What to Read Next: August Pulitzer Wrap
Issue #340, featuring some old and outdated history
Happy Friday, readers!
As has been true of every August since our kids started school, this was a little bit of a slower reading month. That said, I still read a handful of great titles, a few of which were Pulitzer winners. I also had my first Pulitzer Project DNF, which I’ll share more about below.
Be sure to check out my Pulitzer spreadsheet, as I’m regularly updating it with review links and progress notes.
Let’s get to it.
August Putlizer Recap
In August, I finished four Pultizer-winning titles and DNFed another:
Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield (1927, Fiction) | Read my review
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (1928, Fiction) | Review coming in two weeks
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2003, Fiction) | Read my review
The History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 by James Ford Rhodes (1918, History) | Review below
The War With Mexico by Justin Harvey Smith (1920, History) | DNF — Review below
Overall progress: 55 out of 382 total titles (that number counts series as a single title).
My favorite of this group was probably The Bridge of San Luis Rey, though I quite enjoyed all the novels. My least favorite was definitely The War With Mexico.
Below is what’s (probably) on tap for September.
Huey Long by T. Harry Williams (1970, Biography)
I’m a couple hundred pages in right now and it’s fantastic
Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin (1929, Fiction)
Didn’t get to this one last month; I definitely will in Sept
Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge (1930, Fiction)
Given Huey Long’s 900 pages, I’m not quite sure how much I’ll get to, so I’m keeping the goal for September relatively lightweight.
A History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 by James Ford Rhodes
Though I’m mostly rambling my way through the non-fiction Pulitzer winners out of order, I decided to read one the History prize’s earliest winners: A History of the Civil War by prominent 19th/20th century historian James Ford Rhodes.
For being over one hundred years old, I found it surprisingly readable and enjoyable from the start. Giving us basically no context or post-Civil War analysis, Rhodes tightly focused on the Civil War years of 1861-1865. It’s an approach you won’t find today and really only worked at the time because it was just one generation removed from the war itself.
Working mostly chronologically, Rhodes methodically made his way through the important battles, figures, and themes of the war, with chapters thrown in that also covered financials, Confederate politics, and daily life for both Northern and Southern civilians. That formula was followed by many other Civil War histories in the decades to come.
A History of the Civil War worked just fine for what it was, but I can’t recommend it for anyone other than a true Civil War aficionado. (For that group, including myself, it’s quite interesting to see the hundred-year-old perspective.) For a single-volume history of the war, you simply won’t beat James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, a 1989 Pulitzer winner that I read a few years ago. Until futher notice, that title is the Civil War history standard bearer.
The War With Mexico by Justin Harvey Smith
Going into this project, I knew I would encounter dated and even offensive history. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with those titles . . . until I encountered Justin Smith’s The War With Mexico.
Published in 1920, this 1,000-page two-volume history details the military history of the Mexican-American War of the 1840s. I made it 110 pages before I had to put it down for good. It was fairly readable and even mostly interesting, but Smith’s unyielding racism towards Mexicans and overwhelming approval of the war’s nationalistic goals was just gross.
There’s no reason for anyone other than a history scholar to consume this title. Instead, read Amy Greenberg’s excellent A Wicked War. (It’s easy to see from that book’s title how most of today’s historians view the Mexican-American War.)
Moving forwad, I’m happy to DNF any prize-winning book that contains racist and ethnocentric/nationalist ideology to a degree that makes my skin crawl. (That’s a rather subjective measure, I know!) The War With Mexico did just that.
Thanks so much for reading. I deeply appreciate your time and inbox space.
-Jeremy
I really appreciate that when it comes to books covering historical subjects, such as the Civil War and the Mexican-American War in this issue, you tend to provide your preferred title on the subject. It's great to come away with your opinion on this title plus a recommendation on a really good alternative. My TBR list benefits a lot!
Two good reviews Jeremy. Your position on Smith’s work is understandable. I saw the racism as well, when I read the work last year and noted as much then: https://x.com/Gardner3J/status/1624882990177308672
It’s a shame because, among other things, it detracts from a well-researched book. And while distorted, Smith does give some depth to Mexico, the key players, their motivations and maneuvering which could only come from such work.
As you wrote, you were forewarned of such histories. Even Rhodes isn’t above engaging the myth of the docile, happy slave in his aforementioned work. More are to come: I had many SMH moments in The Life and Letters of Walter Page from triple-Pulitzer winner Burton Hendrick.
What makes it still somewhat readable to me was to view these examples as history unto itself, the thesis of which is explored by Ibram Kendi in his National Book Award winning work, Stamped From the Beginning: A Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. I read that book before reading some of these older histories and commend it to you. Not saying you won’t have more DNF - something I’m perhaps unfortunately constitutionally incapable of - but hopefully it will provide some additional background when you come across such passages.