ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Simon Schama, author of [b:Citizens|706|The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book)|Jon Stewart|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157224104s/706.jpg|1589081] (a history of the French revolution) and [b:Embarrassment of Riches|21073|The Embarrassment of Riches An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age|Simon Schama|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301809s/21073.jpg|965311] (a cultural history of the Dutch), has authored a strange little book entitled Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations . I say strange, because while I've enjoyed it, I can't figure it out. Basically, he describes two historical events from several perspectives, and the link between the two is tenuous indeed. We begin with a fictional account of the death of Wolfe on the heights of Abraham in Quebec seen through the eyes of a soldier participating in the battle. Schama then proceeds to describe the accuracy of Benjamin West's famous painting of the event. This is followed by an essay on Francis Parkman, who, of course, is best known for his authoritative work on the [b:French in North America|329424|The French and Indian War Deciding the Fate of North America|Walter R. Borneman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173800862s/329424.jpg|320023] and [b:The Oregon Trail|875643|Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 (Dear America Series)|Kristiana Gregory|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179107337s/875643.jpg|1361733] Parkman insisted on authenticity for his works and, despite ill health, wandered over all the geography he wrote about; falling into swamps, scaling cliffs, and suffering attacks from hoards of black flies.
The second part of the book is about the murder of George Parkman, Francis' uncle, (this is the gossamer link) by John Webster. George disappeared one afternoon in 1849 while out walking. He was a respected member of the Harvard faculty, as was Webster, who had become well known for his research into more humane methods of institutionalizing the mentally ill. Webster, professor of Chemistry at Harvard, was up to his eyeballs in debt, and it was discovered that he had borrowed money from Parkman and Robert Gould Shaw (uncle to the hero of the movie Glory) using his quite valuable and geologically significant collection of rocks as collateral for both. It was also learned that Parkman was very perturbed by this double use of the collateral and was demanding his money back. Schama then provides a detailed account of the investigation and trial, which became a Boston media event. Ultimately, I suppose, the book is a meditation on distinction between truth and reality. Does art constitute reality? Does literature/fiction recreate history? Does Francis Parkman have a lock on the truth?
The second part of the book is about the murder of George Parkman, Francis' uncle, (this is the gossamer link) by John Webster. George disappeared one afternoon in 1849 while out walking. He was a respected member of the Harvard faculty, as was Webster, who had become well known for his research into more humane methods of institutionalizing the mentally ill. Webster, professor of Chemistry at Harvard, was up to his eyeballs in debt, and it was discovered that he had borrowed money from Parkman and Robert Gould Shaw (uncle to the hero of the movie Glory) using his quite valuable and geologically significant collection of rocks as collateral for both. It was also learned that Parkman was very perturbed by this double use of the collateral and was demanding his money back. Schama then provides a detailed account of the investigation and trial, which became a Boston media event. Ultimately, I suppose, the book is a meditation on distinction between truth and reality. Does art constitute reality? Does literature/fiction recreate history? Does Francis Parkman have a lock on the truth?
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in October 2001.
A death forms the centre point of each of the two parts of this book. The first is a famous death, that of General Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham as his army was victorious. Schama looks at the way the event has been mythologised, including the completely unhistorical painting by Benjamin West and the more accurate account by American historian Francis Parkman. The second death is that of this historian's uncle, which prompted a famous murder trial in Boston in the 1850s.
The section on Wolfe is more conventional history than the other, and is rather like some of the essays on the reinterpretation of historical events in M.I. Finley's [b:The Use and Abuse of History|415543|The Use and Abuse of History|Moses I. Finley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1224376882s/415543.jpg|1206397]. It is, as one would expect from Schama, extremely well written, but it doesn't catch the interest as much as the Parkman murder.
The murder case is described as though it is a crime novel, complete with courtroom confrontation. It is a fascinating story, with circumstantial evidence the main prop of the prosecution case, the identification of the body right at the limits of the forensic science of the time, incompetent advocates, and an antagonistic judge.
In the afterword, Schama tries to show a connection between the two stories which means more than the relationship between historian and murder victim. It strikes me that he could probably be as convincing about any pair of tales of this length, and that the real connection between them is that they appealed to the historian.
The "Unwarranted Speculations" part of the title refers to the novelistic way in which the stories are told, with feelings and internal narratives attributed to the characters involved in a way that departs quite significantly from normal historiographical practice. It seems to me that this helps the stories come alive and, unlike the way in which historical novels work, it is quite easy to separate what Schama has added from the information which comes from the source documents - at least, it seemed to me to be simple.
A death forms the centre point of each of the two parts of this book. The first is a famous death, that of General Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham as his army was victorious. Schama looks at the way the event has been mythologised, including the completely unhistorical painting by Benjamin West and the more accurate account by American historian Francis Parkman. The second death is that of this historian's uncle, which prompted a famous murder trial in Boston in the 1850s.
The section on Wolfe is more conventional history than the other, and is rather like some of the essays on the reinterpretation of historical events in M.I. Finley's [b:The Use and Abuse of History|415543|The Use and Abuse of History|Moses I. Finley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1224376882s/415543.jpg|1206397]. It is, as one would expect from Schama, extremely well written, but it doesn't catch the interest as much as the Parkman murder.
The murder case is described as though it is a crime novel, complete with courtroom confrontation. It is a fascinating story, with circumstantial evidence the main prop of the prosecution case, the identification of the body right at the limits of the forensic science of the time, incompetent advocates, and an antagonistic judge.
In the afterword, Schama tries to show a connection between the two stories which means more than the relationship between historian and murder victim. It strikes me that he could probably be as convincing about any pair of tales of this length, and that the real connection between them is that they appealed to the historian.
The "Unwarranted Speculations" part of the title refers to the novelistic way in which the stories are told, with feelings and internal narratives attributed to the characters involved in a way that departs quite significantly from normal historiographical practice. It seems to me that this helps the stories come alive and, unlike the way in which historical novels work, it is quite easy to separate what Schama has added from the information which comes from the source documents - at least, it seemed to me to be simple.
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