history – Page 2 – Finding My Wings

‘TRIBE: On Homecoming and Belonging’

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TRIBE by Sebastian Junger (Twelve, Hachette Book Group, 2016)
In 40 words or less: An outgrowth of a June 2015 article on soldiers’ PTSD long after leaving the battlefield, Junger posits what is it about modern society that has created this problem. Using recognized research and his observations, Junger provides food for thought.
Genre: Nonfiction/Anthropology
Time: 300 plus years of communities
Read this for an interesting take on the how individualism and independence may leave our society vulnerable to depression, PTSD and other problems.

Sebastian Junger is a familiar name to many for his book The Perfect Storm about the New England fisherman caught as three weather fronts came together in 1991. His writing is fiercely analytical, bringing together the individual, societal and (in that case) climatological factors that marked that tragedy.

Junger spent time embedded with troops in Afghanistan. As a journalist, filmmaker, and long form author, he was struck by the strong bonding of military units regardless of the ethnic, racial, intellectual and social differences that might divide in other environments. Junger saw wounded soldiers desperate to return to their units rather than to be sent home. Many of the same strong and courageous individuals had severe and long-lasting difficulties reintegrating upon returning home. TRIBE is his effort to understand why.

This brief book, less than 140 pages, refers to dozens of psychological, sociological and anthropological studies, business and newspaper articles on the evolution of tribal and group behavior. The primary exemplars are tribes, going back to ancient times through early America, who’s communities were completely interdependent with well-defined communal roles. His contention is the superiority of this model is reinforced by the resistance of captured American settlers to return to their communities, often fleeing to return to those who had been their captors.

Junger asserts that that interdependence is seen in military units and that the loss of it causes/exacerbates reintegration difficulties. On the civilian side, he suggests that this lack of fundamental purposefulness contributes to some instances of depression, abuse of medical insurance and other behaviors. As evidence, he shares data that suggests catastrophes such as 9/11 resulted in reductions in suicide and symptoms of depression. Rather than turning inward, people reached out to help others both selflessly and to fulfill a need to contribute to making society whole. In my opinion, his assessment might also be worth looking at in terms of gang members and those who have been incarcerated.

This is not an academic treatise nor does he proport to be a scholar. Having said that, I’d recommend it to those who study societal dynamics, social workers, and particularly those involved in the serious problem of appropriately training our military and reintegrating them into civilian service. Even if he isn’t spot on, his work provides a starting point for discussion.

In ‘Epitaph’ a century-old story has very modern overtones

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Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell (Ecco, 2015) audiobook narrated by Hillary Huber (HarperAudio)
In 40 words or less: Masterful research brings the history and people of the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral to life. Vivid descriptions and dialog fill out the political and social history. It will change any assumptions you may have of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.
Genre: Historical fiction
Locale: Arizona Territory
Time: Primarily 1880-1882
Read this for a well-written story and a better understanding of the human stories and political dynamics of the Arizona Territory. Today’s Republicans and Democrats have nothing on them.

Only a fool would try to pigeon-hole Mary Doria Russell’s writing style. Her first novel, The Sparrow, captured numerous science fiction awards. A Thread of Grace, a historical novel of the Italian Resistance and the Holocaust was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Epitaph is her second novel about two of the West’s most celebrated figures – Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. I’ve been a fan for more than a decade and was not disappointed with Epitaph.

Tombstone, Arizona Territory in the early 1880’s was a bustling town with more than 10,000 people, two newspapers and all the standard businesses of the period. All sides in Post-Civil War politics were well-represented in the Territory, vying for the power to determine the future of its evolving government.

Local politics were very fractious in the counties in the Territory. Winning the position of Sheriff was financially very lucrative, receiving often 10% of taxes collected. And since there often were alliances with assessors, mudslinging and shady deals were not uncommon. Cowboys were a synonym for rustlers and stagecoaches were often targets for robberies. Lawmen often had more than one boss, truly a gun for hire. As Russell lays out the complicated circumstances that led up to the shootout, the politics and shifting business loyalties often put lawmen directly in the line of fire.

Medical science was brought out through Doc Holliday’s ongoing battle with tuberculosis and the slow and painful death of President Garfield, due to infection, after he was shot by Charles Giteau. In the aftermath of the shootout, Holliday, a dentist by training, insisted over their objections that the doctors use hygienic practices to treat the Earps’ wounds. Alcoholism and laudanum dependence mirror today’s substance abuse issues. At every step, Russell enriches the understanding of life at that time.

Many stories about the West give women minor roles. Josie (Sadie) Marcus’ left a privileged life in San Francisco’s Jewish community to seek fame and fortune with a theater company, like her idol Sarah Bernhardt. Achieving minor success, she hitches her star to a political aspirant and moves with him to Tombstone. There she develops a friendship with Doc Holliday and he keeps an eye out for her, recognizing she is in an unhealthy relationship. Josie leaves the unscrupulous philanderer, prostituting herself to make ends meet. Only after many missteps does Wyatt’s and Josie’s decades-long love story begin. Each of the Earp brothers brought a woman with him when they left Kansas for Arizona. Russell deftly brings out their different interests and temperaments, as she does with each of the brothers.

At every turn, another aspect of the complexity of life at this time is revealed in Epitaph. Interested in the role of gambling or immigrant issues? It’s there. Border and political issues with the Mexican government are there, too. The local papers are controlled by competing political groups. Epitaph provides a striking reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

A very able narrator, Hillary Huber, read the audiobook as I traveled from Florida back home to the DC area. While her skill and careful differentiation of characters through tone and accent added an extra dimension to the novel, it is Mary Doria Russell’s words and storytelling that carry the day however the book is “read.” In this political crazy season, Epitaph is a perfect book to carry you away while reminding you that change will happen again and again and again.

History, One Character at a Time: Fiction

One of the beauties of historical fiction is having a lens to see shattering events through the eyes of a small number of characters. For many, troop movements, names of battles and the immense number of casualties is beyond comprehension. The human toll of war is lost in the numbers. Successful authors of high quality historical fiction devote more time to research than writing. As a reader, the novels are a first step to re-examining a time in history. But it is critical to remember these books are fiction. Here are five titles to add to your reading list.

Hungary was occupied much later in WWII at a time when the Nazis were desperate for labor to continue their march. As such, the men taken by the Nazis, both Jews and non-Jews, were often subjected to back-breaking slave labor conditions, felling trees, digging roadways and other activities designed to increase the Nazi reach. In the historical novel, The Invisible Bridge, Julie Orringer’s follows two families from the cultural and educational heights of the late 1930’s in Paris and Budapest through the devastation and aftermath of the war. While the story itself is clearly fiction, the underlying setting is carefully researched and paints a detailed portrait of the vise-like shrinking of normalcy in daily life as the Nazi influence and power spread.

It is easy to forget how big the world is and how remote many areas were during World War II. Nathacha Appanah’s The Last Brother is set on Mauritius, a British colony in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The reader first encounters Raj as an older man, looking back at his life. Raj was born on the island, home to a sugar factory and subsistence economy, beset by the vagaries of nature. During a horrific storm, Raj’s brothers are swept away. The tender ministrations of his mother cannot offset his father’s temper and brutality.

One day a ship delivers to a fenced camp on the coast hundreds of white-skinned people, some with yellow hair and blue eyes, completely different in appearance from the local population. Through the fence, Raj makes a friend and finds a brother. The island’s population knows little about these imprisoned people, where they came from or why they are being held. This is a heart-wrenching story of family, friendship and loss, set in 1944 when a ship actually did bring European Jews trying to escape to Palestine to an interment camp. This small but powerful book tells a story that resonates far beyond its time or place. Continue reading History, One Character at a Time: Fiction

History, One Character at a Time: Nonfiction

Flyover commemorating the 70th anniversary of VE Day, May 8, 2015. View from the grounds of the Washington Monument.

Seventy years ago on May 8, 1945, the European portion of World War II finally came to an end. By the time I was in a high school history class, twenty-five years later, the presentation of this period was relegated to a series of alliances and dates. That the fathers of classmates were genuine heroes was never mentioned – they moved on to start careers and build families. Others’ parents, grandparents and relatives had fled Europe as the Nazis rose. Some came to the US after the war, bearing emotional and physical scars. That, too, remained unspoken for the most part except possibly in whispers outside the earshot of the children.

So I admit with some embarrassment that it has taken me decades to develop a richer understanding of this period, with all its complexities. The lengthy enumeration of dates and battles that marks many a history tome was a real turn off. It’s the explosion of character-driven historical narratives and well-researched historical fiction that have piqued my curiosity. Continue reading History, One Character at a Time: Nonfiction

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