A Thousand Pages – a review of Arthur Schlesinger's journals
Crack open Arthur Schlesinger’s Journals: 1952 – 2000 , and it’s like opening a window on history right as it is being made. In his life, Schlesinger was many things, historian, teacher, speechwriter, friend, father, husband, author and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for T he Age of Jackson and A Thousand Days .) His journals showcase the intense curiosity and lively intellect that led him to be one of the nation’s most prolific historians. Journals: 1952 - 2000 was distilled from 6000 pages of notes Schlesinger had left upon his death in 2007. Two of his sons, Andrew and Stephen, were assigned with the task of editing the entries into an abridged version of approximately 1000 pages. The book is lively, conversational, but always one wonders, what has been left out? What nuggets were left on the cutting room floor? Regardless, the book is fascinating. The age of Schlesinger starts with the Eisenhower administration; at the time, Schlesinger was a speechwriter for ...