The genre of historical fiction is as well-known for romances as it is for stories set in World War II. This book takes those simple premises but upends them by adding so much more to produce a beautiful product of art. Its setting – Shanghai, China, during the war – is unusual as are its main protagonists, a Chinese businesswoman and a Jewish refugee. Apparently, Shanghai, long-known for its prowess as an international business culture,…
The human response to venereal disease has always had a strongly social component. Not only is there biology involved; other factors also include prostitution, gender dynamics, sexuality, fear, and moralisms. In this work, Brandt identifies all of these impacts and constructs a narrative of how Americans have reacted to this disease since the underlying biology had begun to be unearthed in the late 19th century. He does so meticulously and comprehensively so that no important…
Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) and Winston Churchill both remain among some of the most towering figures in twentieth-century history. Without them, democracy might only be a relic of history. Without them, the lingua franca of the world might be German instead of English. Rather, their friendship, forged by need and trial, led to an end to great European wars and to the blossoming of hopes of world peace. It also cemented the Anglo-American alliance as a…
After 70 years, Eisenhower remains a respected president with a mostly positive influence. Not only did he lead the Allies to victory in World War II, but as president, he also organized the world for a lasting peace. He continued to develop the American economy so that over time, America would win the Cold War against communism while not annihilating the world in the process. Newton analyzes these issues in careful detail, but he tends…
There exist few ways to understand something better than understanding its history. Nuanced details make more sense when attached to the historical narrative. Such is certainly the case in medicine, the universal human struggle against death. This book, an edited collection of histories of various aspects of medicine, offers these explanations with clarity and erudition. It offers hard science commingled with human insight – a coupling appropriate for the task of healing. Students of medicine…
Former US President Lyndon Johnson is one of the more difficult to understand presidents. He reached the heights of politics through an assassination. He changed America permanently through the Civil Rights Acts of 1964-5. Pragmatically, he attempted to build a nation based on equal opportunity through the Great Society. He had an unparalleled genius for administrative leadership in the Senate and Oval Office. Yet he led the nation down a horrific course in Vietnam and…
Do you think America has never seen such polarizing times as ours today? Pulitizer Prize winner Jon Meacham stands ready to correct you and then to enlist you in the struggle for America to choose the better path. In this work, starting with Abraham Lincoln, he traces how historically Americans fought over choices that today might seem taken for granted – like women’s suffrage, lynchings, the right to vote, and trumped-up charges of political treason.…
This book is widely regarded as the definitive biography of Napoleon Bonaparte in the English language. After listening to this book, I find no reason to disagree. Napoleon was and is a huge figure in European history. He conquered swaths of territory and reformed national systems. He can only be compared to Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great in terms of impact. He did not wrestle England, his archenemy, to the ground economically or militarily.…
The story of freedom is both an American story and a universally human one. In this novel, Coates reminds us that personal loyalties to family sometimes transcend the desire for freedom. Using the motif of finding one’s own free way, he describes the story of Hiram Walker, an enslaved person who was educated due to his superb memory, only to become intermixed with the Underground Railroad. Along the way, he discovers the backcountry of Virginia…
In my early twenties, I decided to devote my life to bettering American healthcare. I gained exposure to the system as a medical student and still contribute professionally by bettering medical research through software development. My experiences show that many inefficiencies and much greed exist in the system. As Hartmann attests to in this book, so many people angle to profit off of citizens’ health needs. It’s sad, but the political will and personal wills…