Category: Europe

June 17, 2012

Churchill by Paul Johnson ** (of 4)

An interesting approach to a biography of the man who saved western civilization from Hitler. Churchill wrote more than 10 million words in his lifetime,...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

May 15, 2012

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson *** (of 4)

William E. Dodd, an unassuming, dysthymic, history professor at the University of Chicago finds himself America’s ambassador to Berlin in 1933. President Roosevelt is battling...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

February 22, 2012

Lost to the West by Lars Bronworth *** (of 5)

OK, I did not know a thing about the Byzantine empire before I read this book and now not only do I have a sense...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

February 5, 2012

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English ** (of 4) by Natasha Solomons

Mr. Rosenblum and his wife Sadie arrive in England as German refugees in 1937. Mr. Rosenblum wants so desperately to assimilate that he keeps lists...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

January 7, 2012

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson *** (of 4)

The conclusion, and maybe the best, of the Swedish trilogy about men who hate women and abuse, cut apart, strangle, murder, beat, rape, and do...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

October 24, 2011

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett **** (of 4)

The Queen of England, nearing the age of 80, and bored with the routine of the Royal Wave, Royal Art opening, and Royal Ship inauguration...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

October 16, 2011

The Free World by David Bezmozgis *** (of 4)

A paean to the Russian virtue to endure. This set of Russians are Jewish emigres, among the first to be granted permission to escape the...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

February 25, 2011

Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters by Louis Begley ** (of 4)

After briefly summarizing the anti-Semitic atmosphere under which Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused, convicted, and imprisoned for treason by France military and political authorities, Begley...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

February 25, 2011

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larson **** (of 4)

The by now famous protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, is once again assaulted, chased, and utterly alone. The plot contains full doses of sex and violence, the...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

October 18, 2010

City of Thieves by David Benioff **** (of 4)

Lev Benioff, a 15-year-old Russian, Jewish kid and Kolya, a deserter from the Russian Army with an overactive libido and terrible constipation, find themselves trapped...

Book Reviews

0 Comments