Messiah of the Masses : Huey P. Long and the Great Depression (Library of American Biography)

Rating:
Summary: stiff writing & expensive, interesting perspectives on Long
Review: I am a big reader of Huey Long literature, and this book isn't worth the price. I paid thirty-dollars for a book that was 187 pages long, with choppy writing, and little new information on Huey Long. However, Jeansonne does provide very interesting tid-bits and opinions that aren't found in any other Long biographies. I have just re-read this book, and the most interesting parts are Jeansonne's own perspectives on Long. However, the weaknesses of this book are: stiff writing, lack of a strong thesis, an underlying antipathy towards T.H. Williams book, and the price tag. My edition cost $30 direct from the publisher, and it is a soft-bound and small book. I suggest anyone who is interested in Long like I am should buy this book. However, DON'T make this your first choice or your last. Like many Huey Long biographies, it skips over much of Long's career. I strongly suggest reading the T. Harry Williams book and Huey Long's Autobiography "Every Man a King". Da Kapo has done a re-print and it can be bought online.


Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Writing...immensely biased, assumes too much
Review: I am a big reader of Huey Long literature, and this book isn't worth the price. I paid thirty-dollars for a book that was 187 pages long, with choppy writing, and little, if anything new about Long. Glen Jeansonne seems to be very anti-demagogue, which is very rational. However, I believe it consumes him too much and ends up interfering with the facts. I think he wrote this book after his biography of Gerald L.K. Smith (which was a good biography, if stiffly written). Jeansonne writes in a way that mixes commentary with facts, and it can often mislead the reader. He does provide an interesting viewpoint and a good epilogue though. The book is interesting, but is dry, and Jeansonne skips over quite a bit of what good Huey Long did do, and sticks with the bad, portraying him as a womanizing, completely egotistical dictator. Huey was at least two of those things, but Jeansonne works to hard to use Huey's character to make him out to be a completely useless/powermad dictator. I own it, and you may want to add it to your Long library, but buy it second hand, it isn't worth the thirty dollars. 2 stars for writing/accuracy -1 star for price

Rating:
Summary: A well written and enjoyable read.
Review: I read this book for a history class. It was my favorite read of the semester. The author has a good style that keeps your attention, but really that's not hard to do when detailing Mr. Long's life. His story could be a great novel - truth can indeed be stranger than fiction. Huey came very close to becoming President of the U.S. If he had (you will have to read why he did not) we would probably all be living in a very different America today. This book is a good commentary on human nature, too. In this country people think that we could never be controlled by a demagogue, like Germany was under Hitler, for instance. Long's story proves that indeed Americans CAN be duped - we are not special! Highly recommnened for student and lay person alike!

Rating:
Summary: A well written and enjoyable read.
Review: I read this book for a history class. It was my favorite read of the semester. The author has a good style that keeps your attention, but really that's not hard to do when detailing Mr. Long's life. His story could be a great novel - truth can indeed be stranger than fiction. Huey came very close to becoming President of the U.S. If he had (you will have to read why he did not) we would probably all be living in a very different America today. This book is a good commentary on human nature, too. In this country people think that we could never be controlled by a demagogue, like Germany was under Hitler, for instance. Long's story proves that indeed Americans CAN be duped - we are not special! Highly recommnened for student and lay person alike!