Beginnings

"The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history." --Friedrich Hegel

I think what the world needs is another blog. So here I am to supply you with just that. What is this blog about? It's something else the world is in short supply of--a book review blog.

I am what I like to call a history nerd, and most of what I read are history books. My focus is on United States history, though there will probably be no shortage of reviews on other topics, as well as the occasional non-history book. My goal is to review a book approximately every two weeks, depending on when I finish whatever book it is that I am reading.

My first review will be of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, by John Milton Cooper, Jr. Cooper is an expert on Wilson, having wrote several books on the 28th president. Wilson is one of the more controversial presidents in United States history, having presided over one of the most reform-minded administrations and American involvement in World War I. Wilson is probably best known for the League of Nations, an organization whose purpose was to maintain peace in the years after the war. However, the United States never joined the League due to opposition in the U.S. Senate.

Wilson has been controversial for several reasons. First, many have viewed his failure to convince the public and the Senate in the League of Nations debate as a first step towards the Second World War. The general idea is that a League of Nations without the United States as the major player during the 1920s and 1930s was too weak to act as a counterweight to the Nazi regime in Germany. Not sure I buy that though.

Second, Wilson has become a target of conservatives in more recent times. Specifically, Wilson's progressive record in his first term has been a prime target in this era of the Tea Party, especially the creation of the Federal Reserve, in effect a Third National Bank. Also, Glenn Beck consistently uses Wilson's policies as an example of the downfall of American values and the rise of big government.

I will have to reserve judgement on Woodrow Wilson until a later date, hopefully by the end of next week, as I am still reading the book. See ya then.