Synopses & Reviews
Into the Open is a philosophical and literary inquiry into the deeper meanings of genius. What precisely do we mean when we describe someone this way? What legacy do we invoke when we apply this term?
To address this question, Benjamin Taylor here explores how three great mindsWalter Pater, Paul Valry, and Sigmund Freudviewed a figure widely considered the first great modern genius, Leonardo da Vinci. For each of these great thinkers, Da Vinci is of central importance because for each the received idea of genius has ceased to be a romantic certitude or sacred truth and has become a problem.
Invoking Nietzsche's drastic critique of genius, Taylor assesses the less programmatic and more anxious cases of Pater, Valry, and Freud. Whereas Nietzsche sought for and found an escape from romantic humanism, Pater, Valry, and Freud cannot relinquish the idea of genius and serve as troubled witnesses to the dilemma posed by the notion of genius. A myth of genius has been our way of making good the losses romantic modernity entails, Taylor writes, A myth of genius has existed to affirm that, among human lives, some have sacramental shape; that, among human lives, some put into abeyance the equation between life and loss. Such is the post-theological, post-metaphysical role into which we have compelled our geniuses. They make for us one last claim on the sublime.
A shift away from the special pleading that has lately plagued literary studies, Taylor's unfazed humanism reasserts the timeless standards of substantiveness, clarity, and grace.
Review
"A valuable contribution to the growing historiography on racial and ethnic minorities in wartime....Sherwood's good writing, voluminous research, and perceptive conclusions should make his book the standard treatment of its subject." - American Historical Review
Review
“U. S. Naval Historian Center historian John Darrell Sherwoods examines the racial situation in the Navy during the sixities and seventies and the Navy's attempts to deal with it.” - The VVA Veteran
Review
“Highly Recommended” - The Hook
Review
"Based on naval archives and scores of Vietnam veterans (both black and white), this book examines racial unrest in the turbulent Vietnam-era Navy and the Navy's efforts to control it." - Columbia College Today
Review
“A scholarly, readable, and thought provoking account of a troubled period in American history. Readers interested in the Navy, the Vietnam conflict, and race relations will find this authoritative study invaluable.”
- Journal of Military History
“A valuable contribution to the growing historiography on racial and ethnic minorities in wartime. . . . Sherwoods good writing, voluminous research, and perceptive conclusions should make his book the standard treatment of its subject.”
- American Historical Review
“U. S. Naval Historian Center historian John Darrell Sherwoods examines the racial situation in the Navy during the sixities and seventies and the Navys attempts to deal with it.”
- The VVA Veteran
“Highly Recommended”
- The Hook
“Based on naval archives and scores of Vietnam veterans (both black and white), this book examines racial unrest in the turbulent Vietnam-era Navy and the Navy's efforts to control it.”
- Columbia College Today
Review
"
is well researched and relies heavily on primary sources, particularly from the navy. Sherwood's main sources for the book are the JAGMAN (the Judge Advocate General's Manual) investigations of the racial incidents. The investigations provide a detailed report of the incidents and any recommendations for corrective or disciplinary action." "Sherwood's contribution to our understanding of the racial tension that the navy experienced as the Vietnam War ended for American troops should interest military historians and students of the Vietnam War." “A scholarly, readable, and thought provoking account of a troubled period in American history. Readers interested in the Navy, the Vietnam conflict, and race relations will find this authoritative study invaluable.”
“A valuable contribution to the growing historiography on racial and ethnic minorities in wartime. . . . Sherwood’s good writing, voluminous research, and perceptive conclusions should make his book the standard treatment of its subject.”
“U. S. Naval Historian Center historian John Darrell Sherwoods examines the racial situation in the Navy during the sixities and seventies and the Navy’s attempts to deal with it.”
Review
"Sherwood's contribution to our understanding of the racial tension that the navy experienced as the Vietnam War ended for American troops should interest military historians and students of the Vietnam War."-Ron Milam,Military History of the West
Synopsis
It is hard to determine what dominated more newspaper headlines in America during the 1960s and early ‘70s: the Vietnam War or Americas turbulent racial climate. Oddly, however, these two pivotal moments are rarely examined in tandem.
John Darrell Sherwood has mined the archives of the U.S. Navy and conducted scores of interviews with Vietnam veterans — both black and white and other military personnel to reveal the full extent of racial unrest in the Navy during the Vietnam War era, as well as the Navys attempts to control it. During the second half of the Vietnam War, the Navy witnessed some of the worst incidents of racial strife ever experienced by the American military. Sherwood introduces us to fierce encounters on American warships and bases, ranging from sit-down strikes to major race riots.
The Navys journey from a state of racial polarization to one of relative harmony was not an easy one, and Black Sailor, White Navy focuses on the most turbulent point in this road: the Vietnam War era.
About the Author
Benjamin Taylor has taught at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University and each spring term is at Washington University in Saint Louis. His work has appeared in Salmagundi, Threepenny Review, Raritan, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, New England Review, and many other publications. He is the author of a novel, The Mercy Seat, forthcoming next year.