Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...
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Book Review: Ted Kennedy The Dream That Never Died by Edward Klein

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Biography Book Review of Ted Kennedy The Dream That Never Died by Edward Klein
Growing up, I frequently saw Ted Kennedy on the news, and I knew that a lot of people didn't him, even democrats. I heard people mumble something about Chappaquiddick, but they'd never really expand on it. It wasn't an event that my history or current event classes ever really mentioned either.

For years, I meant to learn more about Ted Kennedy, so when the biography like Ted Kennedy, The Dream That Never Died was published by Crown Publishers in 2009, I bought the book and read it. The author, Edward Klein, made Kennedy's story much more interesting than I thought it would be.

What surprised me most and disliked about Edward Klein's Ted Kennedy:  The Dream That Never Died was the short length . . . only 226 actual pages to tell the story of Kennedy's life. The remaining pages were reference pages and acknowledgements. It seems like a figure from such a famous family deserves a much more in depth look at his life. Another thing I disliked about the book is that Klein seemed to focus on Kennedy's dark side more and skimped on a lot the good things that he did. With that being said, Klein did answer my questions regarding Chappaquiddick.

All in all, it was a well organized, well written book that gave a great overview of Ted Kennedy's life. It was also written in a way that the most novice reader would enjoy it. I give three out of five stars.


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