Around the World in Eighty Years

From Connecticut, to New York, to Bermuda, to Texas, to Massachusetts, to Virginia, to Arizona, to Georgia (just to mention a few) and ultimately to Japan, where he currently makes his home, Jack Marquart has had a long and interesting life!

“ . . . there are the fortunate few who have been allowed the opportunity to not only travel the earth, but to experience and enjoy the many wonders it has to offer along the way,” writes Marquardt in this account of his extraordinary globe-trotting life. “To me the world has always appeared to be a gigantic stage on which the scenery is constantly changing, where there are always new casts of characters performing and upon which is enacted all manner of various dramas and comedies, as well as a few tragedies here and there.”

The author is quite right in suggesting that his 20th century American odyssey around the earth offers both entertainment and “a far different glimpse of the world.” Along the way we learn how this Yankee became a learned and eloquent defender of the Southern Confederacy.

The skillful blending of memoir, social commentary, and history creates a lively and entertaining narrative which ultimately defies category.