Category: Europe

September 28, 2016

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff ** (of 4)

It is the middle of the fifth century, though you would have to know that on your own, as there is no indication in the...

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September 25, 2016

Children of the Arbat *** (of 4) by Anatoli Rybakov

The Arbat is a Moscow neighborhood; its children are the teens and twenty-somethings caught up in Stalin’s increasingly repressive communism of the 1930s. These youth...

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August 1, 2016

The Lazarus Project by Aleksander Hemon *** (of 5)

In 1908 a Jewish immigrant named Lazarus Averbuch knocked on the door of Chicago’s police chief. After handing the Chief Shippy a letter (we never learn...

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July 22, 2016

One of Us by Asne Seierstad **** (of 4)

Even if you do not recall the Oslo terrorist attack in 2011, the opening pages of this book make certain there is no surprise. Anders...

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May 29, 2016

The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan **** (of 5)

The immortal Irishman is Robert Meagher, surely the most famous and interesting person I’ve never heard of. Meagher (pronounced Mar) was an incomparably gifted nineteenth...

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May 29, 2016

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith *** (of 5)

Let’s first state the not-so-obvious: Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym used by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame for her mystery series featuring detective Cormoran...

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December 24, 2015

Dead Wake by Erik Larson *** (of 4)

In 1915 the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ship on the ocean was the Lusitania. Crossing the Atlantic by ship was the only way to...

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August 2, 2015

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews *** (of 4)

An American CIA agent, Nathaniel Nash, is sent to Russia to manage a key asset at the same time a Russian intelligence agent, Dominika Egerova,...

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May 20, 2015

All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer *** (of 4)

Henry and Celia were working for the CIA in Vienna when a hijacked plane landed and failure of international spy agencies to respond appropriately led to the...

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May 13, 2015

Paper Love by Sarah Wildman **** (of 4)

Sarah Waldman’s grandfather escaped the Nazi Aunchshloss in Austria by the skin of his teeth. He settled in America, opened a successful medical practice, and...

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