Books with author Thomas J Fleming

An intimate look at the founders—George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison—and the women who played essential roles in their lives With his usual storytelling flair and unparalleled research, noted historian Thomas Fleming examines the relationships between the Founding Fathers and the women who were at the center of their lives. They were the mothers who powerfully shaped their sons’ visions of domestic life, from hot-tempered Mary Ball Washington to promiscuous Rachel Lavien, Hamilton’s mother. Lovers and wives played even more critical roles. We learn of the youthful Washington’s tortured love for the coquettish Sarah Fairfax, a close friend’s wife; of Franklin’s two “wives,” one in London and one in Philadelphia; of how lonely, deeply unhappy Abigail kept home and family together for years on end during Adams’s long absences; of Hamilton’s adulterous betrayal of his wife and their eventual reconciliation; of how the brilliant Madison, jilted by a flirtatious fifteen-year-old, went on to marry the effervescent Dolley, who helped make this shy man into a popular president. Jefferson’s controversial relationship with Sally Hemings is also examined, reinterpreting where his heart truly lay.

For many people, Benjamin Franklin remains a puzzling figure in American history. This book tells Franklin's absorbing life story. In lively and informal style, Thomas Fleming presents a well-rounded account of probably the most versatile and accomplished man of his time-his boyhood in Boston . . . his career as a newspaperman and writer . . . his scientific pursuits and inventions . . . his years as statesman and diplomat . . . through his still productive old age until his death at 84. In Benjamin Franklin, Fleming not only gives a perceptive portrait of an extraordinary man, but he provides a rare glimpse into the forces that shaped the birth of a new nation.

On Yachts and Yacht Handling by Thomas Fleming DayMy reason for writing this book is, that it is wanted; my excuse, thirty years' experience. In those years I have handled many boats, upon many waters.You will find this book very different from other works on the same subject. In the first place, I believe that all text-books should be written in a manner to please, as well as to instruct; that they should be agreeable reading; and, aside from their teaching value, have a certain excellence as a writing. Again, there is nothing in literature so interesting as the autobiography, real or fictional. Nearly all our great works of fiction are of this class. Robinson Crusoe's history from any other lips than those of the castaway would lose half its interest; Gil Blas in the third person would lack warmth and be wholly devoid of its peculiar zest. The flavor of the individual is lost when you speak for, and not as him. The puppet[14] talks like a puppet. It is the difference between John Alden pleading the cause of Captain Standish and John Alden pleading the cause of Master John. Let a man talk to you and he will interest and amuse; let him write for you and he will prove trite and dull. Therefore, when imparting information, I like to talk, not write. I want to infuse into my words my person, to endeavor to give my ideas an I-am-with-you tone, so that it will be me and not the book that is present, and with whom you are in communion.But this method of handling a subject is apt to breed dogmatism, especially as the reader is unable to question or deny the statements made until they have been chilled into ink. So you will find in many of my chapters that I am exceedingly dogmatic. It is unintentional, simply being a manifestation of the spirit peculiar to this style of addressing an audience—one that must hear but cannot answer. Therefore let me warn you to question all my statements, and to accept only those that harmonize with your own conclusions, after you have carefully thought them over. Those that you cannot reconcile to your own knowledge and experience, lay on one side to be tried out at a future day.

This book is an illustrated version of the original On Yachts and Yacht Handling by Thomas Fleming Day. “I HAVE been all my life a lover of the sea; an observer of its natural and social conditions; a student of its phases and fabrics; but while my mind in its long and wide search has touched upon almost every subject connected with ocean life, the one that has constantly interested and fascinated me is that which relates to the care and government of sailing vessels. This art, which is called seamanship, is one of man's oldest and noblest attainments. What does the world owe to him who possessed it?”

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

For many people, Benjamin Franklin remains a puzzling figure in American history. This book tells Franklin's absorbing life story. In lively and informal style, Thomas Fleming presents a well-rounded account of probably the most versatile and accomplished man of his time-his boyhood in Boston...his career as a newspaperman and writer...his scientific pursuits and inventions...his years as statesman and diplomat...through his still productive old age until his death at 84. In Benjamin Franklin, Fleming not only gives a perceptive portrait of an extraordinary man, but he provides a rare glimpse into the forces that shaped the birth of a new nation.