I read Chernow’s biography of Hamilton last year because, well, I can’t see the musical. Also, I majored in History as an undergrad and my favorite era is the American Revolution. Hamilton, the biogrpaphy, was excellent. It was the first major biography that read despite a good friend recommending Chernow a few years ago. I enjoyed Hamilton enough that I added Grant to my queue as soon as it was added to my library and after eight months of waiting, I got my turn. […]
“History is booooooring”
This series by Steve Sheinkin has its moments. They might not be for the adult reader, but the child reader (about ages 7 to 9) will get a kick out of our heroes Abby and Doc time-traveling through history. In history class, Abby and Doc are reading about Abraham Lincoln. But something is not right. All he is doing is sitting, reading the newspaper, playing handball in the alley near his home and where is that famous beard? How did this happen? Historical figures have […]
Outdated gender dynamics, But Topically Dated Politcal Stuff
Bingo Square Round 2: Home, Something, Home (John Jakes was born in Illinois) When I was in elementary school in Germany, one of the local channels aired Fackeln im Sturm, the TV mini series about two families and best friends on opposing sides of the Civil War. Between this show and Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze quickly became an important cornerstone in my early tween crushes. My parents had seen the mini series when we were still in the States, and I am pretty sure we […]
Journalist, born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada, now lives in Oregon, writes book about the Second US Civil War. Is Awesome.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana If you were to guess what might cause a second US civil war, what would it be? Given the current political debate over the Trump administration, one might think it wouldn’t be so much a physical divide as an ideological one. Yet, in American War, by Omar El Akkad, the second civil war is imagined as erupting in 2074 over fossil fuels, because some southern states refuse to give them up, for […]