Category Archives: history

The Wars of the Roses:

Posted on March 5, 2015 by

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones 2014 / 416 pages read by John Curless 15h 7m rating 9 / history – England 15th century (I both read and … Continue reading →

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The Plantagenets

Posted on February 6, 2015 by

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones 2012 / 580 pages read by Clive Chafer/ 20h 49m rating: 9 – history of England “The prince was drunk.”   So begins Jones fast-paced, bloody  and insightful … Continue reading →

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Gospel Truth

Posted on December 2, 2014 by

Gospel Truth: The New Image of Jesus Emerging from Science and History, and Why It Matters by Russell Shorto 1997 (2012) / 305 pages Rating:  7.5 / history- New Testament Having enjoyed Shorto’s much more recent book, Amsterdam:A History of the … Continue reading →

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Lawrence in Arabia:

Posted on November 15, 2014 by

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson 2013/618 pages (Kindle) rating 8 / history-bio I knew precious little about T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)  prior to reading the book – I … Continue reading →

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The Map Thief

Posted on October 15, 2014 by

The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding 2014 – 320 pages read by Sean Runnette – 8h 35m rating – 7.5  – history/crime I’d never heard of Forbes … Continue reading →

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The Idea of Israel

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

The Idea of Israel: A Study in Power and Knowledge by Ilan Pappé 2014 / 313 pages (Kindle) rating: 9 – historiography/memoir (!) This is an amazing book!   I decided to read it as an antidote to My Promised Land and it … Continue reading →

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A History of the World in Six Glasses

Posted on April 29, 2014 by

A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage 2005 / 311 pages rating 9 – history Standage is not an historian but rather he calls himself a journalist and author. He specializes in comparing historical events and … Continue reading →

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The Bully Pulpit:

Posted on March 8, 2014 by

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin 2013/ 928 pages rating:  9 / US history – 19th/20th century By the end of this remarkable book Goodwin had drawn me so close … Continue reading →

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The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

Posted on January 18, 2014 by

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford 2010 / 336 p. rating: 8.5 / non-fiction / Asia history Thanks to viscous vandalizing of the documents over the centuries, … Continue reading →

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Civilization: The West and the Rest

Posted on November 9, 2013 by

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson (Brit) 2011 / 432 pages Rating:   8.5 /  Socio-Economic History Very interesting book – I’ve thought some of these things but I don’t think I’ve ever read them – not … Continue reading →

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The Metaphysical Club

Posted on September 20, 2013 by

The Metaphysical Club: A History of Ideas in America by Louis Menand 2002 / 546 pages rating 10 – US history I read this when it first came out in paperback and totally loved it.  I was prime reader for … Continue reading →

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Zealot:

Posted on September 20, 2013 by

 The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan 2013 / 213 pages (Kindle) rating:  8  /non-fict- biography -religion One of many reasons I am a believer is because of the Jews who survived and have often  flourished in … Continue reading →

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