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Title: A Dishonorable Feat
Review: This, quite simply, is a bad book. The scholarship is slippery at best and brazenly poor in many instances. It's a curious little exercise -- Civil War meets the mood ring. While it is not surprising to find CW Battles and Leaders-like character feuding occuring in 2001 (Davis v. Breckinridge, Lee v. Breckinridge, Lord! Breckinridge v. Breckinridge!!), it is surprising to discover not-so-veiled homophobia (the bit about Benjamin) and anti-semitism (the other bit about Benjamin) so prominently featured. Oh, Benjamin was fat and told jokes too, and smiled too much, and ate ham, and was rich. What is the point? Breckinridge, having been Vice President of the United States, led men to kill men defending that entity. This is worthy? I love a good yarn, but Breckinridge the hero? Not for me.
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