Reviews on history books and biographies.
Assassination Vacation is a nonfiction discussion on three American presidents and their assassins as told by one with an obsession so great, she actually took a vacation to visit each and every landmark associated with the murders. Lincoln (R) in 1865, Garfield (R) in 1881, and McKinley (R) in 1901 are the three presidents she…
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is a work of non-fiction which takes the reader on a thrill ride through history. Larson combines the true stories of two men whose paths seemingly should have had no connection to one another. Each man’s tale highlights important events not only in their own lives but in society as well. Crown | October…
In 1969, the UK’s Sunday Times sponsored the Golden Globe Race, a solo sailing race around the world. As long as one had a boat and the entry fee, the race was open to all. During the race, the participants would check in through radio frequencies and Morse code to illuminate their positions. One by one,…
Abandoned by the Vatican: My Clandestine Journey to Support Secret Priests Behind the Iron Curtain is the little known but true tale of the “Book Priest” and his project to secretly ship Catholic books to illegal priests in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Romania during the Cold War. You would think a tale such as this…
J. Dennis Robinson is a local author and revered historian with a number of books to his name. Mystery on the Isles of Shoals is narrative nonfiction that carefully reconstructs a notorious crime in 19th century New England using all of the evidence, the hearsay and conspiracy theories (and their origins) – a crime that is still hotly…
In the early to mid-nineteenth century, the heroes of our young American country were the sea captains who navigated the perilous waters, constantly breaking records and setting new courses. Their names were as familiar to the populous back then as the name Neil Armstrong is to us now. The Lost Hero of Cape Cod: Captain Asa Eldridge…
If you grew up in New England, especially coastal New England, you’ve likely heard of the Whaleship Essex. A ship born out of the American whaling capital of Nantucket in the early nineteenth century, its incredible tale was the inspiration for Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. In In the Heart of the Sea, author Nathaniel Philbrick pieces…