Synopsis: The late entrepreneur historian Stephen Ambrose recounts the WWII experiences of E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from domestic training to the seizure of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. A very American history book.
My Take: I found “Band of Brothers” to be a deeply frustrating book to read. On the one hand, the story of Easy [...]
Entries Tagged as 'History'
“Band of Brothers”, Stephen Ambrose
November 26th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Non-Fiction, War
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“Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe
August 28th, 2009 · No Comments · African, Fiction, History, Literature, Philosophy
Synopsis: A tribal patriarch in pre-colonial Nigeria is forced to confront the changes to his society brought on by the arrival of European settlers. The Anti-“Heart of Darkness”.
My Take: “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe’s first novel, is a seminal work in the modern literary cannon. Released in 1958, it was one of the works [...]
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“Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004″, Hendrick Hertzberg
August 19th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Non-Fiction, Politics
Synopsis: A thematically arranged collection of Hendrik Hertzberg’s political essays for the New Yorker and the New Republic stretching from the mid-1960s to the end of the Bush Era. Reading political journalism with the benefit of hindsight is fun!
My Take: Hendrik Hertzberg is like an over-sized red-velvet armchair in the corner of The New Yorker’s [...]
Tags:Hendrick Hertzberg
“Gone With the Wind”, Margaret Mitchell
August 18th, 2009 · No Comments · American, Fiction, History, Trash
Synopsis: The world of Scarlet O’Hara, an intemperate, ruthless and self-centred plantation owner’s daughter is turned upside down by the US Civil War and further, by that scoundrel, Rhett Butler. It’s a hell of a story apparently – 30 million people can’t be wrong.
My Take: The things we do for those we love. When my [...]
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“Lincoln”, Gore Vidal
August 8th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Literature
Synopsis: The second instalment of Gore Vidal’s Narratives of Empire historical fiction series follows the travails of the United States during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. From the ballot to the bullet as it were.
My Take: It took me a while to give Gore Vidal a try. As regular [...]
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“The Sun Also Rises”, Ernest Hemingway
July 23rd, 2009 · 4 Comments · American, Fiction, History
Synopsis: A group of American dilettantes living in post WW1 Europe travel from France to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The men in the group (as well as many of the locals they encounter) covet and vigorously pursue the beautiful and promiscuous Brett Ashley, but the narrator, war veteran Jake Barnes, is [...]
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“We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families”, Philip Gourevitch
July 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment · African, History, Non-Fiction, Policy, Politics
Synopsis: Philip Gourevitch, a staff writer for The New Yorker spends two years travelling in Rwanda in 1995-97 and produces an illuminating, if not always objectively rigorous, account of the Rwandan genocide, its causes and its aftermath.
My Take: Philip Gourevitch’s account of the collective insanity of late 20th century Rwanda is a moving account.
Not simply [...]
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“Make Gentle The Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy”, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy
July 9th, 2009 · 1 Comment · American, History, Non-Fiction, Politics, Quotes, The Kennedys
Synopsis: A collection of the words that Robert Kennedy used to move others, and the words of others that moved Robert Kennedy.
My Take: Compiled by RFK’s ninth child (!), “Make Gentle The Life of This World” is a delicious combination of extracts from Robert Kennedy’s own speeches and a selection of passages from a daybook [...]
"RFK Funeral Train", Paul Fusco
July 1st, 2009 · No Comments · American, Art, History, Politics, The Kennedys
Synopsis: Photo-journalist Paul Fusco presents a collection of his photographs from the carriage of Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral train.
My Take: Bobby is a bit of a political hero of mine. He was pilloried as a ruthless political operative in life and is revered as an inspirational idealist in death. He combined compassion and pragmatism in [...]
Tags:Paul Fusco·RFK·Robert Kennedy
“The Blair Years”, Alastair Campbell”
June 27th, 2009 · No Comments · English, History, Non-Fiction, Policy, Politics
Synopsis: Tony Blair’s Director of Communications and general master of the dark arts tells (almost) all about The Blair Years.
My Take: Ordinarily I steer clear of political biographies (diaries in particular!) but beore I moved to the UK I thought I needed a bit of a crash course in the who’s who of the Party [...]
Tags:Alastair Campbell