finding truth, carrying with it the convictionrnthat we cannot “know” any truth atrnall. Independent of other principles, sciencernis unable to mantain its own codernof values, which includes honesty, publicityrnfor the results of research, diligence,rnand rationalism: that is the true implicationrnof Morgan’s thesis. Potentially, thern”end of science” is the final nail in therncoffin of Western culture, leaving usrnstranded without hope of apprehendingrntruth, exercising reason, or justifyingrnstandards of morality.rnJohn Caiazza writes from Medford,rnMassachusetts.rnSlouching TowardrnEmpirernby Collie OwensrnOld Hickory’s War: Andrew Jacksonrnand the Quest for Empirernby David S. Heidler andrnJeanne T. HeidlerrnMechanicshurg, Pennsylvania:rnStackpole Books;rn320 pp., $24.95rnThe tragic fate of the Cherokee tribernis well documented. What is lessrnwidely known, and probably less researched,rnis the fairiy rapid destruction ofrnthe Creeks—a nation whose territoryrnincluded most of what is today Alabamarnand southern Georgia—and the rolernplayed by Andrew Jackson in theirrndemise. In a style more readable thanrnthat of most historical works, Old Hickory’srnWar tells a story of pride, intrigue,rngreed, and violence that attended thernCreek War of 1813-14 and its aftermath,rnincluding Jackson’s invasion of Florida inrn1818.rnAfter the Louisiana Purchase and thernWar of 1812, American settlers headedrninto the old Southwest Territory frontier,rnwhere they often came into conflict withrnIndians. Following Jackson’s victory overrnthe Creeks at Horseshoe Bend in Marchrn1814, Old Hickory gained the cession ofrnCreek land—22 million acres of potentialrnprime farmland—with the Treaty ofrnFort Jackson.rnThe Creek Indian agent, BenjaminrnHawkins, played a key role in the treatymaking,rnwhich he thought would be anrnaid to his program of acculturation of thernCreeks to white civilization. He genuinelyrndesired to help the Indians herneared for, but the result proved a disasterrnfor the friendly Allied Creeks, while thernhostile Red Stick Creeks, most of whomrnhad fled to Seminole territory, went unscathed.rnAs it is generally conceded thatrnJackson hated all Indians, there is no surprisernin his unconcern for the injuryrndone to the Allied Creeks. The drivingrnforce behind the treaty was the insatiablernAmerican desire for land; what befell thernIndians was irrelevant.rnJackson was pleased with the CreekrnCession (he immediately appropriatedrnsome of the best land for himself) but hisrnimperial eye was on an even more valuablernprize: Spanish Florida. Spain’s powerrnin Florida had been on the wane forrndecades, and with revolutions in SouthrnAmerica occupying the mother country’srnattention, military resources were inrnshort supply in both East and WestrnFlorida. Furthermore, runaway blackrnslaves, British adventurers, pirates, andrnIndians (mainly Red Stick Creeks andrnSeminoles) hostile toward Americansrnfound an ideal refuge in Florida. Thisrnsituation gave Jackson the excuse hernneeded to invade Florida on his own initiative,rnwithout official approval fromrnWashington.rnThe tale of intrigue involving the invasionrnis complex, too serpentine to coverrnin a short review: the principals includernthe pusillaniinous administrationrnof President James Monroe, who balkedrnat making important decisions; an overlyrnprincipled Secretary of War, John C.rnCalhoun; Henry Clay, who denouncedrnJackson on the floor of the House; andrnthe iron-willed Jackson himself. Jackson’srncontempt for civilian control ofrnthe military is a key aspect of this story,rnand so is the diplomatic pressure thatrnSecretary of State John Quincy Adamsrnbrought to bear on the Governor ofrnFlorida, Don Luis de Onis, after Jackson’srntechnically illegal invasion of hisrnterritory. The political plots and counterplotsrnare reminiscent of the workingsrnof a modern-day college English department,rnwhile the intricacy of the machinationsrninvolved makes this history readrnat times like a mystery novel.rnOld Hickory’s War is meticulously researchedrnand well documented; there arern51 pages of endnotes, a 14-page bibliography,rnand a detailed but flawed indexrn(curiously, no entries exist for eitherrnCreeks or the Creek War). Two helpfulrnmaps are supplied, but they omit significantrnplace names mentioned in the bookrn(for example, some of the forts and anrnarea called Prospect Bluff). These minorrnblemishes aside. Old Hickory’s War is arnfascinating work, helping to put in historicalrnperspective the American empire ofrnthe 1990’s.rnCollie Owens teaches English at DeKalbrnCollege, where he is also poetry editor ofrnthe Chattahoochee Review.rnBring Me a Grapernby Frank BiownlowrnCyril Connolly:rnThe Life andrnTimes of England’s MostrnControversial Literary Criticrnby Clive FisherrnNew York St. Martin’s Press;rn466 pp., $27.95rnWhat a peculiar, in some respectsrndownright weird little world thisrnfascinating biography introduces us to.rnImagine a very clever, very plain, veryrnspoiled little boy, born at the turn of therncentury into the intensely competitivernupper-middle or lower-aristocratic classrnin Britain. Conventional success atrnsports, diplomacy, the professions, orrnbusiness being ruled out by physiologyrnand temperament, he makes it his businessrnfrom his first days at school to entertainrnhis fellows and masters by superiorrnknowingness. Following this policy, herngains a place at Eton as a King’s Scholar.rnThen, against all prediction, by an unflaggingrncampaign of ingratiation andrnbedroom politics, he achieves Etonianrnapotheosis by election to “Pop,” an exclusivernsociety in an exclusive school,rnpeopled by the athletic, the aristocratic,rnand the beautiful.rnFrom Eton, trailing clouds of glory, herngoes to Balliol to read history, again withrna distinguished scholarship. Oxford,rnthough, disappoints him. History is hardrnwork, and dons are less impressionablernthan schoolmasters and schoolboys. Sornhe leaves with a third-class degree, andrnsets about turning charm and clevernessrninto a literary career that will supply hisrnneeds: money, sex, good food, comfort-rnFEBRUARY 1997/29rnrnrn