John Bunyan. Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. 1681; Countedfaithful.org, 2015.

Although I have taught Pilgrim’s Progress for years, I had never heard of this book by John Bunyan until I saw it quoted numerous times in Gentle and Lowly, which I just reviewed recently. It sounded appealing. I confess that I am no Calvinist, and I was impressed that the obviously Calvinist author of Gentle and Lowly quoted someone who, while identified with the Puritans, was not a Calvinist.

Indeed, this edition begins with a short preface written in 1850 that says:

Here is no Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Arminianism; no Episcopacy, Presbytery, or Independency; nothing but Christ-ism and Bible-ism.

That is true! A believer from whatever brand or background would appreciate this little book.

The title is a little word play that a Metaphysical poet in Bunyan’s day probably would have appreciated. Jesus says, “Come,” and if we come, He says, “Welcome.” Years ago when I worked in a bookstore, we sold a poster that said, “God’s favorite word is Come!” Bunyan tries to illustrate the truth of that saying.

People unfamiliar with the writings from the Puritan era or the First Great Awakening may discover a profound style here. The most famous sermon from the American side of the Great Awakening is Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Regardless of how one reacts to that sermon, Edwards based the whole sermon on a single clause that is half of a verse in the Bible. He really dissects each word and gets to the meaning.

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ does the same thing, only its a whole book, not just a sermon because the author actually took a whole verse, a single sentence with four clauses. As Thoreau would say, Bunyan, like a poet, “has fairly impounded it, milked it, skimmed it, and got all the cream.” But it is not just the facility with reading and language that makes this a great book to read. It has a powerful and very encouraging message.

The verse?

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37 KJV)

Obviously, this is Jesus speaking. I kept it in the King James Version, the translation Bunyan uses, because it retains the chiasmus. Actually, most translations do, but I wanted to insure that we get the poetic quality as well as the message.

First, Bunyan speaks of what it means to come to Jesus. As Luke 13:26-27 reminds us, coming to Jesus does not merely mean listening to what he has said, but it means coming to Him in faith. Bunyan goes into great detail to show what he means, using many examples from the Bible.

He then notes the first part of the verse, that the people who come to Jesus are given to Him by the Father. This echoes the great Messianic Psalm 2 which says, in part:

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalm 2:8)

This is God’s plan. He sent Jesus to call everyone, not just the chosen Hebrews, but the heathen, the goyim, as well. And, Bunyan emphasizes, God can be trusted. If he gave the Son a gift, He is not going to take it back. Note indeed what the last two verses of that Psalm tell us:

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:11-12)

This promise of God is specifically to His Son, and those who embrace the Son are blessed.

Similarly, if anyone does come to Jesus, Jesus also will not cast him or her out. This is truly a blessed assurance. I was raised in a church which suggested that anyone who spoke about being saved or having assurance of Heaven was being presumptuous, even proud. In other words, one could never be 100% sure he or she were saved until the Judgment. I confess that I still carried some of that idea with me. Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ was a big blessing. It does present the assurance the believer needs. In the words of the hymn, “We have God’s own promise/And that cannot fail.”

As that 1850 preface suggests, this goes beyond the denominational issues. Bunyan was no Calvinist. But here he focuses on God’s promise. If you are interested in warnings, read Pilgrim’s Progress. That book is equally biblical. Here, though, Bunyan tells us God is committed to keeping us on the path.

Bunyan also notes that the verse says “All that come to me.” It does not make any difference who you are. There are some horrible criminals who came to Jesus after a life of crime. If they truly came, they would not be cast out. Jesus promised the dying criminal on the cross next to His, that He would be with Him in Paradise. Jesus’ work on the Cross can cover any sin of any repentant sinner. Hallelujah!

Read this book. You will be blessed. My only reservation is that it was originally written over 340 years ago and the language has changed somewhat. Even though I teach Shakespeare and often read the King James Version of the Bible, I was glad that I had this on a Kindle edition. That way I could highlight a word and a definition from the Kindle’s dictionary would pop up. I suspect that if someone were to write the same book in more modern language, he or she could create a steady seller.

Richard J. Leider and David A. Shapiro. Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old? Berrett-Koehler, 2021.

Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old? presents a positive and upbeat approach to aging. After dealing with a kind of denial—the first chapter is titled, “Old, Who, Me?”—the authors tell something of their own stories and encourage the reader to embrace and enjoy getting older.

The two authors have been friends for about thirty years in spite of their twenty year age difference. Both are psychologists and are looking at the best ways for most people to handle growing older.

The overriding theme of the book is that when older people look back on their lives, they see that relationships are ultimately more important than their wealth or status. Most people, especially men, devote their first forty or fifty years to earning a living. We have to. That is a fact of life. (See Pietro in the last book we reviewed.) However, for most of us, that is not how we make a difference or how we will be remembered.

We get a sense from this even in the title, not What Do You Want To Do, but Who Do You Want To Be. In other words, be the best person in terms of character that you can be. To put it simply, both men appear to be, consciously or unconsciously, disciples of Norman Vincent Peale. Peale, of course, wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. And to the authors, thinking positively still makes a lot of sense.

Some readers may say at this point, yes, I get it: Peale, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins, Joel Osteen, and so on. The truth of the matter is that such an attitude works. No, it does not keep bad things from happening, nor does it remove obstacles, but a positive attitude sure helps us get through things. The Hebrew Scriptures tell us, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

A shift in thinking that ought to take place goes like this:

Growing whole requires a shift in our focus from “What’s in it for me” to “How shall I serve.” (104)

It does not appear that either author embraces the New Testament in its entirety, but this surely sounds a lot like Jesus:

He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Matthew 23:11 KJV)

I guess I am going to preach a bit, now. This reviewer really only takes issue with one thing in this book. The book encourages us to “make friends with Death” (120ff.). In one respect I understand this. Death on this planet is part of living. Every living thing eventually dies here. So we do have to accept that fact. If that is all that is meant, then OK.

But there is more to it. Shakespeare called death, “The undiscovered country from whose bourn [border]/No traveler returns” (Hamlet 3.1.79-80). The Bible is even more succinct. Death, the Bible tells us, is an enemy (see I Corinthians 15:26, cf. Hosea 13:14).

Still, the authors here are not far from the Kingdom of God. Why is death an enemy? Because of sin. In effect, Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old? is telling us that we will lead a happier life if we do not sin. Serve others. Be a friend. Quit rationalizing or making excuses for sin. Check out what someone like Jesus who came back from the dead said.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

The questions the authors ask the reader are worth asking at any time, though they do have a greater significance when we think of retirement or slowing down and the changes that take place as we get older. What are the questions?

Where is my true place?

Who are my true people?

What is my purpose?

One of those recent popular “positive thinking” authors is Rick Warren. His most famous work is The Purpose Driven Life. Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old? is more secular and geared towards older people and those who care about them, but the bottom line is similar. God created us for a purpose.

And one does not have to be old to discover one’s purpose. But this book can help someone looking into the later years of his or her life.

Hilary Hauck. From Ashes to Song. Milford House, 2021.

From Ashes to Song might appeal to readers of historical romances. Having said that, it is not exactly a formulaic romance, though the diversions from the formula are subtle.

Pietro, a young man from Northern Italy, has perfect pitch. He loves music, and sounds move him more than anything. Due to family circumstances, he decides to leave Italy shortly before World War I. While on the ship, he hears the voice of Assunta. It is love at first sound. He cannot forget her voice.

Assunta’s life is somewhat complicated, though. Her husband Nandy (Fernandino) is accompanying her to the New World. He had been there for a few years. He had wanted to marry Assunta, but her father did not approve of him. He left Italy and settled in Pennsylvania where he married and began a family. He retuned to Italy when his first wife died and married Assunta.

Not knowing that Nandy and Assunta belong to each other, Pietro meets Nandy on the boat where Nandy gives him an address of an Italian boarding house in Pennsylvania coal country. Through most of the book, Pietro has a tune in his head that he wants to compose and play. It is inspired in part by his father who taught him to play the clarinet and partly by the woman he heard on the boat.

Eventually, their paths cross since both Pietro and Nandy settle not far from each other in Pennsylvania. To say much more would spoil things. Both Nandy and Assunta betray some of the traditional Italian superstitions about evil that may affect their behavior. Nandy makes a living as a miner. Pietro ends up working in the same mine, tapping on the walls and ceilings of the mine tunnels to listen with his acute hearing for potential hollows that could contain dangerous gases.

From Ashes to Song realistically portrays some of the challenges and culture of Italian immigrants coming to America in the early twentieth century. The story in broad strokes reminded me of some relatives who came over at the same time. The woman had a total of eight children, four from each of her two husbands. She remarried soon after her first husband died. It is a little different for Assunta, but not by much.

Being a native of the fringes of Pennsylvania coal country, I can also vouch for the relative accuracy of the life of the miner. Even in the sixties some houses where I lived in Western Pennsylvania were heated by coal. I had a relative who worked as a coal distributor. When I was in fourth or fifth grade, our class visited a nearby coal mine on a field trip. From Ashes to Song gets the setting and the people pretty well.

Most people in most places in the history of the world have to make a living. This causes tension for those who are artistically inclined. As the title suggests, Pietro does what he can to make a living and still use his talent both in labor and in his music. The music becomes a labor of love. He may ultimately only be famous in his family, but even folk art speaks to other folk.

Joel C. Rosenberg. Dead Heat. Tyndale, 2008.

“Our foreign policy is miracles.”
            —Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel

The above quotation from an interview with the prime minister could sum up some of this book. It is a cross between political technothriller and prophetic speculation. Keep that in mind as we see history being played out.

A friend gave me two older novels by Joel Rosenberg, The Last Jihad and Dead Heat. They are, respectively, the first and last book in a five book series. So I have read those two, but not the ones in between. I am sure I missed some good storytelling, but I confess I sort of know how things turn out because I just finished Dead Heat, the final book.

Rosenberg’s books imagine the biblical end times taking place in the present. They seem a little more biblical and a little more realistic than the Left Behind series. While there are some “come to Jesus” moments, his books are mainly political thrillers.

The Last Jihad begins with an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the American president. Dead Heat begins with a successful one. This is different, though, because not just one person is targeted. Someone has launched four nuclear missiles and wiped out four American cities. Two of the cities are Washington and New York. That means much of the nation’s government and the apparatus of the United Nations are gone. The bomb that hits Los Angeles takes care of both Hollywood and the president who is there for his party convention.

There is enough background to tell readers a little about what we missed in the three books in between I have not read. Rosenberg has imagined an international scenario based on Bible prophecy. One of the middle books, I suspect it would be The Ezekiel Option, tells of a major invasion of Israel led by Russia and Iran. That is based on prophecy in Ezekiel chapters 35 through 39.

Those chapters tell us that in the last days Jews will come from all over the world to re-settle in Palestine. A number of nations will attack them, led by a leader to the “far north” and joined by Persia (today’s Iran) and other countries. The attack will be miraculously thwarted. Interpreters usually see the nation to the far north of Israel as either Russia or Turkey. They are both ambitious military powers today.

This has already happened prior to Dead Heat. In the international picture, then, Russia as we know it no longer is a world power. Who fills in the vacuum? In this case, the USE, the United States of Eurasia, a federation of Arab, Turkic, and Central Asian states stretching from Mauretania to Afghanistan. Its leader Al-Husseini rules out of a rebuilt Babylon in what had been Iraq.

So Rosenberg takes the “Mystery Babylon” of the Book of Revelation 17:5 very literally; that is, a Near Eastern power rebuilds the ancient city of Babylon and rules much of the world from there. I have read other writers who have hypothesized the same thing. I also have read writers who have suggested Rome (Revelation 17:9 describes it as having seven hills) and either New York or Los Angeles (it sounds like a seaport in Revelation 18:17-18). Anyway, that becomes another tale.

In Dead Heat, we meet again the protagonist of The Last Jihad, Jon Bennett. He is now married to Erin, the girl he had a crush on in the first book. They are working among Iraqi and Syrian refugees in Jordan. Bennett had worked for President MacPherson in the first book. MacPherson is nuked along with some forty million other Americans, and Bennett is asked to return to America to help the new president.

Needless to say, America is in a state of anarchy. Much of the rest of the world is stunned. Who did it? China? They have been talking recently about “re-uniting” with Taiwan, and with America staggering, that would be easy. North Korea? The leaders of the Hermit Kingdom are unpredictable braggarts. A new Islamic State? There are still radicals out there who might have gotten hold of Russian nukes. The USE? People in much of the Middle East seem to have an animus towards the United States.

Even some Americans do. One character explains her background:

My parents met in Berkeley in the sixties. They got married during the Vietnam War. They had me after Watergate. My father used to rail against American imperialism…And that’s how I grew up, in Haight-Ashbury, hearing about the evils of America every day, every night, in school and in the streets. And I believed it. And I wanted to do something about it. (344)

Many of us can relate. I attended a public junior high and high school in the sixties. I read The Communist Manifesto three times during those six years. We never did the American Revolution, the Constitution, or anything like that, but we knew Marx. Looking back, it was helpful when I taught in China because I did understand their ideology. The American stuff I learned on my own—not that it is hard to read or understand. The American History class I took in high school focused on Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the Great Depression.

Occasionally, people interested in Bible prophecy will wonder how the United States or the Americas fit in all the end times scenarios. Of course, when the Bible was written, the people in the Near East did not know about the Americas, so there are various speculations. Perhaps the United States no longer exists. One is likely to hear this from people who are concerned about America’s immorality: Hollywood, pornography, abortion, sexual immorality, racism, secularism, materialism. Rosenberg’s answer is nuclear. America is there, but is out of the picture because of its own problems.

Dead Heat suggests that America lost its protection when it failed to support Israel during the great northern invasion. It notes God’s promise to Abraham’s descendants: Genesis 12:2-3. We certainly see a lot of anti-Israel language in our culture today, especially from academia, the media, and some in the government. Will that become significant?

Once again, there is a fairly intricate plot. Since the Ezekiel war has come and gone, the one item that might suggest Bible end times prophecy in this novel is that Israel is planning to build a new Temple. Some see the last chapters of Ezekiel beginning with chapter 40 also being end times prophecy. There Ezekiel describes the Temple in detail. Rosenberg, like many others, believe this Third Temple will be built in the last days.

Other than that, Dead Heat mostly seems to be setting the stage for what is described in Revelation 16:12 (and perhaps related to Revelation 9:14) as the Kings of the East attack the Middle East, a military showdown between the forces in the Middle East (the USE here) and the Far East (China and North Korea). Was Rosenberg planning another novel? Put it this way, The Last Jihad ended with an excerpt from the second book in the series, The Last Days. Dead Heat ends with an excerpt from The Last Jihad, back to the first book.

Once again, Rosenberg tells a pretty good story. I could sympathize with the Coast Guard Petty Officer who witnessed one of the nuclear missiles being launched from a container ship. Because she is a lowly Coastie, and enlisted as well, no one takes her seriously. Of course, that is partly because the chain of command was obliterated a few minutes after that launch. There is a real deus ex machina at the end that from a storytelling perspective does not satisfy, such devices rarely do, but Rosenberg has a point to make and he makes it clear.

There have been fiction accounts of the end times for over a hundred years now. (Look up Sidney Watson or Ernest Angley on Amazon, and you’ll see what I mean). Rosenberg’s are among the best because they tell a good story, and they are not terribly “religious.” And each one that I have read stands on its own and does not appear derivative. For such a subject, that is a real compliment.

Kaitlyn Dunnett. Kilt at the Highland Games. Kensington, 2016.

As one can probably guess from the title, Kilt at the Highland Games is a cozy mystery. It actually is mysterious and suspenseful, even if the actual murder does not take place at the annual Highland Games in Moosetookalook, Maine.

Two personal notes. Such as name as Moosetookalook would not be out of place in Maine. Your reviewer has camped at Mooselookmaguntic, Maine. We also were attracted to the title because we enjoy Highland games, a kind of Scottish festival, and have visited a few when they come to our state.

Two things about the book, then. There really is very little about the Highland Games themselves in the book. They provide a backdrop to the story. Liss Ruskin operates a Scottish specialty store in town, and she and her Aunt Margaret help organize the games locally. By the way, if it sounds impossible that such a specialized emporium could survive in rural Maine, we are assured that most of the store’s sales are online.

The actual killing does not take place until about halfway through the story. By then the reader can sort of guess who will probably get killed. Victims in such stories are either someone whom everyone likes and could not possibly have an enemy or someone whom no one likes. Let us just say, we find someone whom no one likes, and, yes, he becomes our victim.

The real mystery, though, is not about the murder. The real mystery is that a week before the murder, the independent bookstore in town is burned down. The state fire marshal says it looks like arson. The family that owns the store lives in an apartment above the store. Since the fire began around three in the morning, it looks like the arsonist may have wanted to kill Angie Hogencamp and her two kids, teen Beth and pre-teen Bradley.

But the Hogencamps have decamped. There is no sign of them in the remains of the store. Their car is gone. No one knows where they are. Liss considers herself one of Angie’s good friends, but realizes how little she knows about her. When Chief of Police Sherri Campbell tries to do a background check on Ms. Hogencamp, she comes up empty. Angie moved to town twelve years ago, but said very little about her past. Her kids were little when she came to town. Apparently, she may have been running from something in her past. Had it caught up with her?

Normally, people in town might suspect some out-of-towners, but with the Western Maine Highland Games coming up, the hotel is booked up, and Moosetookalook has many visitors.

There is an interesting cast of characters in town. Patsy, who runs the coffee shop, knows nearly everyone in town, but keeps things to herself. Librarian Dolores, on the other hand, also knows most people in town and likes to talk about them. Her husband Moose—few people know his real name—is reminiscent of Moose from the Archie comics, but maybe with a little twist.

One of the out-of-towners visiting for the games gives Liss a hard time about not being authentic with some of her products. No, she confesses she sometimes does not use the Gaelic spelling because no English speaker would pronounce the words remotely correctly. When she tells him she is a MacCrimmon, he informs her that she is not really Scottish. The MacCrimmons, he claims, got their name because they immigrated from Cremona, Italy. Of course, one could argue that all the Scots’ clans as we know them today originally came from Ireland or Norway.

The author spins the tale well. Mysteries pile up. More people disappear. Obviously from the title, someone is “kilt.” Liss herself gets an anniversary card from Angie, but it is not mailed. Someone drops it off perhaps because the post office has been vandalized. Mail delivery has been off until the incident is investigated.

The story ends with an exciting and uncontrived climax. We can see what is coming. Can Liss and Chief Campbell pull it off? Hey, it’s a cozy. We know it will probably turn out OK, but we still want to see how and how all the mysteries will be revealed. Have fun.

George Stormont. Wigglesworth: A Man Who Walked with God. Harrison House, 1989.

I had the opportunity to meet the late author (born in 1909) about thirty years ago. He was in his early eighties and said that he was on what would probably be his last speaking trip. He chose our small New England church to have a meeting. I only recall a few things from what he told us, but he did share a few stories that are in Wigglesworth.

Smith Wigglesworth was an itinerant evangelist with a healing ministry during the first half of the twentieth century. Stormont worked with him from 1941 until he died in 1947. In the 1990s, then, when I met him or in the 1980s when he published this book, Rev. Stormont would have been one of the last people to have detailed memories of Mr. Wigglesworth.

Wigglesworth is not exactly a biography, though it has many anecdotes and biographical material. It is not specifically a teaching book, though it includes some of what Wigglesworth taught. One could call it a spiritual sketch.

Parts are truly anointed. As I turned a few pages, I was aware of the Holy Spirit moving to show me something. I have to admit that I might want to read it again—not so much for that experience, though God’s presence is very good, but just so I can perhaps really take away something more specific from the book.

Wigglesworth himself might rebuke me for writing that last sentence. He might also have been aware of God using the book, too, but he likely would have just said, “What’s wrong with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?” That was his answer when someone asked him if he knew a good tract on divine healing (103). Good question!

Yes, there are many exciting testimonies of healing in this publication. Stormont is careful to sort out his sources to insure they are factual. Some of the occasions, of course, he witnessed himself. This, then, is a reliable testimony.

Wigglesworth was born in Wales in 1859 and spent much of his early manhood running a plumbing business. It apparently was not until the twentieth century that he began his ministry. As the subtitle suggests, from all appearances he did walk with God. Perhaps even more striking than some of the healings he witnessed was his gift of the word of knowledge (see I Corinthians 12:8 NKJV). He often spoke to people about situations in their personal lives which he could not have known. God also instructed him at times to pray in unusual ways for healing or to answer prayer.

In one church, he said, “I’ll go out and come back in. Everyone who touches me will be healed.” Sad to say, only one woman touched him, but she was healed. (82)

Wigglesworth led a relatively simple life. Stormont described him as a man of one book—the Bible. Wigglesworth did put together some teachings on faith and healing in a book titled Ever Increasing Faith. I recall selling it when I worked in a bookstore in the eighties. It is still in print as are his other two books. Even so, the proceeds from Ever Increasing Faith went to missions. Hopefully, they still do.

Wigglesworth includes description of a few times when the Holy Spirit was so strong that no one but Wigglesworth could stand. In some cases, everyone else in the room felt like they had to leave because the presence of God was more than they could handle. One minister saw this as a challenge and attempted to remain in a room while Wigglesworth prayed and ministered to the Lord.

As he [Wigglesworth] lifted up his voice, it seemed that God Himself invaded the place. Those present became deeply conscious that they were on holy ground. The power of God in its purity was like a heavy weight pressing on them.¹ One by one, the people left until only the man remained who had set himself to stay.

He hung on and hung on until at last the pressure became a compulsion, and he could stay no longer. His own testimony was that with the floodgates of his soul pouring out as a stream of tears and uncontrollable sobbing, he had to get out of the Presence or die. He added that Wigglesworth, a man who knew God as few men do, was left alone in an atmosphere that few mean could breathe. (70)

While known for his faith, Wigglesworth was intensely evangelistic. He wanted to see people redeemed. He sometimes cried thinking about people apart from God. He also had great hope for the future. He prophesied the charismatic renewal and Jesus movement of the sixties and seventies. He then said that the Lord would have even a greater movement combining the power of the Holy Spirit with the Word of God in the last days.

Some Christian believers are pessimistic about the end times. True, Jesus told us they would a time of great tribulation (see Matthew 24:21). But He also said that the gospel would be shared with every person on earth (Matthew 24:14). That would require people actively working under the power of the Holy Spirit. It will be exciting for those seeing what God does.

One of the saddest verses, also dealing with the end of the age in the Book of Revelation, says:

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11 NKJV)

It sounds like in the lives of many people there comes or will come a point of no return. They will choose injustice or evil and will not be able to change. That, too, would have made Wigglesworth cry.

Reading about someone who lived his life close to God and aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing could inspire readers to draw closer to God as well.

Stormont notes that this is not something mystical. It is a matter of how we see things. Wigglesworth had little to do with anything that would be a distraction. He also would cite II Timothy 1:6 (KJV) and say that at times we have to “stir up” the Holy Spirit, whom all believers have access to. He also noted that Hebrews 6:12 tells us we inherit the kingdom by faith and patience.

Of course, there is a lot more. This is a relatively short book featuring sketches and short teachings. It is not too ponderous, so a reader could read it in an hour or two. Still, with the many sketches, it lends itself to a reader who could only spend a few minutes at a time. Let us pray that it can still stir up our godly gifts. Let us pray that our faith will increase as well.

¹ Interestingly, the root (kābēd) of the Hebrew word for glory (kābôd) means “heavy.” Glory is a weight. [JB]

Roger Casement. Report from His Majesty’s Consul at Boma Respecting the Administration of the Independent State of the Congo. 1904, Project Gutenberg, 29 Nov. 2015, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50573/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.

———. Some Poems of Roger Casement. 1918, Ed. Gertrude Parry, Project Gutenberg, 28 Sep. 2016, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53162/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.

The title of Report from His Majesty’s Consul at Boma sounds like the title of a government document, and that is exactly what it is. Those interested in some background on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness might find it helpful. This is a detailed account by a British consul on what he observed and testimonies he collected while visiting the Congo Free State (later the Belgian Congo).

The Congo was a unique instance of imperialism. It was established by treaty as a private possession of King Leopold of Belgium. Other colonial laws did not apply, and it appears from this document that licensed trading companies—there were only a few—were a law unto themselves. Consul Casement reported his observations and testimonies of native people about the abuses they were subject to by the Belgian concessionaires.

Unlike Heart of Darkness, the product that the Belgian traders were mostly interested in was rubber (caoutchouc). Traders acting on behalf of Belgian authorities demanded taxes in rubber from villages along the Congo River and some of its tributaries. If the demands were not met, people were arrested, sometimes killed, and often had their hands cut off. Casement tells us that as a result, villagers often fled to the interior or to neighboring countries to avoid these horrors. Casement himself was a consul to the neighboring French Congo who heard testimonies of refugees and visited the Congo Free State more than once and noted the depopulation.

At one point, farther inland, he quotes another traveler who noted that on the Belgian side of a tributary that formed a border with Sudan, villages on the British (Sudan) side were active and flourishing. The Belgian side of the river appeared uninhabited.

One reason for Belgian rule was to put an end to the slave trade, still practiced by Arab traders in the region. Still, at one point Casement recorded three wagons full of slaves, of whom a dozen were chained and guarded by soldiers. They had been found guilty of some crimes and were being punished by working on a literal chain gang in the provincial capital. The description, though written in French, sounds like it could have come directly from Conrad—or, should I say, Charlie Marlow:

Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking. (Heart of Darkness, ch. 1)

The report noted there were officers not just from Belgium but from Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. One is reminded of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness. It is said “all Europe” contributed to him.

The Casement report tries to be fair. It includes testimony which suggests that at least one young man of fifteen who lost a hand at around age eight may have lost it to a wild boar rather than to the machete of a soldier. It also notes that some African tribes are semi-nomadic and that Belgian administration was effectively putting an end to cannibalism.

Still, Casement had visited many of the same places in 1887 that he would revisit in 1903. Everywhere, he was struck by the change, especially the poverty and reduced population. Many people were missing hands and otherwise had sustained injuries and loss of neighbors and relatives at the hands of the Belgian authorities.

He does note that in parts of the Eastern Congo, ivory trade made a similar impact as rubber in the West. This is what Marlow saw in Heart of Darkness. Large canoes have disappeared, and few native people gain livelihood from the river. The hard work and industry he had observed in 1887 had largely disappeared. A Belgian excuse for this was that the native people were lazy and “unaccustomed to work.” Many villages were “inhabited by only a remnant” of the former population. Sometimes he saw people running away from him because they assumed he was a Belgian.

Many similar details accumulate so that can feel oppressed. To be fair, Casement includes Belgian documents that show at least a few of the people who shot and mutilated others over rubber were tried and punished, but the conclusion of this English report was that such amends were too little and too late. Even as of 1904, Belgium was extracting far more exports (mostly rubber) than it was paying for.

When I say Belgium here, though, I mean the traders and people working for the king. This, after all, was a “free” state with no real government. Laws on bodily harm and killing as well as importing firearms were largely ignored. The British Member of Parliament overseeing the report, Lord Landsdowne, would recommend altering the treaty of Berlin which established the Congo Free State. That eventually would happen.

Because this is a collection of legal documents and testimonies, it is a little dry in places. It also helps to know French. Most French portions were translated into English, but not all. For those doing background on the conditions in the Congo at the time when Conrad was there and later when he wrote Heart of Darkness, the most accessible book to read on the subject is Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Crime of the Congo.

There are a few other reasons to check out this collection of documents. Conrad had met Casement when he was in the Congo. At the time both were young and believed that European culture would help to positively alter the character of the native people. Both would become disillusioned, if not cynical. Beginning in 1906, Casement would be deployed to South America and report on the abuses of native Putumayo people at the hands of the government of Peru.

Heart of Darkness describes Kurtz in this way:

‘…He would have been a splendid leader of an extreme party.’
‘What party?’ I asked.
‘Any party,’ answered the other. ‘He was an—an—extremist.’

In 1913 Casement would retire from the consular service and return to his homeland of Ireland. There he once again identified with the exploited subjects of an imperial power, in this case, his fellow Irishmen. He identified with the Irish Volunteers, a nationalist group more extreme than Sinn Féin. He helped smuggle guns from Germany to Irish nationalists and would eventually be hanged at the age of 51 for taking part in the Easter Rebellion of 1916.

There certainly were differences between Kurtz and Casement, but we can see how Conrad could have been inspired by Casement in various ways. Conrad would say that he “thinks, speaks well, most intelligent and very sympathetic.” Later, reflecting on his execution, Conrad would say “Already in Africa, I judged he was a man, properly speaking, of no mind at all. I don’t mean stupid. I mean that he was all emotion. By emotional force (Putumayo, Congo report, etc.) he made his way, and sheer temperament—a truly tragic figure.”¹ Not unlike Mr. Kurtz?

At one point in Heart of Darkness, we are told that Kurtz not only was well spoken but had written some effective poetry. The Russian tells Marlow:

‘…Ah! I’ll never, never meet such a man again. You ought to have heard him recite poetry—his own, too, it was, he told me. Poetry!’ He rolled his eyes at the recollection of these delights. ‘Oh, he enlarged my mind!’

It turns out that Casement wrote some poetry, too. Fifteen of his poems were compiled by his cousin Gertrude Parry, also an Irish nationalist, into Some Poems of Roger Casement. They are interesting to read. While no one would confuse his work with Yeats, some of the poems are not bad. A few tend to be didactic, but one related to the subject of Irish nationalism, “The Triumph of Hugh O’Neill,” ends with a patriotic flourish:

Our flag no longer drooping, each fold shall now reveal
And wave for God and Erin and our darling Hugh O’Neill.

I am reminded of Francis Orrery Ticknor’s “A Battle Ballad” about General J. E. Johnston at the First Battle of Bull Run, a hero of another lost cause.

There is a tender, if somewhat generic, poem of lost love:

Oh! what cares Love for a wounded breast?
Love shows his own with a broader scar:
‘Tis only those who have loved the best
Can say where the wounds of loving are.

Not surprisingly, a few poems decry some injustice. One speaks of returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece:

Give back the Elgin marbles; let them lie
Unsullied, pure beneath an Attic sky.

And perhaps with a sense of lost youth or wasted years, there is the hope of all having meaning in God’s purpose. Echoing Colossians 3:3b (KJV), he writes:

So though the sun shines not in such a blue,
Nor have the stars the meaning youth deviced,
The heavens are nigher, and a light shines through
The brightness that nor sun nor stars sufficed;
And on this lonely waste we find it true
Lost youth and love, not lost, are hid with Christ.

Maybe his poetry could enlarge one’s mind a little bit anyhow…

If for no other reason than being an inspiration of sorts for Heart of Darkness and for Irish independence, some readers might appreciate a little more of Roger Casement. These primary sources are probably the places to start.

¹ Quotations from Conrad are found at “Roger Casement.” Wikipedia, 16 Apr. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement. Accessed 19 Apr. 2021.

Joel C. Rosenberg. The Last Jihad. 2002, Tyndale, 2006.

We have reviewed a few of Joel Rosenberg’s international thrillers. This was his first. It begins with an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States. In his introduction, Rosenberg writes that he had written the story before the Al-Qaeda attacks on New York and the Washington, D.C., area in 2001. After the attacks, his agent and various publishers were suddenly interested in getting his work into print.

One is tempted to compare Rosenberg to Tom Clancy, and while Clancy’s first, Hunt for Red October, published during the Reagan administration, is dated (the Soviet Union earned its place in the dustbin of history), the Clancy novel is still a good read. We can draw a similar parallel with The Last Jihad. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq plays a key role in the story. While Iraq in the first decade of the twenty-first century turned out differently, The Last Jihad still makes for a good story.

A few of the details in the story have proven to be more or less true. An afterword in the 2006 edition notes a number of successful oil and gas explorations in Israel. In the novel, the characters express confidence that these discoveries will bring Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews together. There is no sign of that happening yet, though recent diplomatic exchanges between Israel and a few Arab countries are promising.

We note that Rosenberg like some of the oil explorers he mentions were inspired by certain passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. Ezekiel 36:11 and 38:11-13 speak of a future Israel being very prosperous so that other nations will want their resources. Genesis 49:25 speaks of the blessings that lie beneath the land. Deuteronomy 33:24 speaks of a son of Jacob dipping his feet in oil, and one that I recall from many years ago, Deuteronomy 32:13 speaks of another son of Jacob getting “oil out of the flinty rock.”

All this is interesting stuff and tells us something of Rosenberg’s inspiration, but what about the story? The Last Jihad begins with an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the American president. While the president is visiting Colorado, his motorcade is ambushed by an air attack. He survives, but it becomes clear that Iraq is behind it. After all, Iraqi agents earlier had tried to assassinate ex-President George H.W. Bush on a visit to the Near East.

Before going into politics, this fictional president had been CEO of a successful investment firm. The person who appears to be the main character in the story is a young, single up-and-comer in that firm who has been asked to work for the Treasury Department. Jon Bennett also knows Stu Iverson, the current Secretary of the Treasury, who also had worked for the same firm. We see echoes of both Blackwater from the Bushes and Rose Law Firm from the Clintons.

The reader gets a shock about a third of the way through the book. These political thrillers usually follow a kind of formula. The main character will have something to do directly or as a witness to bring about the climax. But Bennett is killed. Who, then, is the main character going to be? What will happen?

It has been pointed out that the Great Wall was mostly successful in keeping hostile groups to the north out of China. The wall failed when people on the inside let the outsiders in. So it appears to be happening here. One or more people close to the president may have been giving terrorists information. Although they may not be aware of where their money is going, they may be supporting the terrorists with money, too. After all, many international corporations are set up in such a way as to be opaque to various governing authorities. We may think we are doing business with a legitimate Western oil company, for example, but the company is actually run by Communists or supporters of terrorism.

The plot is intricate, but at the same time, it moves fast. It sounds like nuclear Armageddon could be happening. It turns out that the attempt on the president is just one of several attacks on various world leaders in various countries within the same week. When some, like the attack on the president, fail in their goal, it appears Iraq is going to ramp things up. Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? That was a question from about eighteen years ago. We know they had nuclear reactors. What if Saddam was planning something bigger than a few assassination attempts?

If war is imminent, we cannot focus on just one person or group anyhow. Various people from various countries including diplomats, retired spies, current spies, politicians, businessmen (and women), all play their parts.

One discussion is presented like a Socratic dialogue and is worth repeating when the President and one of his cabinet members are discussing the literal nuclear option:

“How can you begin to consider incinerating several million souls with the push of a button, in the blink of an eye? We cannot become the barbarians we’ve been forced to fight. The end never justifies the means. Never. That was the lesson of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That was the lesson of Vietnam. And that was the lesson of the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. How can you—?”

“Mr. Secretary, that is absolutely not true,” the president shot back, firmly but fiercely. “That is not true. It just isn’t. The lesson of Vietnam was never fight a just war—a war against an evil empire and its proxies to enslave mankind—unless you intend to win. The lesson of Afghanistan was don’t fight a war you have no business winning. And lesson of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Mr. Secretary, was that a president must never—never—flinch from using any and all means necessary to prevent the wholesale slaughter of American citizens and our allies.”

“Sir, this is repaying evil for evil. It’s becoming the very essence of what we hope to defeat.”

“No, no, no—it’s not. It’s not. It’s stopping evil once and for all.”

“How? By using the instruments of evil, the instruments of war?”

“The instruments of war are not evil, Mr. Secretary. Not in and of themselves. Not unless they are in the hands of those who use them for evil. Preventing the slaughter of innocent Americans is not evil. It is profoundly moral and inherently just.” (208, italics in original)

There is also a great quotation that I am sure I have read elsewhere. In The Last Jihad, a top Israeli security official tells a American, “The problem with you Americans is that you don’t believe in evil” (234). Yes, Americans believe most people are trying to do the right thing. That is why we trust in the outcome of honest elections. But what if someone is simply being evil?

In the context here, there are plenty of quotations from Saddam Hussein saying he will attack and destroy Israel and America. Older readers may recall his “mother of all wars” rhetoric or current “Death to America” chants from Iran. The typical American response in such instances is that Saddam or his ilk is bluffing—he is lying, he would not actually do it. Or if he is seriously thinking of doing it, he is crazy.

“…there is a third option—Saddam Hussein is not a lunatic and, in that case, he wasn’t a liar. He was rational and calculating and evil. So he told the world what he was going to do—commit an act of evil, not an act of madness—and then he did it. It took a bunch of highly paid analysts with Harvard degrees to completely miss the simplicity of the moment.” (237)

While Saddam is no more, it does seem that a lot of highly paid “specialists” in and out of government, with or without Ivy degrees (we can’t forget Stanford and Berkeley these days of FAANG), can be awfully naïve.

So, yes, not only are there a nuclear facedown reminiscent of Fail-Safe, lots of entertaining action and suspense reminiscent of Clancy, discussions reminiscent of Socrates, but also there are many things in The Last Jihad that are meant to get the reader thinking.

Harold Holzer. The Civil War in 50 Objects. Viking, 2013.

The Civil War in 50 Objects presents the history of the American Civil War in an effective and unique way. The author shares numerous artifacts from the Civil War owned by the New-York Historical Society. This New York City establishment is old enough that the hyphen in New-York is not a misprint.

Included in the collection of about a hundred articles are works of art, letters, military orders, weapons, flags, and photographs. The book presents them so that it follows the trajectory of the war, starting with events leading up to the war. For example, it begins with two pairs of slave shackles owned the historical society followed by some works of art giving various perspectives on the life of slaves. It ends with some memorial ephemera of Abraham Lincoln and one of the two existing copies of the Thirteenth Amendment signed by Lincoln.

The pictures themselves are clear, and by themselves are interesting, but the author tells as best he can the story of each. In some cases, the society has a detailed record of how it obtained the relic and the persons responsible. In other cases, the provenance may be uncertain, but we still learn about the significance of the article or articles and how they illustrate the progress of the war.

Because it is the historical society of New York City, there is a certain understandable slant. Many of the articles come from or are associated with army units or soldiers from New York. One artifact owned by the society was made famous by the Ken Burns PBS series on the Civil War—the George Templeton Strong diary. We see a photo of a page from the diary here, but Holzer cites it when describing other events as well, particularly those in New York City.

The city has an interesting if somewhat rebellious streak concerning the war. The mayor and the city were both strongly Democrat-leaning and opposed Lincoln. We see a copy of letters that Mayor Fernando Wood wrote to each of the states that had seceded by February 1861 supporting their cause, and perhaps thinking himself that New York City should secede from New York State. Reading one of the letters, it comes as no surprise that there might be riots in the city protesting the war later on.

Speaking of the riots, the society owns an original draft wheel used in the city for the draft lottery. It also owns a charred but still readable Bible from the Colored Orphan Society orphanage which was burned during the draft riot.

At the war’s end, it appears that most New Yorkers did honor the black soldiers who fought for the Union in the war. Speaking of them, Strong’s diary, for example, quotes the Song of Songs 1:5 (KJV) “I am black but comely.” The book misses this allusion and sees it as “unfortunate,” when the context taken from the Bible shows something quite different. In the Song of Songs, the King’s beautiful lover is described here, and while some people despise her because of her dark skin and hireling status, the king calls her the fairest. If anything, it appears Strong was criticizing those who thought black men would not make good soldiers.

Remarkably, the New-York Historical Society owns one of only four original copies made of Grant’s surrender terms to Lee at Appomattox, a life mask and hand casting of Abraham Lincoln, and lots of printed propaganda from both sides. Some tracts and pictures would be considered downright offensive today. Northern Copperhead and Southern fears of “miscegenation” (a word coined during the war) come through in various pamphlets, sketches, and etchings.

At the same time, we get a sense of General Grant’s leadership through not only the above mentioned terms of surrender but the various photographic and painted portraits—some of which were not even based on Grant himself. Holzer several times contrasts the patrician style of Lee with the simple and plebian style of Grant. A trap for military men as much as anyone else can be to focus on appearance rather than results.

Many other names appear, some known, some little known. Some are curiosities. There is a painting of a cavalry officer at the point of death in battle, but Holzer calls the battle was insignificant and unnecessary except that the officer’s parents were wealthy enough to commission the painting and present their son as a hero. Holzer compares him to Col. Elmer Ellsworth, considered a hero by many because he was the first Union officer killed in the war, even though he was probably killed by a civilian defending his property. Still, both men were willing to risk their lives for their country and for the cause of liberty.

There are some significant broadsides from various sources including Frederick Douglass’s appeal to allow black men to fight in the war. But all told, and in the order the tales are told, we get a fascinating overview of the war. While there is an obvious New York slant, we hear from many regions and from both sides. The title sums up the book. It is not 50 objects from the Civil War, but a history of the Civil War based on 50 stories of approximately 100 objects—fascinating, detailed, and inspiring.

Fred Waitzkin. Strange Love. Open Road, 2021.

We reviewed a Fred Waitzkin novel about two years ago. This novella is different. There is no violence to speak of. The conflict is mostly internal except for a couple of fishing adventures. Still, it it engaging and affecting.

Waitzkin keeps one narrative technique the same: It is told in the first person. Unlike Deep Water Blues, the narrator never identifies himself, though he does mention having spent some time in the Bahamas. The names of people from the Bahamas are different, though.

In many countries there is some kind of folklore or tradition about the town or city where the most beautiful women in their country come from. In China I was told more than once that the prettiest Chinese women came from Suzhou (a.k.a. Soochow). Though I cannot remember the specifics, I have heard the same about a certain place in France and another in Brazil. Here we are told that the most beautiful women in Costa Rica come from the coastal village Fragata, population c. 300.

While a bit off the beaten track, tourists do come there and provide much of the poor town’s livelihood along with fishing. There is a pattern that rich European playboys spend time there and end up returning to Europe with one of the local women as a wife. More often than not, the women return after a decade or so.

When our narrator visits Fragata for a getaway, an attractive woman of certain age named María José begins to flirt with him. But he is immediately smitten with Rachel, her niece. Rachel is a single mother in her late thirties who has somehow missed matrimony.

Our narrator is himself around sixty, and understands that his attraction may be more of a fantasy. So perhaps were other aspects of his life. Back when he was in his twenties, he had written a very successful first novel. He dined with George Plimpton and Gay Talese one night. His Random House editor had worked with Philip Roth, Ralph Ellison, and Truman Capote.

His second novel was barely reviewed—and it was not published by Random House. He plugged away for a while. He describes it in a way that spoke to this reviewer who is sitting on half a dozen book manuscripts:

For as long as I could remember, I was going to be a writer. Until I wasn’t anymore. (19).

The last book reviewed here spoke of men making a conquest with a woman. Here, Rachel is the one who has conquered our narrator. He treats her with respect. He gradually hears her story and, generally, the story of her village. It is largely a melancholy tale of people trying to make ends meet and making sense of life.

An American friend who has worked years in Central America once told me that the only pleasure the people there live for is sex. There is a sense of that in this story. Few people seem to marry, but there is sexual experimenting. But not for Rachel or our narrator. Our narrator respects her too much. As their relationship develops, she becomes tender towards him, but she draws the line. Our narrator does not mind. He is learning that love is patient.

Most of the drama comes from Rachel’s story of her family. Her mother would periodically take what money she had and fly to Nicaragua to consult a fortune teller. The fortune teller’s advice never works, but her mother continues to trust her. Back when local newspapers in my state were a vital business, we would occasionally read about how someone had been duped for thousands by a fortune teller. It is still happening. It seems Rachel’s mother never learns.

Rachel had a sister Sondra who was about six or seven years younger. Sondra was physically quite attractive. Once when Rachel was twenty-two and getting serious about an Italian visitor, Sondra seduced him. When it appears that Rachel and our narrator are becoming friendly, Sondra will try to seduce him, too. I was reminded of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Judy Jones from Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams.”

Why the title Strange Love? Part of it simply because the protagonists come from two different countries. Our narrator is almost immediately smitten but comes to love and respect Rachel more as he hears her story. She is younger than he is, but still very much an adult.

The strange love is reflected in Rachel’s family relationships. Sondra has a baby boy that she does not really want. She leaves town and Rachel takes care of him for five years. He treats Rachel as a mother until Sondra suddenly returns and take him back. Rachel runs the family cantina on a shoestring, but her mother and Sondra take most of the earnings even though they do not work there. They accuse her of keeping back money even though it is obvious that she is not.

Still, Rachel is loyal to them. She seems to bear no ill will towards Sondra; that is just the way her sister is. She goes along with what her mother tells her that the fortune teller told her to do even if they cannot afford it. Yes, that is unconditional love, too, but maybe a bit strange.

While the story is intense, we get a sense of the laid-back timelessness of this beach village. The story, though, does have a little comic relief when our narrator returns to New York City for a month. He is not writing, but he picks up his old job as an exterminator.

He shares some wild stories about his month there hunting bugs and trapping rodents. We learn that most exterminating companies are always looking for help. When his writing was not going anywhere, he started working for them, and he knew if he returned to the city, they would take him back. We meet Robert, a one of a kind exterminator who loves the job and is also a Methodist preacher with three doctorates.

Of course, our narrator cannot stay away from Fragata. The question is whether his strange love will turn into something else. The story is a bit raw and not for everyone, but it does give a sense of what life in rural Latin America may be like, and how even the more urbane people can be drawn to it. If there is a criticism of the tale, one could argue that it is an old man’s fantasy.

Waitzkin has a great sense of place. Fragata is Spanish for frigate. So Waitzkin sails away. Even though Strange Love is a different story from Waitzkin’s Deep Water Blues, there is a character that appears as a constant: the tropical sea and shore. That comes alive. The setting may draw the reader in as much as the characters do.