Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)

Mrs. Bowen evokes the Philadelphia of 1787 beautifully during the Constitutional Convention and the gathering of such illustrious minds that went into the shaping of America. She has the touch of a master storyteller: every scene is vivid and real like reading the kind of novel that makes you feel like you are there. You can feel how humid it was that summer and how quiet it was at night. I could feel the presence of the watchman and could feel what it was like to go to sleep at night in show more those homes. Mrs. Bowen-a former musician turned self-taught historian- had really found her genius in writing history. I would love to read any book by her.

*Granted, some of the technical parts are "dry" but it's about the Constitution so some parts will be technical.* show less

In Family Portrait Bowen paints, in an modest and quiet way quite in character with her roots, a portrait of her truly gifted and remarkable Philadelphia family (her aunt was the painter Cecilia Beaux) by delving into her roots and exploring, albeit with a delicacy unheard of nowadays, some of the psychological issues that seem to go hand in hand with strong character and near (or actual) genius. Bowen, at 73, in 1970, was a master of her craft and while, at times, the narrative sometimes show more seems to get caught in eddies of smaller details-- those are lighter moments in an overall darker pattern. Of the six children, four made significant accomplishments in law, writing, and medicine. Of those four, one, Cecil, perhaps the one in their generation most like aunt Cecilia Beaux, lived the uneasy life of unacknowledged alcoholism. If the memoir has a theme, which I think it does, it is exploring the narrow edge between driving yourself to accomplish great things, and driving yourself (and those around you) mad. To those who like memoirs, especially those that follow the development of several generations of an interesting and admirable family (from the mid 19th century to about 1950) Family Portrait is a classic read and I highly recommend it. ***** show less

Miracle at Philadelphia is the summary of the Federal Convention meeting in the City of Brotherly Love in the summer of 1787. Of course, its output was the United States Constitution.

The story is told in three parts, which don't always flow together very well. The first third follows a fairly chronological arrangement, where we hear about each day's speeches. Bowen gives us brief descriptions of the men at the meeting, even including what they were likely wearing. She also gives brief show more biographies, giving us some indication as to their likely confederacies during the meeting.

About midway through the convention, Bowen suddenly stops and gives us a general overview about the "state of the union" in the 1780s. She talks about the various problems with the then-current "united" states, when states would work together only when it ultimately benefited them. This history would probably have worked better as a prologue, but she covers a lot of territory (both figuratively and literally) so it might have seemed like the convention would never get started if this part came first.

The final part is an odd conglomeration of ideas. One of the strangest rules during the convention was that any vote -- even unanimous ones -- could be brought up again for further discussion later in the proceedings. And this was not a group of men to let any idea go undiscussed! So many of the concepts that would later be written into the Constitution, including the separation of powers and the election of representatives, are debated over and over, so Bowen follows them to the end of each topic, rather than bounce back and forth chronologically.

Even with this peculiar mix of telling the story, it's a very powerful tale. Each of the men that attended were patriots, each trying to figure out a way to make the country better. For every idea advanced, it seemed there was an equally-powerful opposing argument. The story doesn't skip over slavery, although her treatment does seem fairly perfunctory. And due to her type of storytelling, Bowen does not use footnotes or endnotes, but much of the story comes directly from Madison's notes.

True scholars will skip right ahead to the primary sources, but anyone else wanting a well-told history of a major world event should read this book. (I actually started the book on Constitution Day, September 17, which I thought was interesting timing.)

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LT Haiku:

Constitutional
Formation in the very
Hot Philly summer. show less

Yes I know this looks like a ridiculous book to read, but the only thing ridiculous is how hard it is to get the thing and how good it is. Actually it's not that hard. You can buy it on Amazon new for 170 bucks. I was working in the Law Library last summer and I came upon it in the stacks and thought it was probably the only book worth reading in the entire collection except for, of course, Gastonia 1929: the Story of the Loray Mill Strike (communists, murder, rednecks: the only book that show more has ever featured communists and rednecks together).
Sir Edward Coke was an extraordinary man. He pretty much upheld English common law single-handedly against the absolutist minded Stuarts. Because he fought tooth and nail we now enjoy freedom of speech, Habeous Corpus, procedure and jurisdiction and he can probably be accorded credit for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The prose is engaging and rich. The cast of characters is long and so is the important historical events that Coke was witness to and an actor in: the Spanish Armada, the Union of the Crowns, the Gunpowder Plot, the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh. the British Civil War, Sir Francis Bacon being a toady little jerk while also establishing the scientific method and creating the game "Six Degrees of Separation from Sir Francis Bacon" (not as fun as it sounds). You can easily see why it won the 1956 National Book Award, or at least I can. show less