Book reviews and more!

Posts tagged with ‘History’

WHERE THE JEWS AREN’T by Masha Gessen

December 16, 2016

“THE WORST GOOD IDEA ever”—brilliant, cynical history of the USSR’s ill-fated Jewish Autonomous Region.

Grade: A MINUS

WHERE THE JEWS AREN'T: THE SAD AND ABSURD STORY OF BIROBIDZHAN, RUSSIA'S JEWISH AUTONOMOUS REGION
Knopf Doubleday
2016

Tags: , , , , , ,

EAST WEST STREET by Philippe Sands

September 29, 2016

INTENSELY READABLE HISTORY of four lives linked by the Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials. Brilliant, wise. B PLUS

EAST WEST STREET: ON THE ORIGINS OF “GENOCIDE” AND “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY”
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2016

Grade: B PLUS

Tags: , , , ,

THE FEVER OF 1721 by Stephen Coss

June 29, 2016

FASCINATING AMERICAN HISTORY looks at Boston’s 1721 smallpox epidemic, its impact on science and politics. A MINUS

THE FEVER OF 1721: THE EPIDEMIC THAT REVOLUTIONIZED MEDICINE AND AMERICAN POLITICS
Simon & Schuster
2016

Grade: A MINUS

Tags: , , , ,

PRETTY JANE AND THE VIPER OF KIDBROOKE LANE by Paul Thomas Murphy

May 6, 2016

A NOTORIOUS VICTORIAN MURDER case, fascinatingly presented, offers insights into the era’s preoccupations. A MINUS

PRETTY JANE AND THE VIPER OF KIDBROOKE LANE: A TRUE STORY OF VICTORIAN LAW AND DISORDER: THE FIRST UNSOLVED MURDER OF THE VICTORIAN AGE
Pegasus Books
2016

Grade: A MINUS

Tags: , , ,

DEATH’S SUMMER COAT by Brandy Schillace

April 16, 2016

THE RITUALS OF DEATH, considered across history and around the world: thorough research, poetic voice. A MINUS

DEATH’S SUMMER COAT
Pegasus Books
2016

Grade: A MINUS

Tags: , , , ,

INVITATION-ONLY ZONE: THE TRUE STORY OF NORTH KOREAS ABDUCTION PROJECT by Robert S Boynton

January 27, 2016

NORTH KOREA’S ABDUCTIONS of Japanese citizens, explored in historical context. Fascinating and disturbing. B PLUS

INVITATION-ONLY ZONE: THE TRUE STORY OF NORTH KOREAS ABDUCTION PROJECT
Farrar Straus Giroux
2016

Grade: B PLUS

Tags: , , , ,

LAWRENCE IN ARABIA, by Scott Anderson

January 1, 2014

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and his fabled exploits, placed in a broad, rich context of WWI Middle Eastern turmoil. SOLID B

Grade: SOLID B

LAWRENCE IN ARABIA: WAR, DECEIT, IMPERIAL FOLLY AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST
Knopf Doubleday
2013

Tags: , , , , , ,

THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF IMPOSTORS, by Ian Graham

December 30, 2013

AN ENTERTAINING MISCELLANY OF impostors and hoaxsters through the ages. Lots of information, never boring! SOLID B

Grade: SOLID B

THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF IMPOSTORS: OVER 100 TRUE STORIES OF THE GREATEST PHONIES AND FRAUDS
Sourcebooks
2013

Tags: , , , ,

WHO’S ON WORST? by Filip Bondy

July 2, 2013

HUGELY ENTERTAINING REVIEW of baseball’s least competent players. Clever fun, well researched. #beachread

Grade: SOLID B

WHO'S ON WORST? THE LOUSIEST PLAYERS, BIGGEST CHEATERS, SADDEST GOATS AND OTHER ANTIHEROES IN BASEBALL HISTORY
Knopf Doubleday
2013

Tags: , , , ,

EIGHTY DAYS, by Matthew Goodman

June 20, 2013

AMAZING STORY OF THE real-life 1889 race around the world between journalists Nellie Bly, Elizabeth Bisland.

Grade: B PLUS

EIGHTY DAYS: NELLIE BLY AND ELIZABETH BISLAND'S HISTORY-MAKING RACE AROUND THE WORLD
Ballantine
2013

Tags: , , , , , ,