Newt Gingrich

Really, I'm trying, though this didn't help. Newt Gingrich is an intelligent man, and I thought he might have some insight into Trump that might help me stomach the remaining 3 years. I was prepared for his party line and obvious slant, but not for the full scale sellout this book embodies. Gingrich wrote this right after Trump took office, and I have to wonder if a year later, it would still be as gushing. Many of the key players he lauds are already past history (Rex Tillerson for one) and show more some of the behavior that was justifiably explained then is indefensible now. I'm marking this here and now with the on-off North Korea summit, just to see what another year brings. Moreover, this book is written at a grade-school level with simplistic concepts. Here's the gist: "Donald J. Trump has a very clear set of guiding prinicples that informs the positions he takes and the way he governs as president. These principles are best illustrated by imagining a four-sided table. One side of the table is anti-Left, one is anti-stupid, one is anti-political correctness, and the fourth is pro-American. No matter what action Trump takes, you can be sure it falls somewhere on the table." (24). Another example, that takes up the majority of the book after the initial defense of Trump's rise to power is the 4 boxes of Trump's government:(the Safety Box, the American Competitive Box, the Health Box, the Making-Government-Work Box, verbatim) This is the model Gingrich proposed to Trump and I have to believe it was in these exact terms. Really, this book is more about Gingrich's vision and how he would like Trump to adopt it, though I wonder how he feels that's working out for him to date. Gingrich is enamored of an essay (he even includes it in the appendix) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that puts forth the idea of "The Intellectual Yet Idiot" and he references this "amazing term" at every turn. These are people who are "highly qualified on paper but bereft of real practical intelligence." (63) I will concede that Trump definitely doesn't fit this mold, and that there is a large group of politicians, policy-makers, lobbyists, etc. who do and who have had power for far too long. However, appealing to people's baser instincts and name-calling, fear-mongering, and tweeting insults and taunts isn't the remedy. Then all we are left with is "idiot." Gingrich needs to assert his own leadership instead of writing Trump apologetics. show less

I inadvertently read the 2nd book, Valley Forge, begore realizing it was a part of a series. To Try Men's Souls was nearly as good.

I think one of the things that held the book back just a bit was how the authors hit you over the head, time again, with the suffering of the American soldiers as they crossed the Delaware and marched to Trenton. Granted, it's important for us to remember their trials, but after awhile, it's gets a bit tedious.

I think the strongest part of the book is early on as show more we spend time with Thomas Paine as he struggles to write a follow-up to Common Sense. He picks up lines from his fellow soldiers and ends up working it into An American Crisis.

If you're a student of the American Revolution, I'd heartedly encourage you to read this book. show less

I was very aware of the gravity of the subject of this book as I dove into it, but that did not damper my amazement and astonishment of just what these brave men did on that Christmas night back in 1776 to literally save this burgeoning and embryonic nation from being a permanent English colony. I have no doubts to the legitimacy of the events in this book, but what made this tale hit so deep is the wonderful characterizations that Gingrich/Forstchen gave historic people like Washington, show more Knox, Paine, Adams and various soldiers within the context of this event. If anything, I had trouble with the first half of the book or so because it was sooooo depressing, manifesting itself through the moods and actions of George Washington himself. I think that is the real brilliance of this book as the reader is transported from that to the successful actions of the patriot army as they stormed Trenton and literally caught the Hessians asleep in their homes and bunkers, Washington's pride beaming through all the way. The authors also very smartly portray the conflict Washington felt along the way. Paine's contributions to the morale through his publication of The American Crisis is neatly inserted here as well, Gingrich/Forstchen presenting him as a very, very tortured soul.

In short, entertaining, inspiring, and just amazing to think of what the founders of this nation had to do just so today we can call ourselves Americans and not bow to a king (well, for a while longer, anyway). I wish more middle/high school kids would read books like this to get an understanding of what it took to create the greatest political experiment in human history and just what is currently at stake. show less

I did not high expectations for this book when I began it, but it turned out much better than I expected. The story of the crossing of the Delaware was told through three viewpoints: George Washington, an army private, and Thomas Paine (author of Common Sense). The shifting viewpoints were interesting, but I really liked getting Paine's point of view. He's not a character who has been explored in depth in my prior readings. I like how the value of his writings were shown through other show more characters as important to the American Revolution. I also liked how Gingrich and Forstchen developed his character as a whole. A very pleasant surprise read. show less