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A non-fiction book telling the harrowing story of the folks being stuck on top of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in one of the coldest winters recorded.
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott – an excellent book .focusing on four women who took part in the Civil War
The book follows Reagan from his youth, his Hollywood career, his presidency (which gets the lion share of the book of course) and to his death.
As a fan of history, I really enjoy the small, intimate stories which give a most excellent background to world events, and this book is filled with them. It was wonderful to read about the friendship, intimacy, companionship and service the staff provides the families who are on a world stage and sometimes can feel lonely and battered.
The book is actually two well written essays. The first essay is a fascinating look at Colonial America and the life of an 18th Century regular people without the wealth and genealogy of many of our Founding Fathers. The second part is more of a scholarly essay about uses and methods of history.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen is a non-fiction book in which he details what is wrong with our history books.
How to Lose a War at Sea edited by Bill Fawcett is a fascinating collection of more than 30 short essays about naval warfare and oceanic disasters. The book spans decades, there are essays ranging from the days of the Spanish armada to naval blunders from the 1960s.
An account of the assassination of President James A. Garfield. Mr. Garfield was the 20th President of these US and the second to be assassinated in office.
Article originally published as Book Review: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming on Blogcritics.org About: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming is a non-fiction book about the tremulous year. Mr. Fleming is a historical novelist and historian with special interest in the American Revolution. 525 pages Publisher: Book Sales Language: English ISBN-10: 0785807241 My rating for 1776 Year of Illusions — 5 Buy this book from Amazon.com* More Books by Thomas Fleming Thoughts: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming (website) does not pull any punches when describing the political crisis in North America and how each side was seeking a resolution. For every person who was committed their whole heart to a revolution, there was another who could not fathom being separated from the English crown. The book mainly focuses on the military campaigns of 1776, however the fascinating political developments in Philadelphia and London are also addressed. The author follows the American rebels from the disastrous attempt to take over Quebec, Canada to the amazing victories at Trenton and Princeton. Mr. Fleming makes it clear that the colonial society was anything but united behind the rebels, but somehow they still managed to wing. Loyalists, those who favored British rule, where everywhere and, according to the…
Today, June 14, is flag day in the United States so I thought this post would be appropriate. My daughter who just finished second grade, decided to do her biography project on Betsy Ross (she had to do several persuasion papers, a biography, autobiography, an entrepreneurial project (design, build, and sell for profit a product – in her case an easel made out of popsicle sticks) and more), which I found a bit disconcerting. As an astute student of history I know that the only “proof” we have of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag is a family legend which started after she died by her grandchildren. At first I was put off by my daughter’s choice, mostly because of the tale told about Ms. Ross is now told so often and is printed in so many history books that it actually became fact, with absolutely no evidence. Much like George Washington’s wooden teeth (they were made of bone – could you imagine chewing with wood splinters?), or that Columbus discovered the Earth was round (the first globes went on sale the year Columbus sailed, by the way he didn’t “discover” America either) and many more. If you’re interested…
