John M. Taylor – författare

This book chronicles the evolution of the Manuscript Society, a fifty-year-old organization of collectors and archivists, in the context of autograph collecting in general. The author presents a comprehensive account of the growing problems posed by forgers and discusses the notorious Salt Lake City bomber, undoubtedly one of the most skillful forgers of this century. From the dilemma faced by archivists when papers are threatened with destruction to some of the Society's most memorable meetings, this work tells a story that will interest generations to come.

From Kirkus Reviews: A friendly yet not uncritical biography of the secretary of state in the Lincoln and Andrew Johnson Cabinets. Taylor--who chronicled his father's life in General Maxwell Taylor (1987)- -offers neither much original scholarship nor a fresh approach, but writes smoothly and with balance. Why did Seward, front-runner for the 1860 GOP presidential nomination, lose his party's nod to the relatively unknown Lincoln, and why has he been so completely eclipsed by him since? Taylor depicts a politico whose manifold talents were often undermined by his own ambiguity (even Seward admitted that he "found myself an enigma to myself''). Intellectual, shrewd, diligent, convivial, and even charitable toward enemies, Seward was also willing to trim his sails in pursuit of political objectives. Linking up with Albany political boss Thurlow Weed, he worked ably for liberal causes as New York's governor and, later, in the Senate, where he became leader of the antislavery faction. Losing his bid for the Presidency because of his alliance with Weed and his statements about a "higher law'' and "irrepressible conflict'' with the South, Seward later undercut his political base still further by meddling with other Cabinet members' business and clashing with Radical Republicans during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Taylor does not fully explain why Seward muted his opposition to slavery during the secession crisis in the hope of reconciling the South, and fails to criticize Seward's mistakes adequately (e.g., saber-rattling gestures toward England and France that Lincoln rightly rejected). Yet Taylor correctly praises him for keeping the South in diplomatic isolation, bucking up the melancholy Lincoln's spirits, and having the vision to push through the initially scorned Alaska purchase ("Seward's Icebox''). An orthodox but sensible treatment of a dedicated politician-statesman who was sometimes too clever and complex for his own good.

One man—Capt. Raphael Semmes—dominates the history of Confederate naval operations in the American Civil War. Although the Confederates were hopelessly outnumbered at sea, Semmes roamed the oceans first in the CSS SUMTER and then the CSS ALABAMA, capturing nearly 100 Federal merchant ships and precipitating a flight from the American flag that decimated the Federal merchant marine. Revered in the South as a hero, the North reviled and feared the Yankee-hating Semmes as a pirate. Regardless of his reputation, his wartime exploits were remarkable.Noted historian and biographer John M. Taylor illustrates how, under Semmes's command, the ALABAMA became a household name in America and overseas and struck fear into the hearts of ships' crews and passengers alike. Incredibly, Semmes and the ALABAMA traveled 75,000 miles, and as far east as Singapore, without ever taking refuge in a Confederate port. In 1864, off the coast of Cherbourg, France, the Union's USS KEARSAGE finally caught up with the Confederate raider and fought the last ever ship-to-ship gun duel between wooden warships.