Reading Still Matters

I recently read The Guns of August by the late Barbara W. Tuchman. It’s a book that I have always wanted to read, since this Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative history book has been read and reviewed glowingly by so many history fans!  How many history books written in the early 1960s are still talked about in such glowing terms? Not many, that’s for sure. See it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4eKM1cJ By way of overview, The Guns of August provides a detailed, dramatic account of the prelude to and the opening month of World War I, tracking the diplomatic failures and ultimately the military maneuvers of August 1914 up to the first battle of the Marne.   Tuchman opens the book with the 1910 funeral of King Edward VII, which served as a grand gathering of Europe's royalty and masked the underlying geopolitical rivalries. The men and women that would soon be lined up against each other in the trenches, visited London for the funeral.   Its amazing to think it was just 4...

Dead Wake  by Erik Larson is a narrative nonfiction book recounting the final, fateful voyage of the massive Cunard ship Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat (U-20) in May 1915 during World War I.        But Dead Wake isn’t just about the sinking of Lusitania, although it is that. It’s also the story of many of the people involved in the tragedy, including victims and survivors. In fact, we experience the sinking through the eyes of many of the participants, as they book their tickets, make their journeys to New York, board the ship and marvel at its luxuries. We even hear their idle chatter as the discuss the chances of a ship like Lusitania being torpedoed during their crossing. Imagine that!     Buy it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4aBYeiy      And from the German side, we meet the U-Boat captain, the crew, learn about their life on a submarine, the controversies within the German government and military ap...