Word: fowlerize
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...city's development as an urban entity, Fowler shows, corresponded to the undoing of America as a Crown Colony. He necessarily includes in his work many pages of U.S. history. In fact, the narrative so often digresses from Hancock's life, it takes on the form of a multi-faceted history of the period, using Hancock's life as a departure point...
...FOWLER insists his book is a biography, "part of the new philosophical context in which historians are attempting to analyze history." Fowler's contribution to the field--the first definitive biography of Hancock, fully annotated, indexed, and even illustrated--is valuable less as a philosophical work than for its interdisciplinary and objective treatment of history. A thoroughly analytical history might have contributed more significantly to the field...
...Fowler's efforts at demythifying Hancock succeed, however. Caught up in rum smuggling and the lucrative, although shady business of administering British government contracts, which John inherited from his Uncle Thomas, Hancock was not beyond criticism. At the same time, though, "John Hancock was not the king of all colonial smugglers," the book asserts. Fowler becomes visibly disturbed by such assaults on Hancock's character. "All the charges that Hancock fomented the war against Britain because she cracked down on his smuggling activities are absurd, and completely groundless," he insists...
...Fowler's examination of the state of Hancock's personal finances at the time of his death shows that he was not nearly so wealthy as most believe. Nor was he exceptionally bright among the stars of his day who frequented his home. Fowler explains...
Therefore, Fowler concludes, Hancock was neither so wealthy, so radical, nor so distinguished as many around him. "He lacked the eloquence of Jefferson, the intellect of John Adams, and the character of Washington," Fowler admits...