On Books

Review: Our Team

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Cover image of "Our Team" by Luke Epplin

Our Team, Luke Epplin. Flatiron Books (ISBN: 9781250313799) 2021.

Summary: The story of four men who propelled the 1948 Cleveland Indians to a World Series Championship and how they changed baseball.

I read this book while the Cleveland Guardians were in the playoffs for the American League Championship. I fantasized about some of the glory of the 1948 World Series Champion Indians rubbing off on this team. Alas, the Yankees (Cleveland nemesis #1) put an end to those hopes in a five-game series. As a lifelong Cleveland fan, once again I find myself saying, “There is always next year….”

Our Team tells the story of the last championship baseball team in Cleveland by focusing on four key men who helped propel them to a championship. Bill Veeck. Bob Feller. Larry Doby. Satchel Paige. Two Whites. Two Blacks. They not only brought a championship to Cleveland. They helped change baseball.

Bill Veeck. The baseball entrepreneur who lost his lower leg to a war wound that he did not give a chance to heal. Instead, he relentlessly worked to fill Cleveland’s lakefront stadium through crazy promotions and fireworks, while cobbling together a team that included the second Black player as well as a veteran pitcher in the Negro Leagues.

Bob Feller. The aging Cleveland pitching ace from the Iowa cornfields, determined to make up for four lost seasons while in the military. In post-season exhibitions, he found another way to make money. Often, he matched up with Satchel Paige and other Black teams, but offered tepid reviews of Black players. In 1948, he struggles through the first part of the season, recovering something of his form late in the season, only for it to desert him in the tie-breaking playoff and World Series.

Larry Doby. The young war veteran playing for Newark in the Negro Leagues, spotted by Veeck and recruited for his power and speed. He was the second Black player in the majors after Jackie Robinson. Enduring separation because of race and riding the bench in 1947, he transitions to center field, propelling the Indians into contention with his bat, speed, and arm in 1948.

Satchel Paige. As much an entrepreneur as Feller or Veeck, he’d made a comfortable living pitching for over two decades in the Negro Leagues, wondering if he’d ever get a shot. In mid-season in 1948, Veeck finally recruits him to lift the struggling Cleveland pitching. His six wins and seven saves make a crucial difference in their pennant run

Luke Epplin skillfully interweaves their four stories into an account of the incredible season of 1948. As he does so, he shows how Veeck changed the character of the fan experience. Through supporting Doby and Paige, he made the Indians “our team” for the whole city, Black and White. In Bob Feller, we see a player trying to establish his own agency when there was no free agency. Then, with Larry Doby, we see the loneliness of separate lodgings and meals, the isolation from other teammates, and the efforts of Veeck to support him. Finally, with Paige, we witness a form of vindication of his greatness, as well as his incredible durability.

Of course it took more than the efforts of these four to win a championship. Epplin also chronicles the performances of Bob Lemon and Gene Bearden, bolstering the pitching when Feller faltered. And he describes the incredible season of player manager Lou Boudreau.

Epplin also gives us a sense of the evanescence of these moments of greatness. Veeck sacrificed his marriage and family for his baseball dreams. And sadly, aside from a pennant in 1954, the Indians would spend decades in mediocrity. Only with a new ballpark and contending teams would they again exceed the attendance figures of the Veeck era.

Personally, I especially appreciate the treatment of Larry Doby, whose great accomplishments have often been overlooked. And it was a gift to remember that great team and incredible season…and hope we will not have to wait too long for another one.

Review: The Royal Priest

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Cover image of "The Royal Priest" by Matthew Emadi

The Royal Priest: Psalm 110 in Biblical Theology (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Matthew Emadi. Apollos/IVP Academic (9781514007396) 2022 (Apollos [UK] website).

Summary: A study of the theme of the priest king of Psalm 110, tracing this idea from Genesis through the New Testament.

Do you know the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament? It is Psalm 110:1:

“The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ” (NIV)

In this Psalm, David describes a figure who is at once a royal king and a priest. He likens him to the “order of Melchizedek.” In Genesis 14, Melchizedek, the King of Salem who is also a priest of “God Most High,” meets Abraham after the rescue of Lot and the people of Sodom. This king-priest brings bread and wine and blesses Abraham, who in turn offers a tenth of the battle spoils to Melchizedek. Despite seeming an important figure, Melchizedek is not mentioned again except for Psalm 110:4 and several times in the book of Hebrews.

The union of a priest and king in one person seems an anomaly, particularly in light of the Aaronic priesthood. Matthew Emadi traces the theme of the royal priest throughout the scripture, with Psalm 110 as a lens. Throughout, he traces how the royal priest figure serves as a mediator of God’s covenantal relationship with his people.

He begins with Adam, God’s vicegerent on earth and priest of his royal temple in Eden. Emadi then shows how the figure of priest king is developed in Noah, Abraham and Melchizedek. He explains how Israel is a “royal priesthood” and “holy nation,” represented in the Aaronic priesthood.

Then Emadi focuses on Psalm 110. As David grapples with the implications of God’s promises, he turns back to Genesis 14. Only a greater son who is a royal priest like Melchizedek can bless the nations. Only such a figure can fulfill this promise to Abraham. Emadi unpacks all this in a chapter exegeting Psalm 110.

Before turning to the New Testament references to Psalm 110, he considers how Psalm 110 influenced intertestamental writing. On one hand, the Psalm is never quoted. But he shows a number of passages in which messianic hopes reflect kingly and priestly elements. 11QMelchizedek is most significant in its description of a king-priest, Melchizedek “who rules the nations, conquers satanic forces of evil and provides atonement for the sins of his people.”

Turning to the New Testament, Emadi first considers the two references to Psalm 110 in Mark. The first (12:36) is in the temple, the second (14:62) at the trial of Jesus, both self-referential. Emadi outlines Jesus’ priestly ministry in Mark while proclaiming the kingdom. These elements converge on the cross as he “ushers in the kingdom through his covenant sacrifice.”

Finally, Hebrews reveals Jesus as the superior royal priest after the order of Melchizedek. He mediates a superior covenant through a superior sacrifice. And he rules at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Emadi concludes this study by outlining the eschatological, ecclesiological, and apologetic implications of this biblical theme. He questions the idea of a thousand year earthly reign of Jesus in the millennium as a step backwards from his heavenly royal session. He explores how the church mediates the royal priestly authority of Jesus in the world through gospel proclamation and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s table. Finally, he shows the apologetic relevance of Christ’s royal priesthood in the Latter Day Saints context in which he works in Utah, where priesthood and temple are important elements.

Matthew Emadi offers a rich study of an important biblical theme. He starts with the puzzle of how one person could unite the roles of king and priest. Then he discusses how this is God’s intent throughout scripture. Royal priesthood is evident in the mediating of every covenant. It culminates in Jesus, the royal priest, a superior fulfilment of all that was anticipated from Adam to David. In so doing, he demonstrates once again how it is one great story that unfolds in the many stories of scripture.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Joy of Advent

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Cover image of "The Joy of Advent" by Rebecca and Stephen Grabill, Ph.D.

The Joy of Advent, Rebecca & Stephen Grabill, Illustrated by Claire Therese Gray. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609556), 2024.

Summary: Daily readings, reflections, activities guiding families to create meaningful Advent and Christmastide traditions.

For many of us, our Christmas celebrations may involve some Christmas music, lighting Advent candles, Christmas Eve and Day festivities…and then the after Christmas sales. Historically, the church’s celebration has been far richer beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This begins the season of Advent, preparation for our Lord’s coming. Then on Christmas Eve and Day, Advent gives way to Christmastide, twelve days of celebration that concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, celebrating the coming of the Magi.

Rebecca and Stephen Graybill felt their own Advent and Christmastide celebrations lacking. Over the years. they developed family practices and traditions, which they have gathered into The Joy of Advent, delightfully illustrated by Claire Therese Gray. The book consists of daily readings reflections, and resources for family celebrations.

Beginning on December 1, the book offers daily resources through Epiphany. In addition, when special feast days coincide, they provide special readings and delightful activities to celebrate. For example, on St. Nicholas Day, (December 6), they include background on Saint Nicholas. Then they offer instructions on the tradition of the shoes, filling up shoes from each family member with treats. Also, they introduce us to St. Nicholas letters.

One activity that runs through each day is decorating a Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is inspired by the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1 about the shoot that will grow from the stump of Jesse. It can be any small tree on which you can hang hand made or drawn ornaments of images from the day’s reading. Printable ornaments are also available at their website: https://www.joyofadvent.com/.

For each day, a scripture and personal reflection are provided on the first page, suitable for teens and adults. Following this. the second page offers a focus verse and description of the Jesse Tree symbol. With young children, this may be all you do. Then the third page offers a song (you might pull up the video on YouTube ahead), a family reflection, and several discussion questions. Finally, the fourth page offers a prayer appropriate to the reading of the day.

Over the course of the readings, we trace the scarlet thread of Christ’s redemptive work through scripture. Instead of just a mish-mash of Bible stories, we get to walk through the great story of God’s saving work.

I was impressed with the diversity of feast day activities that included recipes, such as Moravian Spritz cookies, and a variety of crafts. For St. Stephen’s Day, families assemble care packages for neighbors, shut-ins, and even college students!

If you want to enrich your observance of Advent and Christmastide, The Joy of Advent is a great resource. Printed on quality paper, graphically attractive, and substantively written, this may serve you for many years. In addition, it is flexible for use by families of all ages and stages. Advent begins in just over a month. So this is a good time to order the book and discover for yourself the joy of Advent.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Creating a Life with God

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Cover image of "Creating a Life with God" by Daniel Wolpert

Creating a Life with God (20th Anniversary Revised edition), Daniel Wolpert. Upper Room Books (ISBN: 9780835820394) 2023

Summary: Prayer practices for relationship with God, in silence and solitude, with mind and body, alone and in community.

When Daniel Wolpert is asked, “What do you do for a living?” he answers, “I am a student of the spiritual life.” This book represents forty years of study, twenty since the first edition of its publication. Originally written for leaders of youth ministries, the book serves as a wonderful introduction to a dozen prayer practices that have enriched the lives of Christians for centuries. Two new chapters address praying in an environmental apocalypse and how prayer may be socially transformative.

Each of the chapters begins with a “traveling companion,” a Christian individual or group closely identified with that practice. The companions range from the desert fathers and mothers and Saint Benedict through Saint Francis, the Beguines, and Howard Thurman. The chapters begin with an introduction to the history of the practice and proceed to practical instruction. An appendix offers further step by step instructions for each practice. Wolpert gives suggestions for use of the practice both individually and in groups.

Wolpert begins with a “gateway” practice of silence and solitude. Then he focuses on a series of “mental” practices: lectio divina, the Jesus prayer, apophatic prayer, the examen, creativity and prayer, and journaling. Next, he discusses bodily practices including body prayer and walking. For body prayer, he uses the example of Heloise and Abelard, offered as an example of negative views of the body. He commends breath prayer and body sculpture prayers where a scripture is read and a word focused upon that is then acted upon with a bodily pose.. Walking is very slow, deliberate walking with each step taken toward God. He also discusses the use of labyrinths.

The final chapters take prayer into the world. Wolpert explores praying in nature, prayer and our stuff, and prayer in community. I appreciated the way he addressed “climate anxiety,” which may apply to other anxieties of our age. Specifically, he encourages the prayer of asking and listening for what we may do. We needn’t expect that the answer will solve a crisis, but lead us to simply partner with God. Likewise, in praying for social transformation, he bids us to embrace the way of Jesus rather than “Christian religion” that has harmed many

This introduction to prayer practices is not “dumbed down” but reflects a “simplicity on the other side of complexity.” Wolpert emphasizes that we not attempt to teach what we have not practiced. It is evident that he has spent a life in these practices, informed by spiritual examples who have preceded him. There is something for those at every stage of the journey, because all of us are “creating a life with God,” or at least longing to.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Speakeasy for review.

Review: The Beckoning Lady

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Cover image of "The Beckoning Lady" by Margery Allingham

The Beckoning Lady, (Albert Campion Number 15), Margery Allingham. Open Road Media (ASIN: B08CRRLLC2) 2020 (First published in 1955).

Summary: While friends prepare for a midsummer party, Campion tries to unravel two murders in Pontisbright.

A midsummer party in the village of Pontisbright hardly seems like the setting for murder. Except it is. Two murders in fact. Albert Campion, his wife Amanda, and son Rupert are visiting the hosts, Tonker and Minnie Cassands. Tonker is an inventor of sorts and Minnie is an artist, and the party will feature a show of her works.

Shortly before they arrived, the Cassands’ Uncle William has passed, not unexpectedly. But as Campion looks around, he suspects death had a helping hand. His body servant, Lugg does a lot of the work of sorting this out. Meanwhile, a body lies in a ditch, found after a week. He died of a blow to the head. It turns out he is a former Inland Revenue man, advising (or troubling) the Cassands about tax matters.

Charlie Luke appears to investigate the matter, although he seems is more taken up in an affair with “Prune.” Campion disapproves. Meanwhile, weaving through the investigation are interactions with a large cast of local characters including a real estate investor, inn operator, and Old Harry, who it turns out knew about the body in the ditch and the location of the murder weapon.

Both murders remain unsolved when the night of the party arrives. While the party is going on, another body is floating down the stream, spotted by everyone at the height of the festivities…a body that is the clue to the other murders.

The antics of Rupert and all the interactions of the eccentric set of characters are great good fun…until we remember that two murders have taken place. At times it is difficult to follow and I wonder if that was Allingham’s intent–red herrings by social diversion. The reader might find it helpful to keep a list of characters and their relations (none is provided).

Not unlike Ramses in Elizabeth Peters “Amelia Peabody” mysteries, Allingham is developing Albert and Amanda’s son into an interesting character in his own right. And Charlie Luke is a nice contrast to Inspector Oates. All great good fun.

Review: Copper River

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Cover image of "Copper River" William Kent Krueger

Copper River (Cork O’Connor Number 6), William Kent Krueger. Atria Paperback (ISBN: 9781439157817) 2009

Summary: Cork hides at a cousin’s from hit men who have wounded him only to be drawn into a search for killers preying on runaways.

They had done unspeakable things to her. She knew she was going to die. A young girl who had not yet had her first period. A runaway who had embarked on a path to a better life. She had escaped but her captor was after her. In his clutches on a cliff edge, she wrests free only to fall into the waters of the Copper River far below.

This was the same river running near an old resort where Jewell Dubois and her fourteen year old son Ren live. Then her cousin, who once had arrested her now deceased husband, turns up with a leg wound and a shot-up car. Jewell is a veterinarian and dresses his wound and gives him one of the old resort cabins for a place to hide out. That cousin is Cork O’Connor, still on the run from hit men from a Chicago family, even while a potential murder rap hangs over his head. Hopefully, some police friends can exonerate him.

Ren is good friends with Charlie Miller, an edgy friend with a rough home situation and “Stash,” whose nickname reflects his penchant to stash weed in a variety of hiding places including a shelter near the river. They go to the shelter one night and Stash sees what he thinks is a body floating by. Ren and Charlie return to the river, only to spot a boat with two men looking for something. Charlie moons them and taunts them about the body and the men give chase. Thinking they’ve eluded the men, they go to the shelter and pull out Stash’s box (with his name on it) to roll a joint. But the men are still in pursuit. However, Charlie and Ren know the woods and get away.

By this time Dina Willner has hunted Cork down. A private “security consultant” and former FBI agent, she had saved Cork’s life recently from the hitmen still seeking his life. Ren goes to pick up food for them, stopping by Charlie’s on the way and finds her father dead, his skull bashed in by Charlie’s baseball bat. But Charlie is nowhere to be seen. As Ren reports the murder, another body is found washed up in the town harbor. But not Charlie. Then Stash, a skateboarder, is nearly killed by a hit and run driver.

Charlie is the “person of interest” in her father’s death though Ren is certain she wouldn’t do it. He and Cork, Jewell, and Dina, (and eventually Charlie) try to piece together what’s going on. Charlie knows the girl in the river, found in the harbor. They spent time together at a runaway shelter. A lot of runaways have just disappeared from there, like the girl found dead. Who is preying upon them?

Meanwhile, there are other predators to reckon with. A cougar has been leaving tracks around the resort. And the hit is still out on Cork. How long will he remain hidden. Can Dina protect him, and those he has taken shelter with?

There is lots of suspense on these pages. Meanwhile, the relationship between Cork and Dina develops. And we wonder if this is the last we will see of Jewell, Ren, and Charlie. Plenty to keep one turning the pages!

Review: Looking Up

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Cover image of "Looking Up" by Courtney Ellis

Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope Through Grief, Courtney Ellis (Foreword by Kay Warren). InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514007167) 2024.

Summary: A birder’s guide to hope through grief consists of reflections on various birds as the author grieves a grandfather’s death.

Birders speak of “spark birds” that first turned them on to birding. For Courtney Ellis, it was a phoebe, perched on her backyard string lights. A friend identified it. She writes:

“What I did know, in those very first moments, was that this little bird had unexpectedly captivated me. For a moment the volume turned down on my shouting to-do list and clamoring young children and creaky house projects and pinging work emails, and it was just me and this bird. A moment in time. A breath. Delight.

“In that moment, I looked up.”

She joined birding groups, bought binoculars and guides and downloaded apps. She learned the patience required of birding…and the wonder. These were lessons in attentiveness that spilled over into the rest of life as a pastor and parent. As acquainted with the griefs of others as she was as a pastor, she did not realize how important the lessons of looking up at the birds would become when the news came that her grandfather was dying.

In this book, Ellis takes us through her process of grief as she rushes home to spend time with her grandfather, only to find him sinking much faster than expected. While gathering with family, she remembers her grandfather, including many incidents of her childhood. An outdoorsman, he shaped her love of the natural world. As many of us do, she reckons with both his admirable and less than admirable qualities. She parts hours before his death to partake in Easter services. Then she grieves. Coming out of COVID, the church grants her and her husband sabbatical. During this time she had lost her voice. And, drawing on an idea from John Stott, another avid birder, the birds become her teachers.

In each chapter, Ellis interleaves her journey with reflections upon a particular kind of bird. Vultures symbolize death and they are the janitors of the natural world. Yet there is marvel in a physiology that allows them to ingest rotting carrion without being sickened. Then sparrows, so commonplace and ubiquitous, remind her of how much of life is lived in ordinary time, that it is often in the commonplace that we meet God. She reflects: “Blue Jays may not be good to other birds, but they are very good at being themselves. And this is its own kind of beauty.” As she thinks of her grandfather, she sees that he had his own kind of beauty as well.

In addition to these birds, we are introduced to mockingbirds, owls, house finches, hummingbirds, warblers, albatrosses, wrens, doves, pelicans, and quail. In her grief journey she learns that “looking up” doesn’t remove the hurt of grief but points us to the one who cares for the birds, and notes the falling of even one sparrow.

There is an understated beauty beneath the attentive observation of the birds and the unvarnished account of her grief. While pointing us toward healing and hope, there are no sappy assurances or sweet nostrums. But there is the wonder of the birds in all their variety, (And there is even an appendix for those who for whom this book is a kind of “spark bird” to take up birding.) Most of all, we have the chance to listen to one who has not only looked outward at the human condition and inward at the darkness of her her own grief. We also accompany her as she looks upward, not only at the birds but at the God who made them.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Christmaker

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Cover image of "Christmaker" by James F. McGrath

Christmaker, James F. McGrath. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802884008) 2024.

Summary: A life of John the Baptist making the case that he was a far more important figure than just the opening act for Jesus.

When I learned of this book, I realized that I had never given John the Baptist a great deal of thought. You might say I just considered him the opening act, perhaps somewhat eccentric, for Jesus. James F. McGrath contends that John was far more influential than that, not only with Jesus, but also with other religious movements that sprang from his influence. For example, he points to the Mandaeans, a gnostic sect still in existence. They see themselves as faithful disciples of John. Not only does McGrath seek to argue for the influence of John. He also sets out to “offer a full-fledged biography of John the Baptist.”

McGrath begins with John’s beginnings, the child of Zechariah the priest and Elizabeth. He explores why john did not follow his father as a priest but rebelled. He argues there is a good case, given John’s dress and diet, that Elizabeth had dedicated him as a Nazirite. This conflict in the family drove him into the wilderness, and to an alternative to the temple system of sacrifices–a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He took an act of purification or initiation for converts and turned it into a challenge to the temple system. He laid the basis for Jesus to speak of “Destroying this Temple” and his act of purifying it.

His wilderness ministry was to “the Lost Sheep of Israel,” diverse groups who were not only on the cultural margins but, in the case of some sects, on the theological margins. McGrath explores how this interplay led to the emergence of Gnostic groups who connected to John, even when John would not have embraced their ideas. John’s preaching of “one who is to come” would have attracted multiple aspirants to that role. Given John’s prophetic role, many thought John to be speaking of a coming king, and several aspirants died at Roman hands as a result.

McGrath goes on to explore the ways Jesus ministry reflected that of John. Both taught on prayer, spoke in parables, proclaimed justice and a coming rule of God. McGrath also explores the accounts of John’s death at the hands of Herod Antipas and the growing focus of Jesus on inaugurating his rule through death.

Finally, he concludes by considering evidence for the widespread influence of John, beyond his influence on Jesus. In addition to Mandaeism, he notes influences upon Islam, Manichaeism, and his immersion practices on religion in India. Aside from Mandaeism, this seemed the most speculative part of the work, subject to alternate explanations. But he raises questions worth further inquiry.

McGrath, looking at the fine details, particularly of Luke’s account, finds discrepancies and is candid about them. He argues against either trying to harmonize the accounts or just treating them as literature, abandoning the pursuit of history. Instead he adopts an approach of “seeking the gist of what was remembered as that which is most likely correct, while recognizing that individual details can and will be wrong in any source.” I would question whether the approach in the first part of this statement requires the conclusion of the latter part. I wonder if a belief in the trustworthiness of scripture might call for acknowledging but suspending judgment on the apparently discrepant details while focusing on the gist of the text.

Overall, I found this to be an illuminating study. I had not thought about the rebellion against vocation that John’s wilderness represented. I had not considered his influence as a “Christmaker,” not only with Jesus but others. Nor had I considered the ways he might have influenced the ministry of Jesus. I’m also weighing personally his “takeaways,” which I will leave for you to discover!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Longstreet

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Cover image of "Longstreet" by Elizabeth R. Varon

Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, Elizabeth R. Varon. Simon & Schuster (ISBN: 9781982148270) 2023.

Summary: From Lee’s “old war horse” to the Radical Republican who defied the “Lost Cause” and fought to vindicate his war record.

James Longstreet was a product of the South. Although West Point-trained with his good friend Ulysses S. Grant, when war came, he resigned his commission to fight for the South. At the heart of this was the defense of slavery. He was a slaveholder. Therefore, his post-war transformation to a Republican and radical reconstructionist was stunning then, and still demands explanation. In this new biography, Elizabeth R. Varon explores the war-time record of Lee’s “old war horse” and his defiance of advocates of the “Lost Cause” to support Republican Reconstruction efforts including a whole panoply of Black civil rights. Perceived as a traitor to the South, this led to a defense of his war record, and later, efforts to reconcile with his enemies.

The first part of the book concerns his military record, including his major triumphs at the second Bull Run, at Fredericksburg, and at Chickamauga. Then there was Gettysburg. He believed in fighting from strong defensive positions from which counterattacks could be launched against weakened foes. At Gettysburg, Longstreet wanted to move between the Union left and Washington but Lee wouldn’t permit this. On the second day, it took Longstreet far longer than expected to get in place to launch an attack on the Union left, including the badly positioned Dan Sickles and the thinly occupied Little Round Top. On the third day he vigorously disagreed with Lee on the frontal assault on the Union center. In the end, he obeyed, with the disastrous results he feared. At the time, Lee assumed full responsibility for the loss. Only after the war would recriminations come against Longstreet.

After his victory at Chickamauga and the later inglorious end to the campaign in eastern Tennessee, Longstreet rejoined Lee. Wounded in the Wilderness Campaign by friendly fire, he rejoined Lee after recovering for the final defense of Petersburg and Richmond and was with him at Appomattox. Until then, he fought unstintingly for the South. But when his old friend Grant offered generous conditions of parole to Longstreet and his troops, the transformation began. Indeed, a theme running through this narrative is the important role Grant played in his post-war transformation.

Subsequently, supporting the Republicans, he lauded the passage of the 15th Amendment and even helped form a multiracial Louisiana State Militia that included Black officers. As a result, Longstreet was considered a traitor and the Crescent City White League attempted a coup against the governor in the Canal Street Coup. Longstreet’s militia performed poorly and only federal troops preserved the government.

He moved to Georgia and served in various civil service posts, including ambassador to Turkey, and later on, as railroad commissioner. His hope was to advocate from within Republican governments for the South. Longstreet believed that cooperating with Reconstruction could help the economic development of the South. Meanwhile, he faced increasing attacks upon his military record, particularly at Gettysburg, where he was blamed for the defeat. As Reconstruction receded, he sought ways, without recanting his post-war commitments, to reconcile with his fellow Southerners, notably Jefferson Davis. But through memoirs, and his widow’s efforts after death, the fight continued to uphold his reputation. Yet even to this day, the debates continue.

Varon offers a sympathetic account of Longstreet, both militarily, and in the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction years. I suspect that those who still adhere to the “Lost Cause” and to critical narratives of his actions at Gettysburg won’t buy it. But I found this a compelling account of a man who changed his mind and acted with courage. He acted, in sympathy with his influential friend Grant, for a more inclusive vision for the country, including the South. Sadly, we have not fully realized that courageous vision even yet.

Review: Invisible Giants

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Cover image of Invisible Giants by Herbert H. Harwood, Jr.

Invisible Giants, Herbert H. Harwood, Jr. Indiana University Press (ISBN: 9780253341631) 2003.

Summary: The story of two brothers from Cleveland who built a rail and real estate empire centered on Cleveland’s Terminal Tower.

Terminal Tower. The main Higbee’s store. Tower City. The Rapid and its Shaker Heights line. Shaker Heights and Shaker Square. Railroads. All of these are part of my memories of the years we lived in the Cleveland area. But until I read this book I knew little of the two retiring but visionary brothers responsible, at least in part, for all of these.

Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen grew up in poverty and failed at a number of businesses until they began to build a real estate and rail empire based in Cleveland. It began with a vision of a suburban community in east of Cleveland, a former Shaker settlement. They started slowly, acquiring options on a few lots. Then they realized that for buyers to be attracted to the suburbs, commute times to downtown Cleveland needed to be as short as possible. So they acquired right of way and started building tracks and stations for a rapid transit.

Over time, this meant connecting to railroad right of ways, and through East Coast ties led to acquisition of a railroad, the Nickel Plate Railroad, running from Buffalo to Chicago. Railroads, transit and a hub centered in downtown Cleveland led to development of the Cleveland Union Terminal Complex. This included a rail terminal, traction terminal, an office tower, hotel, bank, department store, and the city’s main post office. In an era of rail consolidation, this led to a fierce competition to buy up other railroads. In the end, this resulted in a railroad empire that nearly extended coast to coast.

This biography traces the complex financial and organizational operations, including the creation of holding companies, that gave the brothers control while having a relatively small personal stake, using various stocks, bonds, and loans, all of it premised on an increasingly profitable business. Holding companies also enabled them to operate free of Interstate Commerce Commission scrutiny. And throughout the 1920’s, it worked, culminating in the grand opening of the Cleveland Union Terminal complex in 1930.

By that time, the stock market had crashed, and with it, both rail traffic and real estate investment. These were the two pillars of their empire. Because their holdings were so highly leveraged in a collapsing market, it was a herculean feat to keep it afloat. Thus the latter part of the book is an account of how that effort broke their health. First Mantis, then Oris died. Ironically for Oris, it was during a train ride to New York to meet with bankers.

It seemed to me an incredibly sad story. Neither brother ever married, sharing a bedroom in a mansion. They had few outside interests. The hubris that drove them to build a transcontinental rail network may have been the overreach that brought them down. Specifically, the Missouri-Pacific offset profits in other parts. Likewise, the location on sloping terrain of the Cleveland Union Terminal, and the number of buildings added to their expenses. Even so, they might have made it were it not for the Depression. But in retrospect, the financing of their empire seemed like a house of cards. But in the 1920’s, everyone thought them geniuses.

Then or now, many Clevelanders knew little of them. Yet they left Cleveland some gems, including Terminal Tower, Shaker Square, one of the early shopping centers, and Shaker Heights with it wide boulevards, attractive homes, and transit lines. This biography is a valuable account for those interested both in Cleveland history and railroad history. On the latter count, it includes numerous photos of rail stock. The brothers may have been invisible giants but they left visible works of enduring value.