This is an interesting book that mixes high-level overview, illustrative anecdotes, and technological detail surprisingly well. At heart this is a high-level survey of the development and decline of the North American iron industry from its Virginia origins through its eclipse by Big Steel as the twentieth century began. But there’s a concurrent technical essay about the development–and shortcomings–of the mastery of various technologies over the course of the period. Both stories are told with examples from the historical record which demonstrate the analytical points the author is making. One important point Gordon makes is that the charcoal iron industry’s survival into the steel era was not the result of ignorance, and that American ironworkers generally kept up to date on current technology.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
August 26th 2009
This is very early Cherryh, and she’d not fully mastered her craft. Though the aliens–and the strangely-alien humans, for that matter–are well-imagined, and brought to convincing life, Cherryh hadn’t yet developed the extreme character focus-‘intense internal third [person],’ she calls it–which drives her best books.
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Bookworm Alley
Posted on
August 23rd 2009
League records last season showed the Dans drew 24,775, but when Lyons took over this year, he and a government tax expert checked the figures and found the gate actually was only 14,487 paid. The Dans surpassed that figure on June 8 this season with 15, 979. After 45 games, the total for the current campaign was 55,424–an average of 1,232.
Filed under
Baseball CrankSpace
Posted on
August 16th 2009
The second half of this book is an account of an unusually brutal battle, mainly between Drinkwater’s frigate and a larger Danish cruiser. That part of the book is up to Woodman’s usual fine standard, and quite fascinating, although the extremely heavy toll makes for painful reading.
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Bookworm Alley
Posted on
August 15th 2009
Nonetheless: This is an awful book. At the very least, it needed an editor; a better solution would have been a competent co-author. Much of the argument is poorly-sourced assertion. The author spends far too much time raving about conspiracies and coverups. And hiding your arguments in disorderly, rant-prone, and opaque prose is an unlikely strategy for convincing anyone of your righteousness.
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Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Mitten State
Posted on
August 11th 2009
In this book Morris explores how the game of baseball became respectable by focusing on the developing role of the catcher. I’m not sure his effort is entirely successful. But it’s certainly interesting.
Filed under
Baseball CrankSpace
Bookworm Alley
Posted on
August 8th 2009
After a series of really dark novels, Woodman rewards us with a romp that takes place largely in or near Chesapeake Bay. Most of the characters who’ve not been serving with Drinkwater for years are pretty much cardboard pastiches, but it’s all good fun. The exceptions are Mr. Vansittart (“Fancy-tart,” according to the Master), who’s delightfully witty, and Thurston, who’s aboard ship as a sentence for seditionist (read: democratic) tendencies.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
Posted on
August 2nd 2009
