Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle

Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle | Paul Johnson | JOHNSON DELIVERS AGAIN

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	Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle Paul Johnson Harper, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A galaxy of legendary figures from the annals of Western history comes to life in this stirring sequel to Intellectuals and Creators.

In this enlightening, entertaining work, Paul Johnson continues his engaging history series, approaching the subject of heroism with stirring examples of men and women from every age, walk of life and corner of the world who have inspired and transformed not only their own cultures but the whole world as well.

Heroes includes

Samson, Judith and Deborah
Alexander and julius Caesar
Henry V and Joan of Arc
Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey, Mary Queen of Scots
Elizabeth I and Walter Ralegh
George Washington, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson
Emily Dickinson
Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee
Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle
Mae West and Marilyn Monroe
Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II

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Anyone is a hero who has been widely regarded as heroic by a reasonable person, or even an unreasonable one.

This is the first book I read of Paul Johnson and I really enjoyed it. In this book, we are introduced to well-known figures in history who are regarded as heroes. But a hero to one might be a villain to another. Genghis Khan was a hero to many, but a murderer to many others as well. Paul Johnson uses the example of Samson. Samson is a heroic figure in old Judaic scriptures. He was a Nazirite, and God had blessed him with extraordinary strength. However, in order to keep his superhuman strength, he had to make sure he never cut his hair. One day, however, he admits to Delilah that the secret to his strength is his hair. She then lulled him to sleep on her knees and called a barber to shave off his hair. The Philistines then seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. There they bound him with bronze fetters. Eventually his hair grows again, unnoticed by his enemies, and his strength returns. When the Philistines take him to their great feast in the Temple of Dagon to taunt him, he gets a little boy to guide him to the central pillars. Calling on God to give him the power, he pushes aside the pillars from their bases and brings the entire temple down, killing all the people who were in it. According to the author, this ruthlessness in heroism makes Samson the first suicide-martyr-mass killer, adumbrating the suicide bombers of today's Middle East. Samson's act was a brutal unconcern for human life, whether guilty or innocent. Samson kills all the Philistines, including the innocent child who had befriended him and many of those in the crowd who had nothing to do with his capture or blinding. Nonetheless, Samson was honored, and became a hero in the teeming biblical pantheon. The Jews loved Samson, and still do. (p. 18-20). The author says, "Anyone is a hero who has been widely, persistently over long periods, and enthusiastically regarded as heroic by a reasonable person, or even an unreasonable one."

A hero is also created by our own perception of him, and might not be at all the way we perceive him to be. The author gives as an example President Ronald Reagan. Reagan gave back to the United States the self-confidence it had lost, and at the same time tested Soviet power to destruction. He is credited with ending the cold war. He cut taxes, freed Americans from unnecessary burdens, and enlarged freedom whenever consistent with safety and justice. He had a great sense of humor, his smiles were genuine, and he was a charismatic leader. He was viewed as a hero by the American people and the rest of the world. However, according to the author, Reagan was superficially, and also profoundly, ignorant. He did not seem to know how bills were put together or passed through Congress, or how the entire budget process took place. He had little education, and no desire to acquire much more in a general sense, at any rate through books. He was intellectually lazy, and he did not read one word of the carefully prepared briefing book on the eve of the world economic summit in 1983. During his presidency he spent more time watching movies than doing anything else. Sometimes he believed in fantasies, such as that the United States really had much larger hidden oil reserves than the whole of the Middle East. At other times he appeared incapable of speaking coherently about the simplest matters without reference to the cue cards in his left pocket. In some ways he was ill-equipped to run anything, let alone the mightiest nation on earth. He was deaf and sometimes could not hear what his staff was telling him, even with the volume of his hearing aid switched right up. He confused names and faces. He thought his own secretary of commerce was a visiting mayor. He believed Denis Healey was the British ambassador. He addressed the Liberian president Samuel K. Doe as "Chairman Moe." (p. 256-258). Yet despite these deficiencies, he is viewed as an American hero.

This is a really fascinating book that will show you a different side to well-known heroes. The author discusses the human flaws of such heroes as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Henry V, Joan of Arc, Thomas Moore, Lady Jane Grey, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Walter Raleigh, George Washington, The Duke of Wellington, Lord Nelson, Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II.

I really liked the chapter on Mae West, and feel encouraged to read more of her books. Mae is really a fascinating character study. I was surprised though that the author included Marilyn Monroe as a hero. I learnt things I never knew about her, like the fact that she suffered from Syphilis and severe depression.

One beautiful quote from this book will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life. Henry Ford once said, "It is a disgrace for anyone to die rich." I truly believe in giving, and being a philanthropist. For this reason, I view Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, among many others, as true heroes. Here's the irony: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, among just a few, are viewed today as heroes, despite the fact that they killed millions of people. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, among a few, are also viewed as heroes, but for different reasons: they save the lives of millions!

I recommend this book to all readers who are fascinated by the lives of great people (and some not that great but still viewed as heroes).

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JOHNSON DELIVERS AGAIN

Paul Johnson remains one of the few serious writers who combines an immensely accessable prose style with an intellect rarely encountered in contemporary non-fiction. In his vivid snapshots he compresses larger-than-live historical figures into human beings while simultaneously making the case as to why they are "heroic". Many of these insights are cleanly fresh and restorative to a reader like myself who has read biographies of them all. Johnson explains his criteria for judging who and why he chose who he did as a hero. And in the process makes a powerful case for each individual, even those who are frankly a little tough to swallow. Among them deGaulle.
From other works (Malraux's "Felled Oaks" for example) and lengthy biographies, my own assesement of deGaulle never changed. I'd always considered him a mostrously egotistical chauvanist who'se WW2 credentials mainly lay in his lucky proximity to true greats like Churchill, Roosevelt and Eisenhower, who in one way or another tolerated his insufferable ego and pretentions.
Louis X1V presumably said, "c'estate ce moi" I am the state. In a seventeenth century king it's one kind of conceit, but in a 20th century military and politcal leader of a free democracy, it is a disgrace. Or so was my conclusion. However, Johnson's book brought me a new veiwpoint. I didn't conclude I'd been totally wrong, but Johhnson made me see that had deGaulle not existed, he probably would have had too be invented. And in a way, it wasd probably on balance, more fortunate for France that he was the invention, rather than some of the absurd French leaders who preceeded and
succeeded him. Johnson made me see that. And in that respect and in all the other sketches, ever new lights went on.
Paul Johnson is one great writer, historian, thinker. And to me, in this age when so much garbage flows from the media.
Strongly recommend it and all his other books.

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ENTERTAINING, ENLIGHTENING - ENJOYABLE!

We all love heroes, brave ones, achievers we can admire, try to emulate, and set forth as examples. To a greater or lesser degree, the lives of many of these men and women are known to us yet there is always something to learn as we revisit their accomplishments and the challenges they faced.

Noted British historian Paul M. Johnson is a prolific author having written some 40 books ranging from Modern Times to The Quest for God. He has lectured throughout the world and often contributes to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal among numerous other magazines and periodicals. His choice of subjects for Heroes is eclectic and, to some, may be surprising. Lord Nelson is almost to be expected but Marilyn Monroe? She is noted along with another blonde bombshell in Chapter 12, Heroes Behind the Greasepaint.

You see, Johnson's heroes, whether they be Samson, Caesar or Margaret Thatcher, are very human thus flawed. They are not presented to us on pedestals, not as stone figures but as flesh and blood beings, subject to all the temptations and constraints that mortality entails.

The author begins his stories of heroes with God's Heroes - Deborah, Judith, Samson, and David, noting that "No people were more in need of heroes than the Hebrews." Next we meet The Earthshakers - Alexander the Great and Caesar, and from there his subjects are presented in chronological order, closing with the present day. Thus, we are privy not only to entertaining and enlightening visits with those who made a difference but to mini history lessons as well.

Radio host, author, and managing editor of London's Sunday Times, James Adams, has narrated a number of books for Blackstone Audio. He's the perfect voice for the work of British historian Johnson as the slightest bit of a British accent can be detected in Adams's clear, crisp diction. Enjoyable listening!

- Gail Cooke

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A public intellectual meanders through heroes and heroism

There is no doubt that Paul Johnson is one of the great historians of our time and one of our leading public intellectuals.

In this volume, Johnson attempts to explain heroes and heroism within the context of historical setting. The effort is a mixed success. Consider, for example, his use of Mae West and Marilyn Monroe as examplars of female heroism in the 20th Century.

Both portraits make their point and make it well. Both West and Monroe were more accomplished than most might give them credit for. West was a dynamic self-promoter for all of her life and an accomplished writer, actress, comedian and business person. But Monroe was a different story. She never fully actualized the person she wanted to become, though Johnson leaves no doubt that she did want to be viewed as a different kind of person. Does Monroe's failed effort make her a hero? Not to me, though Johnson draws a sympathetic portrait.

Overall, Johnson's portraits do indeed make the case that heroism comes in many guises and that men and women can be heroes. As well, the qualities of heroism remain constant, a steady moral compass regardless of what the crowds are doing.

While interesting, though, "Heroes" is never totally engaging. It is a pleasant and informative read, but not a particularly challenging one. Johnson is telling us his views here set in historical context.

Jerry

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A Fun, Quick Walk into the Land of Heroes

Paul Johnson, the well known historian, writes a less weighty book that looks at heroes through the lens of history and these peoples contributions to politics, culture, religion, and yes, entertainment. All of these things are often intermix, yet, they can also be studied in isolation if needed.

Johnson starts off with the Hebrew (or Jewish) heroes. It must be of some interest that Moses is briefly mention and is Judaism's greatest heroes and prophet, Johnson spends more time on Deborah and Judith, Samson and probably rightly so, David. His analysis of Samson is interesting and it goes beyond the Sunday School version or the solely negative critical and sees Samson as a hero with great strength and "tantalizing weakness."

The next Chapter, "Earthsakers" is tied for one of the best in the book. Foibles and greatest are revealed when the reader is once again acquainted with Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Johnson provides a quick bio, yet, highlights enough "heroism" and "villainy" to make this more than an encyclopedia version of these two men and make them leap of the page. Hopefully, it will spark others to read more on these two, arguably great and fallen figures.

I have always liked the story of Joan of Arc. Every movie has failed in bringing her to life, although many have tried. Johnson briefly reminds me why she is so spectacular a heroine. She is the proto-Wonder Women, except she was real, alive, fighting for France. Yet, she may have been a proto-Protestant, yet, in many ways still distinctly Catholic. She was such an enormous figure that today many English Churches are named after this French heroine.

There is more of course such as interesting work on Churchill (whom Johnson met in 1946) and Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II. Lincoln was necessary for this book, but Johnson here didn't bring anything really engaging in a way I hadn't read before. I found, however, the chapter with Mae West and Maryland Monroe to be a bore - I just didn't care. Maybe it is because, there are better "Hollywood" heroes such as Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, Alec Guinness, or Bruce Lee not too mention possibly Cary Grant, Charleston Heston, Angelina Jolie, or Christopher Reeves.

In total, this is a great book. It is difficult to provide so many stories on so many figures on 300 pages; but, Johnson does a pretty good job of it.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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