything that ever happened in this epic life. And so many compelling details emerge that you end up being fascinated in spite of yourself. Ted's yelling and screaming that his kids are worthless, but when Richard Nixon(!) dies he bursts into tears. "He loved Nixon like a father," someone says. Kind of shows you Ted's not too discriminating where father figures are concerned, and how could he be? But Montville doesn't really get it. He just keeps heaping up odds and ends in an epic life.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-17 00:00:00 Americo Castro While this is a well written book there is not nearly enough baseball in its 400 plus pages. To wit the last 1/3 of the book are about William’s declining years and his relationship with his usurper and derelict son. Philip Roth the great author said ‘Old Age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre’. I just don’t see the point in dwelling on someone’s old age infirmaries especially when there are so many more worthy tales to tell. Ted Williams played in four decades of the major leagues and even hit a home run in his last at bat. He played at the highest level. I think there was some good character assessments on Ted’s difficulty with authority and on his inability to be a good husband. 3 stars