The American History Shelf

The Lionkeeper of Algiers
Des Ekin
Prometheus Books
c/o Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rowman.com
9781633888630, $29.95, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lionkeeper-Algiers-American-Captive-Homeland/dp/1633= 888630

Synopsis: In 1785, just a few years after U.S. Independence, a young Americ=
an named James Leander Cathcart is kidnapped at sea and carried as prisoner=
to the maverick North African statelet of Algiers, where he is held as a p= olitical hostage along with hundreds of other seamen captured on the open s= eas. The piratical corsairs of Algiers have decided, without any warning, t=
o exploit the vulnerability of the newborn United States by seizing its mar= iners and holding them for ransom while ruthlessly exploiting their free la= bor.

Today, the name of James Leander Cathcart has been all but forgotten by his= tory. And yet he was one of the most remarkable figures in the early histor=
y of the fledgling United States.

With the publication of "The Lionkeeper of Algiers: How an American Captive=
Rose to Power in Barbary and Saved His Homeland from War", author Des Ekin=
reveals the extraordinary and unlikely story of Cathcart, who, thanks to h=
is flair for languages and his formidable human intuition, rose steadily up=
the ranks from lionkeeper at the Dey's private zoo to becoming Chief Clerk=
at the Palace, along the way amassing a chain of taverns in Algiers that f= unctioned as safe houses and food banks for American prisoners.

Eleven years later, just one among more than one hundred US hostages in Alg= iers, Cathcart was paroled back to America and charged with delivering a vi= tal letter to President George Washington, saving a tenuous peace deal and = bringing the other captives home. Remarkably, his sense of honor compelled = him to go back to Algiers (where he had never formally been made free) to s=
ee the peace project through. Cathcart would go on to become a U.S. diploma=
t in the lands where he was held captive for more than a decade.

Featuring some of the most prominent Americans of the era like Thomas Jeffe= rson and John Adams, as well as ordinary citizens like Hannah Stephens, the=
wife of a sea captain who tirelessly lobbied Congress until she was finall=
y reunited with her husband after more than a decade, author Des Ekin's cap= tivating storytelling brings this adventure to life. This page-turning narr= ative follows the twists and turns of Cathcart's own life upon the internat= ional stage of diplomacy, trade, and maritime statecraft at a time when Ame= rica's place in the world was hanging in the balance.

Critique: The American story is replete with heroes and heroism that have f= aded into an undeserved obscurity -- and the story of James Leander Cathcar=
t is one of the most deserving to be brought to the attention of a new gene= ral of Americans. Exceptionally well researched, written, organized and pre= sented, "The Lionkeeper of Algiers: How an American Captive Rose to Power i=
n Barbary and Saved His Homeland from War" deserves as wide a readership as=
possible and so is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and un= iversity library American History collections. It should be noted for the p= ersonal reading lists of students, academia, historians, and non-specialist=
general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Lionkeeper of Al= giers" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $21.49).

Editorial Note: Des Ekin (https://obrien.ie/des-ekin) is an historian and j= ournalist. Former Deputy Editor of the Belfast Sunday News, he worked as a = journalist, columnist, and finally Political Correspondent for The Sunday W= orld (Ireland's second biggest newspaper) until 2012. Twice shortlisted for=
the Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year (The Stolen Village, 2006; The Last = Armada, 2014), he is the author of five books. Stateside, his writing has a= ppeared in the Chicago Tribune, and the Dallas Morning News, among others. = "The Lionkeeper of Algiers" is his first project of wholly American history=
..

War Along the Wabash
Steven P. Locke
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636242682, $37.95, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/War-Along-Wabash-Confederacys-Destruction/dp/1636242= 685

Synopsis: On November 4, 1791, a coalition of warriors determined to set th=
e Ohio River as a permanent boundary between tribal lands and white settlem= ents faced off against an army led by Arthur St. Clair -- the resulting hor= rific struggle ended in the greatest defeat of an American army at the hand=
s of Native Americans.

The road to the battle of the Wabash began when Arthur St. Clair was appoin= ted to lead an army into the heart of the Ohio Indian Confederacy while bui= lding a string of fortifications along the way. He would face difficulties =
in recruiting, training, feeding, and arming volunteer soldiers.

From the moment St. Clair's shattered force began its retreat from the Waba=
sh the men blamed the officers, and the officers in turn blamed their men. = For over two centuries most historians have blamed either the officer corps=
, enlisted soldiers, an entangled logistical supply line, poor communicatio= ns, or equipment. The destruction of the army resulted in a stunned Congres=
s authorizing a regular army in 1792.

This book, the result of 30 years' research, puts the battle into the conte=
xt of the last quarter of the 18th century, exploring how the central impor= tance of land ownership to Europeans arriving in North America resulted in = unrelenting demographic pressure on indigenous tribes, as well as the enorm= ous obstacles standing in the way of the fledgling American Republic in pay= ing off its enormous war debts.

With the publication of "War Along the Wabash: The Ohio Indian Confederacy'=
s Destruction of the US Army, 1791", historian Steven P. Locke presents the=
story of how a small band of determined indigenous peoples defended their = homeland, destroyed an invading American army, and forced a fundamental shi=
ft in the way in which the United States waged war.

Critique: Rescuing from an undeserved obscurity one of the great triumphs o=
f 18th Century Native Americans over the U. S. Military, "War Along the Wab= ash: The Ohio Indian Confederacy's Destruction of the US Army, 1791" is a s= eminal work of meticulous research and scholarship that is further enhanced=
for the reader with the inclusion of a six page Bibliography, fourteen pag=
es of Endnotes, and a six page Index. While also available in a digital boo=
k format (Kindle, $22.95) for the personal reading lists of students, acade= mia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject, "W=
ar Along the Wabash: The Ohio Indian Confederacy's Destruction of the US Ar= my, 1791" must be regarded as a core and unreservedly recommended addition =
to community and academic library 18th Century American History and Native = American History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Steven P. Locke is a retired curator of history for the Ohi=
o Historical Society. He served in the US Army National Guard, then taught = history in the Granville, Ohio, Exempted School District. He studied at bot=
h undergraduate and graduate level at the Ohio State University. (https://w= ww.facebook.com/people/Steven-P-Locke/100069884282603)

This Place of Promise
Gary R. Kremer
University of Missouri Press
113 Heinkel Bldg., 201 S. 7th Street, Columbia, MO 65211 https://upress.missouri.edu
9780826222480, $40.00, HC, 328pp

https://www.amazon.com/This-Place-Promise-Historians-Perspective/dp/0826222= 48X

Synopsis: Conceived of as a way to commemorate Missouri's bicentennial of s= tatehood, "This Place of Promise: A Historian's Perspective on 200 Years of=
Missouri History" is a unique work that presents the perspective of Profes= sor Gary Kremer (one of the Show-Me State's foremost historians), as he pon= ders why history played out as it did over the course of the two centuries = since Missouri's admittance to the Union.

In the writing of what is much more than a survey history, Professor Kremer=
, himself a fifth-generation Missourian, infuses the narrative with his vas=
t knowledge and personal experiences, even as he considers what being a Mis= sourian has meant across the many years and to this day, to all of the stat= e's people, and how the forces of history (time, place, race, gender, relig= ion, and class) shaped people and determined their opportunities and choice=
s, in turn creating collective experiences that draw upon the past in an at= tempt to make sense of the present and plan for the future.

Key elements of "This Place of Promise: A Historian's Perspective on 200 Ye= ars of Missouri History" include the centrality of race to the Missouri exp= erience from the time Missourians began to seek statehood in 1817 all the w=
ay up to the Black Lives Matter movement of the 21st century -- as well as = ongoing tensions created by the urban-rural divide and struggle to define t=
he proper role of government in society.

Critique: A fascinating and informative history of the state, "This Place o=
f Promise: A Historian's Perspective on 200 Years of Missouri History" is a=
n exceptionally well written, organized and presented study that is especia= lly and unreservedly recommended as a key acquisition for personal, profess= ional, community, and academic library American History collections in gene= ral and supplemental curriculum Missouri History studies lists in particula=
r. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general re= aders with an interest in the subject that "This Place of Promise: A Histor= ian's Perspective on 200 Years of Missouri History" is also available in a = paperback edition (9780826222879, $27.95) and in a digital book format (Kin= dle, $20.99).

Editorial Note: Gary R. Kremer (https://shsmo.org/about/trustees/gary-kreme=
r) is a fifth-generation Missourian, born and raised in a small, homogenous=
German Catholic community in Osage County. Since 2004, he has served as th=
e Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri and a Seni=
or Fellow in the Society's Center for Missouri Studies. Among his many publ= ications are James Milton Turner and the Promise of America: The Public Lif=
e of a Post-Civil War Black Leader; George Washington Carver: In His Own Wo= rds; Women in Missouri History: In Search of Power and Influence; George Wa= shington Carver: A Biography; and Race and Meaning: The African American Ex= perience in Missouri. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Histor= ical Review.

Left in the Midwest
Amanda L. Izzo, editor
Benjamin Looker, editor
University of Missouri Press
113 Heinkel Bldg., 201 S. 7th Street, Columbia, MO 65211 https://upress.missouri.edu
9780826222688, $50.00, HC, 554pp

https://www.amazon.com/Left-Midwest-Louis-Progressive-Activism/dp/082622268=
4

Synopsis: Despite St. Louis's mid-twentieth-century reputation as a conserv= ative and sleepy midwestern metropolis, the city and its surrounding region=
have long played host to dynamic forms of social-movement organizing. This=
was especially the case during the 1960s and 1970s, when a new generation =
of local activists lent their energies to the ongoing struggles for Black f= reedom, lesbian and gay liberation, feminist social transformations, enviro= nmental protection, an end to the Vietnam War, and more.

Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Amanda Izzo and Benjamin Looker, = "Left in the Midwest: St. Louis Progressive Activism in the 1960s and 1970s=
" is a seminal and groundbreaking work that offers fifteen scholarly contri= butions that together bring into focus the exceptional range of progressive=
activist projects that took shape in a single midwestern city during these=
tumultuous decades.

In contrast to scholarship that seeks to interpret the era's social-movemen=
t initiatives in a primarily national context, the works presented in this = expansive collection emphasize the importance of locality, neighborhood, co= mmunity institutions, and rooted social networks. Documenting wrenching for= ces of metropolitan change as well as grassroots resilience,

"Left in the Midwest" also shows us how place powerfully shaped agendas, wo= rldviews, and opportunities for the disparate groups that dedicated themsel= ves to progressive visions for their city. By revising our sense of the reg= ion's past, this volume also expands our sense of the possibilities that th=
e future may hold for activist movements seeking change in St. Louis and be= yond.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with a listing of the contr= ibutors and their credentials, seventy pages of Notes, and a twenty page In= dex, "Left in the Midwest: St. Louis Progressive Activism in the 1960s and = 1970s" is an extraordinary contribution to 20th century American Political = History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. While unrese= rvedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic libr= ary Civil Rights, Gender Studies, and LGBTA Demographic Studies collections=
, it should be note for students, academia, political activists, and non-sp= ecialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Left in the = Midwest: St. Louis Progressive Activism in the 1960s and 1970s" is also ava= ilable in a paperback edition (9780826222862, $35.00) and in a digital book=
format (Kindle, $35.00).

Editorial Note #1: Amanda L. Izzo is an associate professor of Women's and = Gender Studies at Saint Louis University. A scholar of US women's history, = she received her PhD from the American Studies program of Yale University. = She is the author of Liberal Christianity and Women's Global Activism : The=
YWCA of the USA and the Maryknoll Sisters. (https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-s= ciences/women-gender-studies/faculty/izzo-amanda.php)

Editorial Note #2: Benjamin Looker is an associate professor of American St= udies at Saint Louis University, with a PhD in American Studies from Yale U= niversity. His most recent book, A Nation of Neighborhoods: Imagining Citie=
s, Communities, and Democracy in Postwar America, was a recipient of "best-= book" awards from organizations including the American Studies (https://www= ..slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/american-studies/faculty/benjamin-looker.php) As= sociation and the Urban History Association.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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(dot) com

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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