Superbly written, which is why the book transcends the basic story of survival. Steve Callahan’s ample opportunities for introspection weren’t wasted, and this makes some of the best reading. Also, reading this book is like watching a movie where the hero seems most certainly fated to die, buy you know he won’t(or “doesn’t” in this […]
I read American Babylon after hearing about it on the radio and came away impressed with the author’s ability to make a remarkably complex process – the interplay of suburban development, urban decline, racial politics, and civil rights – accessible to an amateur such as myself. The book lays out a persuasive explanation of why […]
“A Land as God Made It,” tells in magnificent fashion the story of the formation of the Jamestown colony in what became Virginia, the first permanent British outpost in North America. Established in 1607 and therefore approaching its 400th anniversary, the colonists of Jamestown contended with an entirely new environment, with Native Americans, starvation, interpersonal […]
In his latest book, “American Gospel,” Jon Meacham provides an eloquent, yet at the same time, depressing look at the United States spiritual foundation. This well-written book portrays how our Founding Fathers created a nation guided by faith, yet not controlled by it. To them, belief in God was a matter of choice. At a […]
Few historians understand US foreign policy as well as Gabriel Kolko. Normally, he writes massive books packed with footnotes, drawing information from stacks of declassified government documents. But this time, he used his decades of research to briefly summarise his thoughts on the post-9/11 world. Fortunately, his opinions are kept to an absolute minimum. This […]
Venkatesh is pushing the thesis that the lives of the residents in the projects have been too pessimistically portrayed by other authorities, and that for long periods of time they, in fact, managed to get along pretty well, through various informal and often criminal survival mechanisms they developed. That is, as I say, his thesis. […]
With authors such as Poe, King, Bradbury and many other well-known authors we can be nothing less than pleased with this genre. Joyce Carol Oates chose many wonderful short stories to combine to make up American Gothic Tales. In rereading Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt”, I found there to be more insight to the story than […]
Thomas Paine, with his book, Common Sense, stirred the hearts and minds of American colonists to the right the wrongs imposed by their British rulers. John Chalfant is the Thomas Paine of today with America A Call To Greatness. This book will stir the hearts and minds of all who read it. America does not […]
It is easy to write off Adolf Hitler as a monster, or a man of pure evil, but these labels only serve to hide what Hitler truly was- A human being. John Toland’s fascinating biography is must read for anyone interested in just how one man could be responsible for such horror. From dispelling myths […]
This book has to be one of the longest biographies ever written about a historical figure, but it is greatly the worth the effort expended to read it. John Toland is as good a historian as one will ever experience in the modern era. His books, to a one, are eminently readable. There is no […]
