Category: History

August 7, 2024

Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen *** (of 4)

Not as groundbreaking as her first book, Area 51, Surprise, Kill, Vanish is a highlight reel of the CIA’s known exploits and failures. Beginning with...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

July 25, 2024

Goodnight Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea **** (of 4)

Based on accounts from the author’s mother, Luis Alberto Urrea has created a fictional account of two young women who volunteer for the Red Cross...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

July 12, 2024

Burn Book by Kara Swisher ** (of 4)

You can take my review with a grain of salt: everyone else loves this book. Swisher has been reporting on advances in technology since the...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

June 26, 2024

Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen *** (of 4)

This is Annie Jacobsen’s first book in a series of investigative journalism pieces into top-secret practices of the U.S. government. Using the Freedom of Information...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

June 10, 2024

Essex Dogs by Dan Jones **** (of 4)

In July of 1346, King Edward crossed the English Channel to reclaim territory taken by his independently-minded cousin, King Phillipe. Thousands of troops land on...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

June 10, 2024

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March *** (of 4)

It is 1892. India is a British colony and Indians, at least upper class Indians, aspire to move up the British hierarchy. Two young women...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

May 18, 2024

The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto *** (of 4)

Shorto’s hypothesis is concise and convincing. His book is long and detailed. As the ages of Enlightenment and Exploration dawned on Europe, Holland was the...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

March 26, 2024

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell *** (of 4)

The story’s most famous character, William Shakespeare, is never mentioned by name. History tells us that Hamnet, the son of William and Agnes (Anne Hatheway)...

Book Reviews

2 Comments

March 25, 2024

Rough Crossings by Simon Schama *** (of 4)

How did we not know this? In the 1760s, a court case in England suggested that any person of African descent living in Great Britain...

Book Reviews

0 Comments

March 25, 2024

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley (*** of 4)

Kerry Howley digs deep into the lives of American whistleblowers: John Walker Lindh, Chelsea Manning, Reality Winner, and Edward Snowden. Each was charged with violating...

Book Reviews

0 Comments