davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1962-12-16
Houston: Saga Of a Giant

see said he had "gone In
dian" and was all through,
had become what we might
call a bum. He fooled them.
He turned up in Washington
with an Indian delegation,
whose rights he was fight
ing for, and was a guest of
President jackson at "the
Presidents house"
Then he went to Texas,
eventually to become con-
queror of the Mexicans at the
decisive Battle Of San Jacinto
and President of the Republic
of Texas. After Texas was
annexed, he was Senator
from the new State two
terms, then Governor again.
He was doomed for the Dem
ocratic presidential nomina-
ton and actually nominated
by an insurgent party in
Texas.
A Man Of Peace .
Let 1t not be supposed,
though, that Houston, as de-
voted as his friends were,
lacked enemies. He had them
in abundance, and his politi-
cal and military careers were
a thorny succession of striv-
ings against sincere disagree
ment,. jealous hatred and
slanderers adept at inventing
lies about the pioneer Texan.
Where he differed from
most men of his time who
had his other qualities-the
soldiers, adventurers and set
tiers of the West-was that
he was, essentially, a man of
peace. He had seen war and
he wanted no more Of 1t.
The Alamo
He opposed defending the
Alamo. He wanted to draw
Santa Anna back to a spot
where he could defeat him
as, in time, he did-and when
the Civil War broke out Hous-
ton was a strong unionist.
He had been a unionist in
the United States Senate,
and he was when he went
home and again became Gov
ernor Of Texas. He fought
secession to the last ditch.
He lost and with the issue a
host Of friends. which sad
dened, but failed to embitter.
his last years.
His second marriage, Incl
dentally, was entirely happy.
This union was enriched with
eight children. Some hiSto-
rians still do not seem to un-
derstand Sam Houston as Mr..
Wisehart does. He is still. to
an extent, a controversial fig
ure. But the granite shaft
marking Houston's grave
contains an epitaph which
Andrew jackson once said:
THE world will take care
of Houston's fame"
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
Evening star., 1962-12-16

At present a strange situation
emerges. We now have two
villains baldwin and Neville
Chamberlain and two heroes
Eden and ChurchilD. The
latter pair have now given
their own versions OF events,
while the other two are de-
Tended by biographers, Bald
win by his son in 1855 and
Chamberlain by Ian Mac
leod last year.
Convincing Accounts
Each OF these four accounts
is convincing within itself.
because each presents Its
hero's actions solely In terms
OF his knowledge Of the stu
alton at the time. No eyalU-
alton OF a mans actions is
possible unless we bring In a
third factor TO add 10 the
account OF his actions and his
contemporary view Of the sit
uation. This third element,
the wider and more complete
framework Of historical per-
spective. is frequently re-
jected by biographers land
photographers as hind
sight, but no just assessment
Evening star., 1962-12-16
Eden Facno the Dctators: How He Looks Perspective

1895; "a the remilitarization
of the Rhineland and the
neutrality Of Belgium in 1886;
and (5) the successful Italo-
German intervention in the
Spanish Civil War in 1868.
AS a consequence Of these
five steps, France was iso-
lated, demoralized, totally de-
pendent on Britain, and in
capable Of fulfilling her alli-
ances in central Europe. OF
these five steps Eden had
nothing to do with the first,
welcomed but did not partici-
pate in the second, and played
a major role in the remaining
three. He still thinks he acted
correctly and defends his ac-
tions by correlating them
with his contemporary view
of conditions, but, in the full
panorama and hindsight OF
historical perspective, these
actions hardly present a pic
ture Of a successful states
man Facing the Dictators."
CARROLL QUIGLEY.
mr.. Quioley is professor
OF history in the Georgetown
Foreign SerUice SCHOOL,
Evening star., 1962-12-16

loss (for example, he makes
no reference at all to the
consequent Belgium resump-
ton of neutrality in 1887,
which contributed so sub
stantially to the fall OF
France in 1940) seems to be
still present in 1862.
Eden recognizes the great
loss arising from the assassi-
nation Of French Foreign
Minister Barthou in october
1884, but he gives no indi-
cation why 1t was a loss.
Apparently he liked Barthou
Just as he dislikes his sue
cessor, Laval. Such a prefer
ence reveals good taste, but
nowhere in this book does
Eden show that Lavals pol
icy in 1885 was a continual
ton OF Barthou's efforts to
encircle Germany by grand
alliance OF the Little En-
tente, Poland. the western
Entente. the Soviet Union,
and Italy. Such a policy un-
der Barthou was as antithe-
tical TO Eden's reliance on
collective security, interna-
tional agreements, and world
morality as II was under
Laval.
BY February 1898. when
Eden resigned land gave
Chamberlain a free hand for
appeasement by concealing
his real reason for resign
ing), Barthou's grand alliance
was not only In ruins, but
France was encircled instead.
Since LORD Avon does not
point out the steps in that
encirclement OF France. we
may list them here: % the
jeopardy OF the franc arising
from the suspension OF gold
payments In London in 1881
and in New York in 1888:
90 the German naval threat
TO the French Atlantic coast
arising from the Anglo-G Ger
man Naval Agreement Of
June 1895: go the aliena-
ton Of Italy over Ethiopia in
Evening star., 1962-12-16

narrative which is absorbing
throughout. The scholar can,
If he chooses, follow the notes
in back to unlimited mate
rial.
Sam Houston lived between
1893 and 1868. He was
brought up in Tennessee. In
his teens he left what we
would call a prep school, be-
cause 1t bored him, and went
to live with the Cherokees
for two years. He came back
to enlist for the War of 1912
and followed Andrew Jackson
to Alabama, where the Creeks
waylaid them and there was a
terrific fight. Sam was
wounded very seriously, but
stayed on his feet and led a
charge. His courage so i'm
pressed jackson that all his
life he remembered and ad-
mired Houston.
Young Sam read law and
got into politics. He was
elected to Congress. He had
never gone back to school,
but he had read widely. par
ticularly history. Later he was
Governor. Then one Of those
calamities which were always
blocking his path occurred
as he was running for a Sec
ond term. His marriage Of a
few months broke up. His
bride left him. The trouble is
something. Of a mystery to
this day. In those times such
things were taken seriously
(today they would hardly be
noticed and Houston had to
resign and flee the State.
Cherokee Days
He took refuge with his
friends, the Cherokees, who
had migrated to Arkansas. He
also found solace in liquor,
which was to be an on-and-
off foe which he finally con-
quered only in the last years
of his life. People in Tennes-
Evening star., 1962-12-16
Desperate DiIIinger Ducks in yPe

Melvin Purvis, the late IA
nous Oman, who, one finds
here, did not shoot Dillinger
when he walked out of the
movie with a girl on each
arm.
Nervous Purvis
Purvis, it says, was so ner-
vous, as a matter of fact, that
when he spotted the gangster
he was unable to light his
cigar, a pre-arranged signal
to other Federal agents
staked out in the area. (He
did get the match litD
Morbidly, the publishers
note that one of the authors,
Joseph Pinkston, a former
undercover man with Pinker-
toms detective agency, has
acquired the trousers Dilling-
er wore the night he was
killed, his death mask, his
rabbits foot, and - by ar
rangement with the Dillinger
family-his tombstone"
The book, however, remains
objective throughout.
JOHN McKELWAY.
Evening star., 1962-12-16

away with it,. And Of course
he cannot see that he. An
thony Eden, was the mask
which "the senior members
of the cabinet" put on when
they wanted the world to be-
lieve that Britain stood for
collective security. Eden still :
takes the mask for the reality
in the Conservative Party.
Setting aside Eden's naive
contrast between collective
security and power politics.
the fact remains that peace
could be preserved only II
France and Britain stood to-
gether and remained strong.
Eden saw this. but he still
does not see why they failed
TO do this. He believes he
failed TO get the rearmament
he wanted because OF the in
decision. procrastination, and
lethargy Of others. These
qualities may have applied TO
Baldwin but certainly we're
far removed from Chamber
lain, whom Eden criticizes
even more. Eden sees that
budgetary questions had
something TO do with slow
rearmament. but never asks
himself why a poorer coun-
try like Germany could af-
ford TO spend almost as
much for arms as Britain
could spend on its whole
budget. Eden ignores the con-
tinued prevalence outside
Germany Of obsolete theories
OF international financial
capitalism which insisted
that the stability Of interna-
tional financial exchanges
could be obtained only by bal
anced budgets. free ex-
changes. and the gold stand
ard. One of the root causes
of the collapse Of our way
OF life in the period i930-l938
was the insistence on this
myth by men like Heinrich
Bruning, Herbert Hoover,
Philip Snowden, and Leon
Blum. Eden regrets the Brit
ish suspension Of gold pay
ments in September, 1891,
and fails to see that this
Evening star., 1962-12-16
A How-to Book
On Paying Bills
HOW TO COPE WITH. p,

HOW TO COPE WITH. BY
Merrill Pollack. CBobbs-
Merrill; $2.75.)
Follow Mr.. Pollack's ad-
vice on how TO cope with
practically everyone and
you'll turn out 10 be a sort
Of modern-day Felix Krull.
Thomas Mann's confidence
man. In a practically humor-
ous vein, he discusses how 10
cope with your overdue de-
partment store bills, collec-
ton agency credit managers
and salesme n. Christmas
present material.
j. X.
Evening star., 1962-12-16

ton based on the League Of
Nations or individual power
politics based on military
force and alliances. He said
at the time, and he repeats
now, that Britain's policy was
based on collective security.
1t never was. He presents
Austen Chamberlain, the man
who killed the Geneva Pro-
tocol, as a supporter OF col
lective security. He never
was. Eden fails to see his
own role, because he fails to
see the configurations Of
British domestic politics. The
Labour Party was the party
of collective security, and was
quite unrealistic about 1t (as
Eden makes clear, because
the machinery for collective
security had been removed
from the League Of Nations
by Conservatives like Curzon,
Balfour, Sir A. Chamberlain,
and Sir Cecil Hurst.
Foreign and Domestic
The English electorate
wanted the l.abour Party's
foreign policy NOTABLY col
lective security and the Con-
servatiye Party's domestic
policy mo naturalization OF
industry, and was generally
inclined TO vote Conservative
because domestic affairs we're
more Immediately important
in i923-i935.
Eden still does not see the
relationship in domestic poll
tics between what he calls
"Sir Samuel Hoare's resolute
speech" at Geneva In Sep
tember tbefore the elections)
and the Hoare-Laval Plan Of
December (after the elec-
tions) He heads this chapter
THE British Enigma" II is
still an enigma TO him be-
cause he does not see that
Hoare's speech reflected how
the government wanted TO
appear 10 the electorate,
while the Hoare-Laval Plan
showed the policy the party
wanted TO carry out ~ public
opinion would let them get
Evening star., 1962-12-16
CIVIL WAR BOOK SHELF
AWest Point Atlas
Covers Main Events

war by an observant and,
articulate writer.
THE CIVIL WAR AT SEA.
BY Virgil Darlington Jones.
(Holt, Rinehart & Winston;
$6.50O The third and final
volume of Pat Jones brisk
and thorough history spans
the period from midsum-
mer, 1863 (the Federal as
sault on Fort Wagner.
S. c. to the long-delayed
submission Of the Rebel
cruiser Shenandoah in No
vember, 1865.
CIVIL WAR IRONCLADS.
BY Robert MacBride.
(Chilton; $7.50D The
armored ships of North
and South gain exclusive
recognition, with word and
sketch descriptions of the
various classes and brief
accounts of some of their
exploits.
SHERIDAN IN THE SHEN-
ANDOAH. By Edward j.
Stackpole. (Stackpole;
$3.50 An adequate ac-
count of Sheridan's 1864
65 purge Of Confederates
from the Valley bread
basket, the campaign that
helped seal the outcome of
the war and win the VAL
ley's undying hatred for
his name.
TRANSPORT TO DISAS-
TER. By James w. Elliott.
(Holt, Rinehart & Wins
ton; S4.95D A gripping ac-
count of a postwar tragedy
the sinking of the Fed
eral troop transport Sui
tana April 81, 1865 on the
Mississippi. Aboard were
some 1000 paroled Federal
prisoners homeward bound
from Andersonville and
Cahaba camps when the
boilers exploded leaving
less than 1000 survivors.
BY SEA AND BY RIVER. BY
Bern Anderson. (Knopf;
$3.50 A solid one-volume
naval history Of the war,
more comprehensive than
its only recent predecessor
by Richard West.
JOHN w. STEPP.
Evening star., 1962-12-16
DILLINGER, A SHORT AND

DILLINGER, A SHORT AND
VIOLENT LIFE. BY Robert
Cromie and Joseph Pinks-
ton. (McGraw Hill; $4.950
This is a solid reporting job.
But, I think. there are so
many facts that, at times,
John Dillinger, a most famous
American, is as elusive as he
used to be.
To borrow from a para
graph which tells Of Dilling-
er's companions. -.
Mary Kinder shared an
apartment with Pierpont.
Makley was living with a girl
named Patricia Long (also
known as Pat Cherrington), /,
whose sister Opal was paired
off with Russell Clark. Marie
Conforti, one of the pretty
ones, was Homer Van Meters
moll, and John Hamilton, the
taciturn older man with the
two fingers missing, had
somehow acquired a girl with
a splendid assortment OF
names: Elaine Sullivan Dent
Burton De Kant"
Evening star., 1962-12-16

FACING THE DICTATORS:
The memoirs Of Anthony
Eden, Earl Of Avon.
(Houghton, Mifflin Co.;
$7.50J
This, the second published
volume in Anthony Eden's
memoirs, covers the first Is
years Of his public career.
Like all memoirs. 1t is G de-
fense Of its authors activities
and judgments. To most per-
sons who remember these as
they occurred, the task seems
easy. Charming. serious
minded, immensely hard
working, and a very skilled
negotiator, Eden appeared at
the time - the appeasement
years-as the chief English
defender OF collective secur-
ity. He resigned in 1888 In
opposition TO Neville Cham
berlain's efforts for all-out
reconciliation with the die
tators.
This volume offers little
new information. but 1t Is
well written and, as a good
book should, rises 10 climax
at the end, with a quite unex-
pected version Of Eden's res
ignation. Like most bio
graphical or autobiographical
works from English pens, 1t
suffers from the second bane
OF English historiography,
reticence. (The first bane is
selective access TO manuscript
source materials). Again ana
again, Eden tells us that his
joustings on foreign fields
were being undermined by
members OF the government
at home. but. until the last
few chapters. these 90 un-
named or are specified only
as senior members Of the
Cabinet.
No adequate history Of APP
peasement yet exists, and II
may be years before one can
be written. When the time
arrives, these memoirs will
contribute TO the tone and
BACKGROUND rather than TO
specific factual information.
Evening star., 1962-12-16

is possible without 1t. Most
writer's of memoirs, including
Eden, make a virtue Of omit
ting this. Eden tells us, in
his Foreword that he will not
introduce his later point OF
view without pointing 1t out,
and, in fact, he rarely does
introduce 1t.
Clearly Churchill and Eden
are heroes now. while Bald
win and Chamberlain are the
villains of the piece, not be-
cause the former pair shared
correct ideas at the time Tin
fact they disagreed on
much. but simply because
their advice was not followed,
while Baldwin's and Cham
berlain's was followed and
led to a Instantaneous war.
This is hindsight Of the worse
sort, and Eden is as guilty OF
II as Churchill COR the rest
OF u.s., but he is quite un-
conscious that he Is using II.
Historical perspective shows
that Churchill and Eden we're
almost as wrong as Baldwin
and Chamberlain on most
issues OF the l93l-l939 pc
riod, and the fact that they
worked together TO win the
war in l940-l945 should not
affect this truth.
The Broader View
From this broader view
Eden's memoirs provides a
wonderful laboratory speci-
men for historiographic
analysis.
In five years from Hitler's
ascension 10 power in Janu-
airy, 1888. 10 Eden's resigna-
ton in February. 1898. the
balance Of power In Europe
was overturned. For the
earlier half OF that period.
Eden was near the top OF
the Foreign Office. and for
the final 20 months, when
the real damage was done. he
was the responsible Secretary
OF State. Yet even now he
does not see what happened
Eden presents events as a
choice between collective ac-
Evening star., 1962-12-16

gave Britain land others)
the power to put compulsive
pressure on the franc and
thus on French foreign policy
until 1899. One Of the rea-
sons France did not mobilize
against Hitler at the remili-
tarization Of the Rhineland
in March, 1896, was that this
would have destroyed the ex-
change value Of the franc
by unbalancing the French
national budget. OF these
things Eden says nothing.
Eden is wholly unfair TO
Laval in connection with the
Ethiopian crisis. Laval saw
clearly that there was only
one great threat TO peace in
Europe - Germany. He was
prepared TO sacrifice any
thing, even Ethiopia. TO con-
tain that threat. Laval knew
that Italy, and Italy alone,
had been prepared TO defend
Austrian independence when
the Nazis killed Dollfuss on
July rs. 1884. Ethiopia seemed
10 Laval a modest price TO
pay Italy TO continue that
service.
Eden insisted on prevent
ing that deal. although his
alternative policy, the use Of
the non-existent machinery
OF collective security (Which.
as the Hoare Laval plan
showed. was unacceptable TO
his own government) was
hopeless. Eden saw clearly
the precarious balance Of
power In south-central Eu-
rope and fully realized that
II was held together only by
Italy. but he still does not
see that his policy destroyed
Austria's last hope for inde-
pendence, drove Mussolini
into the Spanish adventure,
and, above all. permitted
Hitler TO remilitarize the
Rhineland.
Eden's failure 10 recognize
the strategic significance Of
the Rhineland demilitariza
tion and his general failure
to see the significance OF II,
Evening star., 1962-12-16
THE WEST POINT ATLAS

THE WEST POINT ATLAS
OF THE CIVIL WAR,
Chief Editor Vincent j.
Esposito. (Praeger; $12.50D
A real gem for buffs to
treasure, with scores of
maps and a running text
to go with them covering
every major campaign and
battle of the war, with
roundups of the Colonial
and Revolutionary wars
thrown in for good meas
ure. Compiled by the De-
partment of military art
and engineering of the
United States Military
Academy, it will doubtless
be the last word in map
textual coverage of the
war.
THE CIVIL WAR CHRIST
MAS ALBUM, selected and
edited by Philip Van Doren
Stern. Hawthorn; $4.950. &.
A venture into nostalgia,
with topical illustrations,
poems and stories combed
from the era.
ARMS AND EQUIPMENT
OF THE CIVIL WAR, by
Jack Coggins. doubleday;
$685. A highly Satisfac-
tory single-volume treat
ment of the subject written
and illustrated with mar
velously tidy and detailed
sketches by the artist
author, who covers in the
space of 100 big pages
everything from the shape
of Yankee forage caps to
the cut of a blockade
runners jibsail.
A DIARY OF BATTLE, ed
tied by Allan Nevins. (Har-
court, Brace & World;
S8.75) Historian Nevins
associates his staggering
talents with another find"
among long-buried eye
witness accounts of the
war: the personal jour-
mails" of Col. Charles S.
Wainwright, Army of the
Potomac, whose duties took
him from the Peninsula
Campaign through Apo
mattox. An excellent from
the-ground-up view Of the
Evening star., 1962-12-16
SAM HOUSTON: AMERICAN

SAM uOOSIONs hIuEnAOhEN
GIANT. By M. K. Wisehart.
(Robert B. Luce, Inc; $100
It Is doubtful II there is
another important character
in American history who
combined such varied and
sometimes conflicting traits.
And there can be no doubt
of his Importance, not only
to the region with which his
name is so closely associated,
Texas, but to the whole coun-
try in its development during
the middle decades of the
10th Century.
The word used in the title
OF this biography, giant, is
indeed deserved. For Sam
Houston was a giant, physi-
cally, mentally (if his formal
education was meager) and
morally. He was a soldier who
commanded at one Of the de-
cisive battles Of American
history. Few men could so
sway an audience, and yet he
was never a demagogue, a
species of rabble-rouser he
often denounced.
New Sources
AS for his other facets, he
combined something Of the
swashbuckling Jim Bowie and
the fabulous Davy Crockett
with a craftsmanship RI
vaiing that of his colleagues
in Congress, Henry Clay and
John Calhoun, with whom he
was always as likely to dis
agree as to defend.
Mr.. Wisehart, who now
lives in Alexandria, Va, and
is a widely experienced his
torian, journalist and editor.
has written what must be
the definitive biography OF
Houston. The great Texan
has been much written about.
There have been a number
of biographies, notably Mar
uuis James THE Raven"
(l939) (the name the
Cherokees gave their devoted
friend). But the present au-
thor has gone to sources not
available a few years ago,
notably the completed vol
umes Of the tremendously
long "The Writings Of Sam
Houston" publication OF
which was completed by the
University Of Texas only in
1943. For Houston was an
articulate as he was versatile
and active all his life. He
was no writer in a literary
sense, and yet he could al
ways set down his thoughts
clearly, cogently.
Mr.. Wisehart has combed
all possible yields Of Hou-
stoniana. No wonder this
book took him 20 years. But
the result is not simply an
effort to crowd in everything
cleaned about the man, but
q selective, gracefully written
Evening star., 1962-12-16
GENERAL

THE EATING BED
COOKBOOK. Written and
illustrated by Barbara By
field. Macmillan; $3.95)
The perfect gift for the
person who has everything.
OF particular interest is
the chapter on Eating in
the Bathtub," with such
appropriate recipes as
Mangoes and Watercress,
Swordfish Agamemnon, and
Turkish Delight.
THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF
THE BALKANS. BY Dra-
gos D. Kostich. (Lippin-
colt; $3.25O Illustrated
with photographs and map,
this latest addition to the
Portraits of the Nations
Series" is a profile of AL
bania, Bulgaria, Rumama
and Yugoslavia.
THE DESERT WORLD. BY
Alonzo w. Pond. Nelson;
$6.500 The author de-
scribes not only the deserts
themselves, but also sur
veys all aspects of desert
life: The plants, animals
and people.
OUR HUMAN BODY: Its
Wonders and Its Care.
CDutton; $4.950 The Read
er'S Digest Library of Fact
and Guidance for Family
Health.
ISRAELI STORIES. Edited
by Joel Blocker. (Schock-
en-; $3.95.) A selection of
some of the best contem-
porary writing in Israel
today.
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
BULBS. BY Patrick M.
Synge. Dutton; $685. An
Illustrated handbook to the
species and best varieties
and to their cultivation.
LEO NARD BERNSTEIN'S
YOUNG PEOPLES CON-
CERTS FOR READING
AND LISTENING. BY
Leonard Bernstein. (Simon
& SchuSter; $9.95. Price
after Christmas, $12.50O
An exploration through
words, pictures and record
ings into the nature Of
music. The package, based
on eight of the television
concerts, contains both q
book and a set of five
7-inch long-playing rec
ords.
MARVELS OF AMERICAN
INDUSTRY. By Donald E.
Cooke. &C. S. Hammond &
Co.; pre- Christmas, $8.95;
afterward, $9.95O The story
of Americas greatness
through its industries.
Documented and indexed.
this handsomely bound
book includes more than
400 color photographs from
many of Americas leading
corporations.
THE EARTH AND YOU. BY
Norman j. G.. Pounds
(Rand McNally; $6.950 In
a jet age that has reduced
the proportions of the world
to hours rather than miles
it has become necessary tc
understand new global pat