Weekend Roundup

Let's just think of this as Close-of-the-Century Heroes Weekend. That would be the 18th century, not the 20th. At a time when major networks are vying to get a wounded Army private into a music video if she would just talk to them first, it's nice to think about what John Paul Jones would have done to an MTV producer if they had gotten in his way as he came out of a bar.

But, in all honesty, if it had guaranteed him enough publicity to give him a chance at a ship, I think Jones would have been on MTV in a flash. Evan Thomas, a Newsweek reporter and amateur sailor has written a new biography of Chevalier Jones. Here's the NY Times review. But as good as the book sounds, as compelling as its subject is, to be honest it seems hard to write a lot about John Paul Jones. Sure, there are some thriling sea battles to chronicle. There is a larger than life character to depict, who actually thought hard about how to beat his opponent. But Jones is a very minor character in the American Revolution. If you think of the Revolution as a grand narrative, it's hard to find a place to shove him in. His greatest victory, at Flamborough Head, is a sort of naval side-show, remarkable because it was the one frigate single-ship action of the Revolution that the US Navy won. Yes, yes, Jefferson and Washington both had his bust in their homes; but surely that was because Houdon had done it, just as he had done their busts. The book to read would be one that covered the privateers who did serious damage to British trade, and who fought the occasional rousing battle. But it hasn't been written yet, not to the required standard of dual narrative and analysis.

Also in the Time, in one of those excellent editorial decisions, is a review of the new biography of Horatio Nelson, entitled Nelson: Love and Fame. It's by Edgar Vincent, and it sounds like a great read, having both sound writing and some penetrating analysis. Sure, it is more than a little bit annoying to be told that "Nelson invented the modern system of mission command, based on consultation and coordination rather than hierarchical obedience, pioneering methods of management that are standard practice on Wall Street today"...as if Nelson was the first commander to call a council of war. But Vincent (a former naval officer and--gasp!--management consultant) at least has an eye for such things, an eye which academics and professional biographers intent on finding the real Nelson are too busy to develop.

But even Horation Nelson, as influential as he is, can't compete with John Wesley's influence. Nelson defeated a fleet; Wesley inspired a movement that converted nations. This is, roughly, the three hundredth anniversary of Wesley's birth. An article in Christianity Today Online entitled "How John Wesley Changed America" is a good place to start reading.