Dick Simpson

Former Chicago alderman Dick Simpson has written an informative look at politics today, with a particular focus on the City of Chicago, and how the problems of today could be fixed. He does a good job balancing the practical and the theoretical and offers a number of appealing solutions.

Simpson's writing style is a bit dry and academic but, if you can get past that, this is an interesting book with plenty of food for thought.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.)… (more)

Far, far from Home was a first for me in that it was the first collection of personal correspondence that I have ever read from the Civil War. It left me with mixed feelings, somewhat. Mainly, the authors aren’t very good at setting up the atmosphere and context in which the letters were written. Though the letters are the focal point of the book, I felt I needed more in order to understand about the brother’s experience. This was most evident in their descriptions of battles, which were brief at best. The other drawback, truthfully, is that the content of the letters is not enough on their own to keep the book interesting. The title is somewhat misleading, in that most of the correspondence is written by Tally Simpson since Dick Simpson fell ill early on in the war. While it is true Tally had the gift of description, there is only so much a reader can take about subjects like food or women. I found my eyes sometimes glazing over while I read. Despite this, the letters do offer some interesting insight and perspective into the Civil War that I hadn’t really explored before. I enjoyed the book, but would only recommend it for ardent scholars of the Civil War.… (more)