Barbara Goldsmith's portrait of suffragette Victoria Woodhull and her times was hailed by George Plimpton as "a beautifully written biography of a remarkable woman" and by Gloria Steinem as "more memorable than a dozen histories." A highly readable combination of history and biography; Other Powers interviews the stories of some of the most colorful social; political; and religious figures of America's Victorian era with the courageous and notorious life of Victoria Woodhull--psychic; suffragette; publisher; presidential candidate; and self-confessed practitioner of free love. It is set amid the battle for women's suffrage; the Spiritualist movement that swept across the nation in the age of Radical Reconstruction following the Civil War; and the bitter fight that pitted black men against white women in the struggle for the right to vote. Peter Gay found Other Powers "Irresistible...this is a biography guaranteed to keep the reader reading." And Gloria Steinem called it "A real-life novel of how one charismatic woman...turned women's suffrage; the church; New York City; and much of the country on its ear."
#656625 in Books Peter Watson 2006-09-26 2006-09-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.36 x 7.38l; 2.43 #File Name: 0060935642848 pagesIdeas A History of Thought and Invention from Fire to Freud
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. An excellent tome; a worthy accomplishmentBy D. LawrenceIt is quite impossible for any one person to say with absolute authority exactly what are all the ideas; concepts; innovations and insights that lead the human forward in the advancement of civilization through the activities of harnessing nature;establishing just laws; instituting the best educational curriculum for social progress; and understanding what psyche is; but the author has taken up the challenge and done exceptionally well. This book is not really a story that starts at some beginning of time and then brings the reader up to a conclusion at our own contemporary time; but instead; is a referential body of the episodes in human history that allowed successive generations of man to build the next future upon and from which then brought forth the steady rise of human betterment. Mr. Watson begins with the civilization of Sumer and proceeds to the last pages with the great scientific breakthroughs of modern physics and American law at the beginning of the 20th century. This is history told in a different light and is one worth reading. One can pick any chapter or any paragraph at random if so desired and find themselves enriched. Or; one can read from beginning to end without interruption. When it is customary for historical work to usually highlight the actions of presidents; titans of commerce; military generals and admirals; campaigns of conquests and the corresponding rise and fall of political systems and their empires; Mr. Watson traces a very different path here and the reader is well rewarded. Does he include all the important philosophers and scientists; engineers and artists and men of medicine? No. But that is not really a shortcoming. He does an adroit job of showing how the rise of man's intellect and improvement in living has been a steady progression of brilliant steps which subtly reveals just what a marvel is the human mind; just what an amazing species are we humans; able to look at the world and pluck out of the imaginative well that is the mind some element that when utilized changes the whole of our world; usually for the good. This book is easy to read; made for any age and lays forth an encouragement that the reader will continue to delve deeper into human history and to pay more attention to those who are often forgotten or ignored in the usual quest of national pride to place triumphant heroes on pedestals to be deified by the common person or to be idolized by some future grandiose politician. I cannot possibly think that any one can truly find fault with the scope and perspective and general aim of this book and what it strives to accomplish.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Great reading if you like broad brush history of ideasBy JackalThis is the stuff our universities should teach; but sadly is seen as too traditional by many of them.Contrary to some recent reviewers I find this to be a non-academic; journalistic account of important ideas in human history (as opposed to a deep-thinking academic account). An author of such a book will have some choice of what to include and not to include. I might not agree with all the author's choices; but that is actually a good thing. In other words; the book surprised me on a number of occasions. Since the author is not an academic he is not mentally bound with a specific way of presenting the ideas. On a slightly negative note; it is clear that the author in many cases is just adding material from other sources that he is not familiar with. This is not good; but it would be inhuman to expect the author to be familiar with all the material between the fire and psychoanalysis.Also contrary to some recent reviews; the book spends time talking about Arabic; Indian and Chinese contributions. Having said that; the book is written from the Western tradition. Since the Western culture that has managed to stay on top for 2;000 years; I find this a perfectly fine choice: Give credit where credit is due; but stick with a Western perspective.Readers with some knowledge of history (and geography) will find this book more valuable. If you for instance are not already familiar with the Muslim rule in Spain; that chapter will be less pleasant to read. So you need some good high school education. If you want a good education; irrespective of your age; you should read this book with a pencil in hand.In fact if you only want to read one book on the topic; this is probably the best choice too. Much more readable than a textbook.The book ends with Freud; because the author has another book on the 20th century.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great readBy KneepsExcellent book on intellectual history. Watson writes in an engaging style and the breadth of his scholarship is impressive. Seemed a little speculative in the prehistory component but; in fairness; this information does need some interpretation and interpolation to be meaningful. I haven't completed the book yet but I feel that it's well worth the time it takes.
