History Books

"In assessing the future utility and applicability of Rapid Dominance, it is crucial to consider the political context in which force is likely to be employed. As we enter the next century, the probability is low that an over-riding, massive,...
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Let's see. On one hand we have Milton Friedman, a legendary economist who has attained the prestige of Smith and Keynes, and on the other, we have an angry feminist with little economic training other than her brief affiliation with the London...
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Naomi Klein has written this book about the rise of what she calls "disaster capitalism": the global imposition/adoption of Chicago School (neoliberal) economics since the early 1970s. This is a particularly important book because, while many have...
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If you want to understand the mess made by the Bush Administration in the conduct of US foreign policy since 9/11, read this book. What it tells us is that ... the secretive, half-baked worldview of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al is nothing new....
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This is a very long book about a very long history of incompetence at the CIA. While there have been other books written about just how much the CIA resembles the Keystone Cops, such as Mike Ledeen's "Terror Masters" book written several years...
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However depressing, I thought this book was easy to read and was a necessary review of the agency with a "great reputation but lousy record" (I paraphrase one comment in the book).

I am giving it to a friend (a few years younger than...
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Larson has created the first must-read nonfiction title of the year, an assured and satisfying work which vividly portrays the one of the last grand gasps of the nineteenth century, the World's Fair of 1893.
Daniel Hudson Burnham, architect and...
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Well written and mostly an enjoyable read. But I was anticipating much more information about the serial killer, Dr. Holmes, and how he was related to the World's Fair. As it turns out, Holmes and his horrific activities were not really related to...
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A rewarding read that bounds along. It is chock full of information and detail that are clearly the result of considerable research. It is hard not to be engaged by this vivid portrait of a city enthusiastically committed to its future.
On a...
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This is an excellent book that is well researched and documented. Unlike some of the "politically motivated" reviewers I am both a researcher and a reader and this is a fine book--make no mistake.

We are treading into dangerous waters...
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I read this book the other day and was totally disappointed. The author took a subject that could have been reported on fairly with the true pros and cons of the private military industry and instead turned it into a radical left smear fest. Far...
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Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a fellow at the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law. He has written five other books and has cowritten the screenplay for The Siege. On the five-year anniversary...
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I wrote a review a few days ago of what I thought of Mr. Lawrence Wright's book. I gave it two stars and received considerable feedback from it. It appeared in customer reviews for five days and then Amazon promptly expunged my comments. Hmmmm...
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Wright has done a good job, with a lot of footwork, to give us some good personal insights into al Qaeda, its founders, and its predecessor and affiliate organizations. His detailed accounts of the personalities of the members of these...
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Excellent work and easy to read. Makes history real for real people. If history were taught like this maybe more people would find history to be both interesting and enlighening rather than something to put them to sleep. Also, extremely...
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Amity Shlaes: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression HarperCollins, 2007, 433pp

This is a remarkable book which will forever change your understanding of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role and the...
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"The Forgotten Man" emphasizes selectively-picked "moving stories of individual Americans" against government elites, which incorrectly frames the debate as government intervention ruining recovery versus supposedly free markets before the New...
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This is a well-written, informative work of history, combining people, places, events and analysis. However, one would be misled, as I was, by the publisher's description that this was a book showing the stories and experiences of ordinary people...
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"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-up" (story by L. Frank Baum and pop-up designs by Robert Sabuda) will delight Oz fans, collectors, artists, and the young at heart everywhere. Following Baum's story and illustrator W.W. Denslow's...
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I collect Robert Sabuda's books and love to give them as gifts. The copy I recently ordered was a disapointment.The tornado folded out parallel with the page instead of perpendicular to it. I compared it to my copy purchased last year and found...
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Do not expect to read the whole story of Plymouth Colony here, but do expect to read a portion of the story which is told very well and has been neglected by many and distorted by some. This seems a balanced view, but not a broad view. I think...
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Sorry....I ordered this book because I was interested in learning more about the Mayflower and it's history but this book is so dull. I did make it through to the end but it was kinda like the same way I made it through my Latin class. Snore !
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What topic could be more current than independence or the passionate desire that all men have for freedom? David McCullough brings his considerable literary talent to the fore in describing the fascinatingly pivotal year of 1776. Just one year...
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I am very disapointed in 1776 by David McCullough. In my opinion it is simply not up to the standard he set by his terrific biography of Truman or his wonderful story of the Panama Canal, The Path Between the Seas.

That part of 1776...
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I have no doubt that David McCullough's stirring new narrative, 1776, will be a bestseller. McCullough is a brand name and media outlets will love to have him appear. And 1776 is a particularly compelling read when you can hear Pulitzer Prize...