Nothing succeeds like excess, and I often have several books going at
once. In addition to speculative fiction I read a great deal of history.
Here's what I've read recently and am reading now.
For earlier reading lists, check the archives by clicking one of the
links below.
1776,
by David McCullough.
David McCullough is one of the best current American historians. His
biographies of Adams and Truman have a cherished place on my shelf,
and when this book was published I scooped it from the History Book
Club and moved it to the top of the pile. It's very readable and clarifies
Washington's relationship with many of his subordinates and describes
the Boston, New York and Trenton battles and campaigns with great clarity.
1794:
America, Its Army, and the Birth of the Nation, by Dave
R. Palmer.
This book has a bit of a wandering narrative, but was most enlightening about
a period not well studied: between the American/French victory at Yorktown
and the end of George Washington's presidency. If 1781 allowed American
independence, 1794 secured it. If you've never heard of "Mad Anthony"
Wayne, it appears that you're as uninformed about the period as I was,
especially about the debt we owe him for helping to guarantee the existence
and future expansion of the United States.
American
Freemasons, by Mark A. Tabbert.
This is a great coffee-table book for a Mason's coffee-table. Now all
I need is the corresponding table to put it on. Well-researched and
beautifully presented, it's a book published by the Scottish Rite that
opens up the Craft to those who know little about it. I bought it at
Old
Sturbridge Village this spring.
American
Sphinx, by Joseph Ellis.
I confess that - in part due to McCullough, in part due to my Massachusetts
bias, in part because of all I've read - I've become less enamored of
Jefferson than of most of the Founding Fathers. Yet with all that, it's
hard to ignore his talent and accomplishments. Ellis is a well-known
scholar and I've read other books by him, and I enjoyed this one, though
it seemed to have leaps between periods of interest that I would like
to fill in. Not the last book I'll read about Thomas Jefferson, and
a decent one to start with.
Benjamin
Franklin and His Enemies, by Robert Middlekauf.
An interesting take on a biography of Franklin, it depicts him as sometimes
unsure, sometimes outflanked, sometimes completely unaware of what was
happening. Most biographies gloss over Franklin's missteps, such as
his initial support of the Stamp Act and his part in the release of
the Hutchinson letters; Middlekauf goes right into the Temple and overturns
the tables. Sometimes he's a bit too gleeful in pointing out Dr. Franklin's
inadequacies, but in general it's a very interesting insight into the
matter and well worth a read.
Clara's Grand Tour, by Glynis Ridley.
I was traveling through Kentucky in April and heard about this book
on a public radio program. Once I picked it up it was a tremendously
quick read - here's this Dutch sea captain with a tame rhinoceros, traveling
through 18th-century Europe and marketing her as a wonder of the world.
It's well written and a very interesting insight into the business of
entertainment in that far-off day.
The
Secret History of the South Sea Bubble, by Malcolm Balen.
Journalist Malcolm Balen admits that this book is not a scholarly work
- indeed, that he's no scholar. While that's true, he draws upon many
scholarly sources to tell the story of the "dot-com bust"
of the eighteenth century: the infamous South Sea Bubble, wherein a
joint-stock company bought up the British national debt and created
a paper boom and bust to rival the internet companies of the recent
past and present. That analogy appears in many parts of the text and
in each chapter's epigram. I'd like to read a more thorough book on
the subject, but it's an excellent light introduction and is recommended.
Poor Fred and The Butcher, by Morris Marples and Michael
Joseph.
Poor Fred: The People's Prince, by Sir George Young.
Two biographies of Hanoverian princes, including my current favorite
Frederick Louis. These are hard to find and out of print, but I used
the power of the Public Library to obtain them. The Marples book is
a bit more sympathetic to Frederick, though it does recognize that the
Duke of Cumberland never had much chance to redeem his reputation (but
he's still "The Butcher of Culloden" up in Scotland to this
day - old feelings die very hard in the Highlands). The Young book is
a fair treatment but is now 70 years old and reads that way.
A whole lot of DVDs have passed through our machine in the last several
months, and there are a few I'd like to particularly recommend.
Firefly:
The Complete Series, by Joss Whedon.
Borrowed from a friend who is a great "Buffy" fan, I was skeptical
about a science-fiction series from Joss Whedon, particularly since
it was cancelled after 14 episodes. As it turns out I was wrong. "Buffy"
doesn't do much for me, but this series was marvelous: gritty, realistic
(no sound in space!) and well acted, directed and produced. It's fantastic,
and there'll be a movie (Serenity) out in the fall - who knows
where that will lead. So get this one and watch it.
America
Collection, by Ken Burns.
A Christmas present. This features seven superb documentaries on American
themes:
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Statue of Liberty
- Empire of the Air
- The Congress
- Thomas Hart Benton
- Huey Long
- The Shakers
Burns is best known for his work on the Civil
War, jazz,
and baseball,
as well as the more recent Lewis
& Clark story - but these videos are superb, the sort of thing
even junior-high history classes would like to watch. Now I've got to
get me Alistair Cooke's America series - what I watched when I was in
junior-high - and which I can't find yet on DVD.
The
West Wing, by Aaron Sorkin et al.
And now the truth comes out. Despite being perceived as conservative,
I confess to being a huge fan of the series. We own the first four seasons
on DVD; I try to arrange my Wednesdays so that I'm home to watch new
episodes; I read the reviews and commentary on line. Regardless of political
persuasion, this is an outstanding piece of television and worth your
while to watch. Yes, the liberals are sometimes incredibly
sanctimonious; yes, the conservatives are sometimes portrayed
as ogres. But it's wonderfully acted, produced, and written. It's clever,
it's funny, it's got drama and pathos and substance.
