Category: History

March 19, 2012

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell *** (of 4)

High marks for originality. The year is 1799, though it feels like the period is 150 years earlier than that, and the location is just...

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March 1, 2012

Haiti: The Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois ** (of 4)

This book covers Haiti’s history from the first importation of enslaved Africans to the months immediately following the devastating 2010 earthquake. It is as thorough...

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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...

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February 5, 2012

The Long Song by Andrea Levy **** (of 4)

This is the story of Miss July a house slave in Jamaica from her birth in the cane fields to her post-slavery restitution living in...

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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...

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January 27, 2012

Hellhound on his Trail by Hampton Sides *** (of 4)

Hampton Sides gimmick as a writer is to start two or three parallel stories and watch as they converge in a single moment in history. ...

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January 20, 2012

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll **** (of 4)

This book changed the way I viewed the CIA. I used to believe they were ideologically driven bumblers, but after observing the careful exhibition of...

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August 26, 2011