Book excerpt: An engaging history of The University of Alabama President & rsquo;s Mansion & ldquo;Mathews has done an excellent job in putting on paper the lore of the house she so obviously learned to love. & rdquo; & mdash;Tuscaloosa News & ldquo;The mansion has watched history for more than a century; it has overheard the conversations of its residents and guests; it has seen itself change architecturally on the outside and decoratively on the inside; it has witnessed the destruction of the Civil War, difficulties during both World Wars, and student demonstrations that accompanied the Vietnam War; and it has c.