“The saga of this Family is the story of the United States. Polk's Folly is both epic in scope and intimate in detail - a unique book about
our shared past."

“A brilliant historical narrative that celebrates, in family members and the nation as a whole, an abundance of heroism, tragedy, guts and glory.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“A wonderful and original book, using his own family’s unusual saga to tell the story of the nation itself…a magnificent job.”
— Lance Morrow

“ Engrossing…an amazing story of ups and downs, surprising success and sudden death. What a family! What a tradition to inherit and share through this book with the reading public.”
— William H. McNeill (former chairman of the History Department of the University of Chicago, former president of the American Historical Association and winner of the National Book Award)

“A spirited, broad-scale saga of an American family we ought to remember.”
— New York Times Book Review

“This lovingly constructed history…evokes not only the dynamism of the American past but also the constant presence of war and violence in our national life.”
— The New Yorker

Polk’s Folly is for every American history buff and for every textbook jaded student who imagines that American history is dull.”
— Frances FitzGerald (author of Fire in the Lake and America Revised; winner of the National Book Award)

“Polk’s Folly is a great, fresh idea captivatingly realized, truly a superior work.”
— Howard K. Smith (CBS and ABC Anchorman and world-famous journalist, author of Last Train from Berlin)

“Here history meets very fine storytelling, with a vivid cast of characters.”
— John Graves (author of Goodbye to a River)

“…this illuminating book [is] both delightful and necessary.”
— The Very Reverend James Parks Morton (Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine)

“an original and entrancing history of America. His research is impressive and his storytelling a delight.”
— Richard Barnet

Polk's Folly, Nashville Public Radio (February 26, 2000)