Most of the Nate Heller books are good. This one is very good. I enjoy the characters and the ties to history. Basically, a Forrest Gump/Spencer type of read.

It was an excellent book. A little bit too much language. It got crazy on pg. 140 (read that page). It had a whole bunch of explosive sex. And a whole lot of bloodshed.

This book is the most comprehensive and well written biography I have ever read. Dr. Williams has written another great book to add to his collection. I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in Huey Long.

Many on-line reviews of the book critique it as "slow", "plodding", "pro-Long", etc. Any definitive biography by definition covers all available detail on the life of its subject. Harry Williams does that indeed. In fact, by the standards of biographers such s Barbara Tuchmann, it is somewhat restrained. It is probably impossible to be ambivalent regarding Huey Long, but Willimas does look at hims as objectively as could be imagined. He seems to separate Huey the man- often coarse and boorish- with Long the master politician. Indeed, in the chapter "Power Unto Himself", he points out that Long changed, with the focus of his efforts shifting from what he could do for Louisiana to what he could do for himself. It is a masterful book, and after reading it, one feels tempted to style oneself as an authority on Long. If there is a serious shortcoming, there is no epiloug to analyze the Long legacy, itself huge as personified by brother Earl and son Russell.

As I picked up this book to learn more about depression era politics, I thought that this would be just another boring book about a politican. But as I kept on reading I started to realize that this is the best biography about powerful politicans. No one except for FDR could match Huey's hold on people and subordiantes. You have to understand that Long controoled all the branches of government in Louisiana. The judicial, legislative, and executive. No one person has been able to control a state the way Long did. What I like more about this book is William's style in telling the story. He puts in boring statistics and the seconds that with an interesting or funny side note, which made the book easier to read. No wonder he recieved the Pulitzer Prize for biography for this book. But what is more important is that Williams helps you and even him in trying to understand the man, which is important when reading any biography. He just didn't tell what he did but why he did it or William's comes to his on conclusions based on his research. It is a lengthy book, but don't worry just sit and read and let yourself be absorbed. You will not regret it. Praise to T. Harry Williams, he has written the best biography that anyone could possibly read. Thanks!

Whatever else we might think of Huey Long, most Louisianans would agree that, as governor and then senator, he was a populist -- right? In the summer of 1934, many residents of New Orleans had reason to think otherwise. The senator and T. Semmes Walmsley, mayor of the city, had once been uneasy allies, but began feuding on many fronts. In January 1934, after Walmsley defeated the Long candidate, the senator denounced what he claimed was election fraud by the Democratic "Old Regulars." Then, never one to bother with courts and the law, he clinched his argument by bringing in the Louisiana National Guard (functioning as the senator's private army) to take over the Soule Building, which housed the voter registration office. The guardsmen quickly set up machine guns at the windows, aimed at the mayor's office across the street. Both sides finally agreed to a monitoring process for the September election, which was swept by the Long slate. The Old Regulars deserted the mayor the following summer and flocked to the senator's banner, thereby setting him up nicely for a run at the presidency in 1936. Long's march on Washington, however, was interrupted by an assassin's bullet in September 1935 (fortunately for all of us, probably). This is an exciting, well-documented, and very well-written account of one of the more unnerving episodes in this state's history.

I am fascinated with Southern history. This is quite possibly the BEST book I have read on it. Huey Long was a remarkable leader who tried to pull the South into a modern era; but he was held back both by the same ancient forces that were responsible for the Civil War as well as his own dangerous impulses.

The author brilliantly presents Huey in all of his costumed roles; similarly he gives to the reader a picture of New Orleans that is equal to Faulkner's Mississippi: compelling and vivid.

A fantastic accomplishment!

I read the remarks of the professor from Tulane who thought this book was too conservative and wondered what he was talking about as I read this book last summer and did not detect any political bias on the part of the author, Mr. Boulard.

I have since reread the book, and still don't know what the guy from Tulane is talking about. Mr. Boulard says great things and bad things about Huey Long; he similarly goes after New Orleans Mayor Walmlsey and the Old Regular political machine.

I have since given this book for Christmas to my uncle and another friend, and both of them said they thought it was great.

Perhaps the reason the professor from Tulane thinks Mr. Boulard's well-balanced treatment is too conservative, is because he may be too liberal--it's possible.

This book works particularly well against T. Harry Williams big biography of Huey Long. Williams gives us the life, Boulard gives us a year in the life. Together they are two great books!

Brinkley offers a fascinating glimpse into the politics of the Depression era. Often, Huey Long and Father Coughlin are glossed over in US history textbooks and are given the "extremist" or "radical" label. These might not be entirely incorrect descriptions, but using them misses the depth of the national movements that rose up around these two figures and ignores the many followers they had.

It is interesting to see who was supporting Long and Coughlin. Their movements were not, as one might expect, composed of the dispossed or the bottom-of-the-barrel poor. Rather, they usually attracted people on the lower fringes of the middle class--people who had something and knew what it was like not to have it, people who feared losing their new status. Long and Coughlin expressed a sense of loss, too. They bemoaned the death of community-based business and local trade and their replacement with a growing number of chain stores and big businesses. Cold, distant, impersoal relationships now replaced the personal ties that bound communities together. They focused on economic issues--such as old-age pensions and Long's Share Our Wealth program. They placed blame on and demonized the "usual suspects." They proposed radical change and yet distanced themselves from socialists and Communists--especially Coughlin. Ultimately, they failed to create an enduring ideological movement, but one still cannot help wondering what course the 1936 election would have taken had Long not been assassinated in 1935.

The picture of Franklin Roosevelt that emerges here is that of a cunning and shrewd political operator. He deftly maneuvered the political waters and co-opted both Long and Coughlin. He adopted pieces of their programs--never the entire thing, but just enough to siphon support from his potential rivals. He maintained an ambiguous relationship with Coughlin and played on the priest's desire for power and attention--frequently ignoring him but slyly using him, for example, to garner the Catholic vote. He similarly cozied up to Long in the 1932 election, since the Louisiana politician had growing appeal, especially in regions of the south.

Overall, this is a fascinating book, based on excellent scholarship and many insightful analyses.

A very good system book about some great men. Huey Long, Father
Couglin and the other heroes of the Great Depression who had the guts to stand up against the devil capitalist FDR.
It is an Iron Heel book, but it still has a lot of good info.
This book is a good buy.

Alan Brinkley makes a worthy addition to the study of America in the great depression with this short book. Previously, most annalysis has focused on FDR contending with the national forces to his right, in the press, in congress, and in the courts. Brinkley's work takes an entirely differnet approach, looking instead at the "radicals" who threatened the New Deal from the Left, arguing it did not go far enough. Moreover, he presents considerable evidence that in forming the New Deal FDR did not compromise to the right, as many have argued, but was actually moved leftward by populist forces.

Brinkley also does an excellent job presenting his subjects. His treatment of Long is a case in point. He does not seek to cannonize him and brush over his authoritarian leanings, as many have, but nor does he follow the current trend of going in the opposite direction and ignoring Long's acomplishments. By strikeing a balance, Brinkley gives the reader a greater understanding of the appeal of these men and why they failed.

For any reader trying to sort through this complex moment in US history, this is a very worthwhile read.

Although it's readable, it's not as good as T. Harry's classic

A slightly flawed account of the life of the Louisiana despot because it rarely takes account of the true feeling of warmth that many of his electorate felt for him. Focusing mainly on his political manouvering and manipulation of the media and the electorate puts his few good deeds in the shade. However, the wealth of sources and quotes are impressive - my favourite by Long's younger brother, Earl, talking about O.K. Allen who was governor when Long assumed his senatorship: "If a leaf blew in through O.K.'s window and landed on his desk he'd sign it."

I read and was mightily impressed by T. Harry Williams' 1970 Pulitzer-prize-winning Huey Long biography. but when I read it (July 5, 1970) I thought it was far too favorable to Huey. This book, fortuantely, corrects that and is far more chilling in illustrating the methods of Huey. We often wonder how the German people could have let Hitler attain power and even some wonder why he remained in power. Huey Long was not on the level of unmitigated evil that Hitler was, but in his disregard for the rule of law and the basic tenets of democratic government he was as frightening a phenomenom as has come across the American scene that I am aware of. And when one reflects how revered he is still in Louisiana--his statue is in Statutory Hall in Washington, anybody related to him got elected in Louisiana, etc.--it is apparent that his dictatorship was popular. Apparently most people thought his disregard for law and democratic behavior was ok because they felt they were better off because of it. In St. Bernard parish in 1932 Long's slate for state office received 3,152 votes. There were 2,194 registered voters in the parish. The opposition candidates received 0 votes. This kind of voter fraud makes Hitler's wins by 98%, etc., seem honest by comparison. This is a stunning book and should be read after reading Williams' book so that one gets the whole picture of a stunning situation in American history.

This book is clearly a political move made by Huey Long when he was aiming for the presidency. I found it interesting to discover about his life, and how he tried to show that he was just like everybody else.

I read this book for a history class. It was my favorite read of the semester. The author has a good style that keeps your attention, but really that's not hard to do when detailing Mr. Long's life. His story could be a great novel - truth can indeed be stranger than fiction. Huey came very close to becoming President of the U.S. If he had (you will have to read why he did not) we would probably all be living in a very different America today. This book is a good commentary on human nature, too. In this country people think that we could never be controlled by a demagogue, like Germany was under Hitler, for instance. Long's story proves that indeed Americans CAN be duped - we are not special! Highly recommnened for student and lay person alike!