Published in 2017, Jacob Bannister tells the story of one of those larger than life people, Winston Churchill. We are taken through his life and share in his rise in power to one of the main figures of World War II.
I found this to be a very interesting read. I knew of most of the stories in the book but I believe this one did a great job of bring the character of Churchill to life.
Great book. Worth the time.
Grant by Ron Chernow is the biography of the Commanding General of the Civil War and our 18th President. Mr. Chernow takes us through the early life of Hyrum Ulysses Grant, on through West Point where he became styled Ulysses S. Grant, through his business exploits, through the Civil War, through both terms of his Presidency, and on through the his tragic death.
Growing up, I’ve heard the name Grant more associated with “General” than President. Though he was both, I think that is more of how we think of him.
I was very touched by his honesty and saddened by how he was taken advantage of… Not to be too Pollyanna, I believe there are people like him everywhere. People do the right thing everyday without much fanfare.
I was glad to hear the story and it knit a good deal of history together for me.
Very good read but sooo long. It is well over a 1000 pages so buckle up! However, I must say I didn’t get bored the entire time. That says a lot…
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly is a non-fiction book that tells the story of the contributions of African American women to NASA during the early days of the space race. The book provides a detailed account of the lives of these women and their work at NASA, as well as the broader social and historical context of the civil rights movement and the Cold War.
Having grown up out West, the idea of racism wasn’t really played out in front of me. Before the trolls start lambasting me on that comment I feel I should mention I hold a degree in sociology and I’m well aware of the systemic and institutional forms of racism which are much more difficult to discern. That being said, it really wasn’t a thing for us. I grew up in a culture where we were constantly told that the white male was taking advantage and yet we were pretty much all white. Then I moved to the East Coast…
My first day of government service was at the Pentagon. I was attending orientation and was sitting next to a former Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant who happened to be black. We got along pretty well and spent our lunch together. He asked me if I was racist. I told him I didn’t think so. He told me, “You will be.” He then told me about how he had spent his entire career on the West Coast and no one had ever had an issue with the color of his skin until he came out East. He told me of an incident at a bowling alley just the week before involving his wife and some men who didn’t seem to believe she and their family should be there. (I have come to refer to these folks as rednecks.) Many experiences out here has demonstrated time and again that racism is still a thing along the coast.
Yet, it goes two ways as well. My first day on the job, before I even had a desk or a place to put my bag, a woman accused me of being racist and sexist. I was the incoming supervisor and the outgoing supervisor was writing up this person for not showing up to work on time. I sat in the corner of the room and didn’t say a word through their interaction. Yet, I was labeled sexist and racist because she felt I should have defended her. I’ve learned through sad experience after sad experience that this is the modus operandi of many federal workers. The good news is these folks are as easily spotted as the rednecks were in that bowling alley.
What does this have to do with the book? Well, I am particularly thankful for those who stood up for what is right and continue to do so. There are wonderful people of all colors and creeds who are a credit to themselves and their respective cultures. However, there are more than a few folks, again of all colors and creeds, who put the brakes on this progress by acting the fool. This book was a painful reminder of both sides of that coin.
I felt the message was powerful and something we should know so we can avoid the same pitfalls in the future. Yet, as a story, I felt it could have been much better put together. Perhaps the movie is better in this sense, but the book jumped around through too many people and too many time periods to keep my attention.
If asked, I would tell someone to see the movie. The book was hard but I had to will myself to continue.
Bill O’Reilly’s book on the assassination of Lincoln comprises the end of the civil war and the few days after the funeral of one of our best known presidents. It was published in 2011 and was on the best seller’s list for 65 weeks. There were some criticism of the book and there were changes made in subsequent versions.
I read through the criticisms of the book and the listing of what was wrong with the book. I concur with Mr. O’Reilly as he is paraphrased, “Killing Lincoln was “honest,” and wished all students would read it“
I enjoyed the read and feel I learned a great deal. I do feel there were more than a few points where I stopped and thought, “there’s no way we know that”. Mostly, this is when the author tries to read the thoughts of the people as they are going about their day. Yet, I feel the book gave a balanced look at what happened and even gave time to discuss the conspiracies.
Great read. I would recommend it!
The book American Sniper came out in 2012 well before the movie. Chris Kyle is credited as the sniper with the most confirmed kills of any American before. The story is in his words and was completed before he was killed in 2013.
I still haven’t seen the movie so I was very interested in the book. I work with our Marines on a daily basis and was interested in the book purely on that merit. Much of the war aspects rung true with what I had been told in my years of working with the Marines. Of course, Chris Kyle was a Navy SEAL but he frequently worked with Marines and was very complimentary of them.
I was struck in particular of how plain his words were. We have heard so much rhetoric in our society, I enjoyed hearing an unvarnished version. No apologies, no excuses. He simply was who he was and was just fine with it.
My personal opinion is that war really sucks. It is also sometimes justified. Rarely are there black and white decisions. Chris Kyle says he sees things in mostly black and white with very little grey. I suppose he had to think of it that way to do his job.
I had a discussion a long time ago with an older gentlemen on the topic of war. The man told his sons, “Be loving in peace but be terrible in war.” I had a hard time with that concept then. I’m still struggling with it now. However, I do see the utility in the statement.
If you are an adult who is relatively secure with yourself, I would suggest you read this book. I did enjoy it and the thoughts it spurred. However, it is graphic and violent and generally not for folks with a forming or weaker constitution. It discusses a topic we should all know about and we are very fortunate to have avoided.
Yet another of the “Great Courses” series, The American Civil War is a lecture given by Professor Gary W. Gallagher, Ph.D. of the University of Virginia. This lecture series is over 24 hours of lecture. As such it took me a while to get through… Professor Gallagher takes us from what lead up to the war before the election of 1860 and details everything through the early parts of reconstruction and how we remember the war today. It was recorded in the early 2000’s.
I live in Virginia and continue to be very interested in what happened during the civil war. Although this was a long lecture, I was kept engaged and found myself wanting to know more. I very much enjoyed Professor Gallagher’s presentation of each side and how he touched on many of the theories and popular misconceptions about the war. I feel he gave a balanced account to what had happened and he made sense of a subject highly sensationalized and used for propaganda on both sides. I still want to know more about it and I feel I have been given a good foundation.
This lecture series is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of material and it will take some time to get through it all. However, I highly recommend it to all Americans. Both those who want to know more about the war and those who should want to know more.