Lisa May > Recent Status Updates

I can't remember the last time I read a book where every 2-3 pages I stop and say, how did I not know that (about my own country). Which says so much about how history is taught in this country.

Among the many things I learned from this book already: the racial slur "Yellow Peril" came from a dream the Kaiser Wilhelm had in 1895, which he commissioned a painting of. He sent autographed copies to world leaders to encourage alliances against especially Japan. I knew about US laws blocking immigrants from Asia, but not that other countries based their exclusion laws on the US. I haven't even gotten to WWII.

Ellen Maury Slayden, wife of Texas congressman James Slayden, kept a journal during their years in Washington, 1897-1919. She edited them herself into this manuscript, which was published decades later, after her death. The excerpts are interesting, but it makes me want to read the journals themselves, just not just her selections.

My reading is going slowly, because every time the author introduces a new person I have to check if she or he survived the disaster.