Canadian Meets the South: Recent Episodes
Cedric Ramirez
This podcast will mostly be reviews on books written by American Southerners or on topics related to the American South from a Canadian perspective.
In this episode, I review Lynne Cheney's book“The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation.”
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531099/the-virginia-dynasty-by-lynne-cheney/
In this episode, I reviewed The Anabaptist Story by WIlliam R. Estep.
An old version of the book is available for free on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/20191217theanabaptiststory/page/n1/mode/2up
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1253770.The_Anabaptist_Story
In this episode, I review Bust Hell Wide Open by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. Known for his tactical prowess as a Confederate general and as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Mitcham goes over the important details of Forrest's life, including before and after the War.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29563506-bust-hell-wide-open/
In this episode, I review African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals by David Hackett Fischer. I recommend reading his previous book, Albion's Seed, as African Founders act as a companion book. I also touch on immigration, both during the Colonial Period and modern times.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58438531-african-founders
In this episode, I reviewed The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe by David I. Kertzer.
I expected it to cover Pius IX's entire papacy, but it only really covered the first few years. I was initially interested in Pius IX because he was the longest serving Pope (32 years) and he wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
In this episode, I review American Nations by Colin Woodard (2012). It's been a while since I uploaded a new episode. Thank you for watching.
Official page of the book: https://colinwoodard.com/books/american-nations/
In this episode, I review Calhoun: American Heretic (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52044030-calhoun). I think I refer to John C. Calhoun: American Portrait's author as Margaret Mead, instead of Margaret Coit (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1542187.John_C_Calhoun?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_25).
I was glad to learn new things about Calhoun in this biography, even though I was going into it knowing the author would bring up slavery a lot. Brion McClanahan talked about this book a few times on his podcast and I finally got around to listening to it.
In this episode, I review Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821184-embattled-rebel) I'm glad that McPherson lets the readers know from the beginning that he is a Union man and that he would try to judge Davis without comparing him to Lincoln. I guess a lot of pro-Union writers love to compare Lincoln to Davis. Certainly, I learned much from this book.
In this episode, I review James C. Klotter's book Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36464393-henry-clay). This book focuses on Clay's 5 unsuccessful attempts at becoming President. He's pretty important when it comes to the centralization of the United States as his idea of the American System was important to his disciple, Abraham Lincoln.
In this episode, I review At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise That Saved the Union by Robert V. Remini (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7950142-at-the-edge-of-the-precipice). The book showcases the events of the Compromise of 1850 through Senator Henry Clay's point of view and vilifies President Zachary Taylor to a certain extent. Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore succeeds him, but the omnibus bill that the Compromise was drafted from was unraveled. So, Senator Stephen Douglas pushed for the Compromise as 5 separate bills. Sectional tensions were hot in the United States back then and, today, they are also pretty hot in both Canada and the United States.
Hello, everyone. In this episode, I review Light-Horse Harry Lee: The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero - The Tragic Life of Robert E. Lee's Father by Ryan Cole (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39858868-light-horse-harry-lee). I found it interesting that the author contrasted Light-Horse Harry Lee with his famous son, Robert. Both fought for Virginia, but for different reasons.
Hello everyone! I haven't posted in 4 months, but it is good to be back. Initially, I had planned to go through From Manassas to Appomattox by James Longstreet (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/775254.From_Manassas_To_Appomattox?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mKFTbW2yrs&rank=1), but I didn't really enjoy going through it. After, I went through Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32081.Albion_s_Seed). This is the book I chose to review for this episode.
Politically, a lot has happened in the last 4 months in Canada. I have other books to review this year. Thank you for tuning in to the podcast!
In this episode, I reviewed The South Was Right! by James Ronald Kennedy and Donald Walter Kennedy, who are twin brothers. This was the 3rd edition of their book, which came out in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/868869.The_South_Was_Right_
I recently finished listening to the audiobook It Wasn’t About Slavery: Exposing the Great Lie of the Civil War by Samuel W. Mitcham. Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43909471-it-wasn-t-about-slavery?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jaHAx7Vlmq&rank=1
The book didn't just talk about tariffs in the antebellum Union. It also explains how the African Slave Trade started and how Yankees profited heavily from it for many years.
In this episode, I review Pulitzer Prize-winner The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...) and its sequel The Last Full Measure by son Jeff Shaara (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...). These are the sequels to Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara, which I reviewed last episode. Together, these 3 books are one trilogy.
In this episode, I review Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara. In the next two episodes, I will review the other 2 books in the trilogy. The 2nd book, The Killer Angels, written by his father Michael Shaara, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29925.Gods_and_Generals
In this episode, I talk about American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup by F.H. Buckley. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52188682-american-secession
This month, I reviewed John C. Calhoun: American Portrait by Margaret L. Coit. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1951. It goes over his entire life and explains his philosophy as a states' rights man and a Unionist.
John C. Calhoun is considered by many to be the most important Vice President of the United States who never became President. Along with Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, he was part of The Great Triumvirate. From the War of 1812 until the Compromise of 1850, these 3 men were considered the most important Americans, overshadowing the Presidents of this time period.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1542187.John_C_Calhoun?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=2bqevxRuZH&rank=2
I continue reviewing The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government by Jefferson Davis. I had reviewed Volume 1 in the previous episode.
Here is where I listened to Volume 2 for free: https://librivox.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-confederate-government-volume-2-by-jefferson-davis/
This episode, I reviewed the first volume of The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government by Jefferson Davis. My next episode will be on the second volume.
I listened on librivox.org.
Vol 1a: https://librivox.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-confederate-government-volume-1a-by-jefferson-davis/
Vol 1b: https://librivox.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-confederate-government-volume-1b-by-jefferson-davis/
In this episode, I reviewed Brion McClanahan's book How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America. The book doesn't just cover Alexander Hamilton, but also 3 U.S. Supreme Court Justices who carried out his nationalist dream: John Marshall, Joseph Story and Hugo Black. I listened to the audiobook on Audible. Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34557853-how-alexander-hamilton-screwed-up-america
This podcast will mostly be reviews on books by or on American Southerners.
First episode of the new podcast. I'll try to improve my speaking ability as time goes on.