Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy   Eri Hotta
Detailed history of the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated the Pacific war. Good background on the political and historical events that led to the disastrous decision. Hotta is extremely critical of the men whose fantasies started the war and nearly led to Japan’s destruction. A lot of detail about the conflicts between those who wanted to avoid war and those who wanted war. Very sad reading about all the miscalculations and hubris that led to such profound misery and suffering, especially for the Japanese. Prose is a little academically sterile, but the book is informative and well done. Glad I read it.

Night School   Lee Child
Latest in the Reacher series, number 21, all of which I have read. This time he’s in Germany in the 1990s trying to stop a sale to terrorists. The same quick, sharp-edged prose, intelligence, and just enough narrative tension for a deeply entertaining read. Once again, though, the female sexual interest seems contrived, and a couple of things Reacher knows seem improbable. But a very fun read, once again. Enjoyed it.

The Windup Girl   Paolo Bacigalupi
This novel is so beautifully written, so well imagined, that it’s difficult for me to say anything meaningful about it. In a wholly believable future devastated by genetically altered disease and climate warming, political, technological, genetic, and biological conflict propels the very-interesting characters toward the overwhelming conclusion. See, told you I couldn’t find anything to say. Emiko is the windup girl of the title, and she survives. Loved this book, wish it hadn’t ended.

The Dream of the Golden Mountains: Remembering the 1930s   Malcolm Cowley
Beautifully written, insightful memoir of the 1930s while Cowley worked as an editor at The New Republic. Chapter one is an outstanding overview of the social situation of the Great Depression. Excellent description of the enticements of Communism for intellectuals, especially writers, of the period. Interesting account of Cowley’s involvement with the Harlan County coal strike. The chapter “Grass Grew in the Streets” is a fascinating depiction of the things people did to get by, especially in the early years of the depression. This is an excellent depiction of the literary, intellectual 1930s in the United States. Made me wish we were still like that. The few insertions of purely personal history worked very well. I loved this book.

Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945   David M. Kennedy
Detailed political history of the United States through the depression and WWII. Very thorough, balanced account of The New Deal, but disappointingly meager information on the actual American people, subtitle should read “The American Government in depression and war”, there’s no social or intellectual history at all. Interesting historical, political, and economic assessment of The New Deal. Good chapter on the buildup to war. Fascinating account of the contortions the Roosevelt administration went through to aid Great Britain while remaining “neutral.” The war is described in only broad strokes and emphasizes major encounters, political as well as military, and Kennedy kind of skips around. Language is a little too flowery for a serious history book, which this is, but that’s not really a criticism. Overall disappointing because even after 858 pages and with all the facts he presents, my understanding of the 16 momentous years described did not grow at all. Too bad.

Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s   Michael L. Cooper
Brief but excellent history of the conditions of the depression and dust bowl in the 1930s, and the resulting migration of hundreds of thousands of people to California. Clear, simple prose highlighted by excellent Dorothea Lange photographs. Not a lot of detail, but good broad strokes for an effective overview. Goes well with my other reading on the period.

Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny   Robert Wright
Describes human cultural evolution as derived from the ongoing progress of nonzerosumness, a concept from game theory. Besides being an incredibly clumsy term, I am deeply suspicious of looking back over history and seeing patterns that lead inevitably to where we are now. Also, I think he is straining to identify an underlying logic to anything to do with human “development.” Interesting history of the increasing complexity of human cultures. Wright really gets off kilter in the second part of the book where he talks about natural selection “designing” and “inventing” things. His engaging prose style made it an enjoyable read, but I am completely unconvinced by the “logic” he thinks he sees, and his notion of a human destiny. The third part about teleology and spirituality at the end was so bad to be embarrassing. A shame.

Escape Clause   John Sandford
Entertaining, well-written, latest Virgil Flowers police procedural. This time Virgil is investigating the theft of endangered tigers from the Minnesota Zoo, multiple resulting murders, and an attack on his girlfriend. The plots develop nicely, the characters are interesting enough, and the banter is humorous. As usual, Camp’s prose is clear and pulls things right along. Very enjoyable, I like Virgil, didn’t really want it to end.

Terminal World   Alastair Reynolds
Science fiction novel about a far-distant future earth. Begins with what might be understood as a gloss on Dante’s journey. Characters get a little thin, almost stereotypical. Reynolds kind of falls in love with the world he created and spends too much time describing details that aren’t really important to the plot, and there is a lot of discussion among characters, so the narrative bogs down a little. And the lengthy, and much-too-numerous, conversations are stilted and implausible, got tedious. The ending is weak. Too much work for the payoff, too bad.

Men in Dark Times   Hannah Arendt
Collection of essays about people, political and intellectual, under duress during the war years in Europe. Especially interested in Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Jaspers, and Walter Benjamin. As always, Arendt is highly intelligent, analytical, and insightful. Unfortunately, she discusses quite a few people I do not find interesting or that  influential, such as Roncalli, Dinesen, and Gurian. Wish she had included an essay on Heidegger. Her work, in general, is important and was highly influential in the 20^th century.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind   Yuval Noah Harari
Disappointing book about homo sapiens. Liked his use of the term sapiens to designate what we usually call humans, and humans to designate all homo genus species. But the book has an odd condescending tone, as if the its audience is in middle school, and Harari is giving them a moralistic lecture. For example, “The story of these fundamental features of our universe is called physics…The story of atoms, molecules and their interactions is called chemistry.” Unfortunately, none of the information was new to me. Not a good book, a waste of time. Really glad I didn’t purchase a copy.

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945   Tony Judt
Very well-written, highly intelligent history of Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Excellent overview and summary of the state and conditions in Europe at the end of the war. Also, a very good account of the conditions and circumstances of Europe’s political and, especially, economic recovery, by state. Really liked his use of film history and analysis as indicator of social conditions, and film attendance as sign of economic well being. Excellent account of the development of the European Economic Community (Common Market) and eventually European Union. Good information about the Hungarian (1956) and Czechoslovak (1968) invasions by the Soviet Union and causes. Excellent information on the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is a very good book.

The Vegetarian   Han Kang
Novel constructed from three novellas connected by the stories of Yeong-Hye who becomes vegetarian because of seemingly psychotic dreams. Told from three different perspectives. Emotionally dark, couldn’t understand why any of the characters acted the way they did, felt off-balance throughout. Even though it won the Man Booker International Prize, didn’t really like it.

Theses on the Philosophy of History   Walter Benjamin
These aphorisms are, like much else of Benjamin’s, somewhat enigmatic and unfocused, but also insightful and highly intelligent. Much concerned with Marx’s historical materialism. Fascinating notion of history as memories that “flash up” at moments of danger. Benjamin shows himself to be a theoretical Marxist, not a communist. Very critical of historicism. If I were younger, I would do some analytical work on these. Very good.

The Invoice   Jonas Karlsson
Delightful, touching, humorous novel about a man who is required to pay for being happy. Clear, spare prose and a gentle sensibility made it a quick, absolute pleasure to read. Liked it very much.

On Empire: America, War, and Global Supremacy   Eric Hobsbawm
Collection of four thoughtful, very well-written, and insightful essays/lectures. The statistics on the wars of the 20^th century are staggering, especially the wars from 1914-1945, in which at least 187 million people were killed. Hobsbawm sees clearly the problematic nature of the Bush administration’s attempts to declare itself an empire and act like one. His distinctions between the British empire and American hegemony are obvious to self-evident. An excellent, stimulating, and enjoyable book.

The Emerald Lie   Ken Bruen
Another Jack Taylor novel written in Bruen’s characteristic spare, beautiful, prose. Emerald is back, Jack keeps getting beaten, literally, and everything, and everyone, is harsh at best. Plot wanders a little, loses focus, and kind of runs down. Enigmatic ending. But as usual, very enjoyable, and well worth it.

I’m Traveling Alone   Samuel Bjørk
Well-written, complexly-plotted novel about a police team trying to catch a serial killer of six-year-old girls. Interesting and believable characters, at least as far as the police are concerned. Twist just before the unjustifiably rather sweet ending, though I didn’t really mind because I liked the characters. A couple of plot tangents that were just red herrings and ended up going nowhere. Still enjoyed it, good distraction.

Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America   Annie Jacobsen
Jacobsen begins with the POV that the use of former Nazi scientists was wrong in every case, and there is no discussion of the pros and cons. She writes an exposé rather than a history, in the style of a true-crime book, though her research and documentation are pretty good. Wish she had taken a more scholarly approach. Found the accounts of the search, capture, and interrogation of the scientists very interesting. The narrative rambles and is a little unfocused, again because of the exposé approach. Veers off topic in the last few chapters, and her  prose gets overwrought. Good appendix listing “Principal Characters.” Not bad, don’t regret reading it.

Year Zero: A History of 1945   Ian Buruma
Well-written, well-organized history of the world in 1945, after the trauma of the world war. Topics include, sex, hunger, revenge, described in graphic detail, etc., and range from the defeats of Germany and Japan to the founding of the United Nations. “The scale of human misery in the aftermath of the war was so vast, and so widespread, that comparisons are almost useless.” Europe and Asia were utterly devastated in every sense. Very informative, and Buruma’s Dutch personal history and sense of irony add a lot. A very good book, really enjoyed it.

Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche   James Miller
Interesting, well researched biographies of major western philosophers. Some good analysis of their ideas as well. Don’t know that I would have included Seneca, or some of the others such as Augustine, Montaigne, Rousseau, and Emerson because it’s questionable whether they were actual philosophers, and because of a personal lack of interest. Surprising how strongly Kant was influenced by Rousseau, at least according to Miller. Interested also that he had to hide his atheism to protect his position. Always thought his philosophy was atheist. Kant’s late-life dementia, and Nietzsche’s insanity, are deeply sad. Enjoyed reading through this.

The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age   Janet Wallach
“Feminist” history of a Trump-like woman, mean financially and emotionally. Nothing about her seems admirable, even her wealth was initially inherited. Wallach’s praise, written in young-adult-like prose, centers solely on the fact that she was a woman, and liked “nothing better than to best a man.” She valued “influence and position.” I found her to be an example of what was bad about the whole period. Didn’t like Green or this book.

Germany 1945: From War to Peace   Richard Bessel
Detailed, informative history of the end of World War II in Germany. Incredible physical and economic destruction, and social, political, and cultural dislocation. The number of deaths is staggering. Poland and Germany were changed completely, and Germany was essentially wiped out. Though the prose is sometimes a little clumsy, doesn’t really detract from the wealth of information. Impressively documented. Enjoyed it and learned a lot.

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America   Nancy Isenberg
The problems with this book begin with the title; it’s a “history” of an underclass that exists only in the traditional south, not “in America” at large. While all the details she uses point to it, Isenberg never admits what is completely obvious: the underclass she is discussing was created and perpetuated by slavery, and exits only in the south. She gets badly muddled between class, race, and economic status without clarifying the distinctions, perhaps intentionally blurring them. Some good information on the founding of Georgia, but much of the other history was already well known to me. In the end, unconvincing. Disappointing.

The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime   Toshio Ban, Tezuka Productions, Frederik L. Schodt Disappointing hagiography of one of the 20^th century’s most influential artists, especially in Manga. I was expecting an autobiography, not a formulaic worship of his greatness. Nothing like Mizuki Shigeru’s incredible four volume history and autobiography. Quit after 100 pages of 900. Too bad.

The Third Reich at War   Richard J. Evans
Third, huge volume of Evans’ trilogy history of Hitler’s Reich. Not really about battles. Much more about the strategy, decisions, and administration of the army and Nazi government during the war from September 1939-May 1945. While organized more chronologically than the previous volume, it still covers the continuation and expansion of policies implemented before the war. Amazing that the Nazi leadership knew as early as fall 1941 that they did not have the industrial capacity to win the war. Diabolical, the savagery and brutality were hard to read. Interested in the details of the domestic social situation in Germany during the war. Excellent, informative history, as were the two preceding volumes.

Crooked Little Vein   Warren Ellis
A very well-written novel about a private investigator hired to find a secret book written by the founding fathers that would get the United States back to what it should be. Bizarre caricature of the American sexual underground in the first decade of the 21^st Century. Like Mike and Trix, I got tired of it all by the end, but I really got to like Mike and Trix and their attempt to have a relationship against all odds. Mostly fun, and a pretty good ending.

Gun Machine   Warren Ellis
Inventive, well-written, highly-intelligent, and deeply entertaining police procedural about a detective tracking a serial killer in high totem phase. Really interesting characters, especially the CSUs, and even the psychotic killer was fascinating. Read it because I recently re-watched Red and Red 2 which Ellis created. Loved it, wish it hadn’t ended.

The Young Hemingway   Michael Reynolds
Concentrates far more on Hemingway’s family and antecedents than I needed, but Reynolds does a good job of constructing Hemingway’s early milieu and influences. Makes the case that all Hemingway’s values come out of his early life in Oak Park. My interest began at Chicago as a step toward Paris. There’s plenty about Hadley. Also wanted more about the war, of which there is almost nothing. Only hints at the development of his style. I’m interested in the writing, not the life. Good enough to get me started on Paris.

The Third Reich in Power   Richard J. Evans
The second volume of Evans' trilogy, this volume is a measured, scholarly, detailed, 930-page history of the Nazi state from spring 1933 to the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Well organized by topics such as intellectual life, education based on “brutal physical prowess”, religion, the economy, labor, coordination, agriculture, rearmament, rampant political corruption, etc. to show the complete nazification of all aspects of German life. And, of course, the systematic aryanization, racial hygiene, eugenics, and vicious anti-Semitism. An excellent, well-written history, but difficult to read because of the subject. I knew they were really bad, but the more you know about the Nazis, the worse they are.

Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War   Barbara Ehrenreich
Very well written account of how war developed in human culture. Fascinating, and I think, persuasive hypothesis that religion developed out of our hominid, then human, experience as prey. Even more interesting than war. Excellent ideas about how the modern nation state was created and is defined by war. Interesting idea about the form that nationalism takes in the United States. And, maybe war is a meme. Interesting and useful book, especially about the origins of religion.

The Dog Stars   Peter Heller
Beautifully written, sad dystopian novel set in the United States after almost everyone is killed by a new flu. Interesting and exciting plot device toward the end. Surprising sense of meaningful survival, and even redemption, through others, what humans require. Deeply moving meditation on loss. Loved this book.

The Coming of the Third Reich   Richard J. Evans
Measured, scholarly, and detailed history of the political rise of the Nazis. Starts with the political conditions in Germany from Bismarck. Surprising how unoriginal the Nazis were, just more violent and better organized. Far too many electoral demographics for my taste, but highly relevant. Excellent account of the Nazification of all levels and aspects of German politics and society primarily by the directed intimidation by unrestrained physical violence. Good use of diaries that provide a fascinating insight into areas of German society. Interested particularly in the intellectual and cultural Nazification. Excellent summation at the end. Very well done.

Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s    Malcolm Cowley
Another volume on “the lost generation,” this one much more personal and impressionistic than Flowering. Really liked the brief essays on Eliot, Joyce, and Pound, and their influences on the lost generation, and the depictions of Joyce. Very interesting social history as well as literary, Cowley captures an American generation’s development as well as their literary ambitions and accomplishments. Excellent depiction of the growing corporatization of American life in the 20s. Harry Crosby’s life and death was the perfect example of the generation, as Cowley says. Very good, very well written.

Extreme Prey   John Sandford
Latest Lucas Davenport police procedural, this time he’s trying to stop a suspected political assassination down in Iowa. Procedural was a little tedious at first, but enough mayhem developed that things picked up nicely, humming by the end. As always, Camp’s prose pulls you right along. Not enough Kidd and Flowers for me, but another enjoyable ride.

Green Hell   Ken Bruen
Another deeply sad, entertaining, and, in the end, satisfying Jack Taylor novel. Introduces a fascinating new character. I forgot how emotionally brutal these books are, so I was repeatedly stunned by plot twists so cryptically presented. As always, Bruen’s, achingly spare prose was a delight. Very good, quick read.

Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story   Jim Holt
Entertaining, journalistic examination of the philosophical question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Found it a little irritating that he too often has to reduce his arguments to logical notation equations, but he is from that tradition, I guess. Though unpersuaded, Holt treats the god hypotheses with too much respect. Personally, I find, and have found for some time, the quantum theory persuasive and satisfying, at least intellectually. Unfortunate, useless detour into Platonism of all things, as well as other deeply unconvincing “theories.” A moving chapter at the end on death and the return to nothing. Even though I enjoyed it, took far too long to read this, sometimes only one or two paragraphs at a time. Fun read, though.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History   John M. Barry
Embarrassingly over-written, sensationalized account of the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic. I guess that’s what happens when you’re telling an “epic” story rather than just a history. Wasted a lot of time plowing through Barry’s verbosity. Interesting, very short, account of how viruses work, especially the H1N1, in particular. Book is at least twice as long as it needed to be. Excruciating by the end, and nearly nothing to show for it. Too bad.

A Second Flowering: Works and Days of the Lost Generation   Malcolm Cowley
Beautifully written, first-hand literary history and analysis of the generation of writers who flowered after World War I. First chapter is one of the best descriptions of WW I I’ve ever read. Also, an excellent description of the American expatriate colony in Paris in the 1920s. Made me want to re-read most of the eight authors covered, especially my favorite, Hemingway. Very well done, really enjoyed it.

The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918   Meirion Harries and Susie Harries
Far too much detail on all the tiny parts of the military buildup, excruciating. Lifeless prose that is really just an accretion of lists, the authors love nothing more than a list, the longer the better. Descriptions of the WW I battles are somewhat better, but also more useless detail. No real social, intellectual, or cultural history. I think they over-emphasized the centralization of government power, as demonstrated by the 20s and early 30s. After nearly 500 pages, don’t really feel like I have an understanding of the U.S. in these two momentous years. Too bad.

The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language   Christine Kenneally
Well-written, informative, and scholarly overview of current research and thinking about the origins of human language. Very well organized. Deftly covers the ideas that have lead to linguists’ current understanding of how humans evolved language. The idea that language evolved, and the mechanism(s) of how it evolved, are new, so Kenneally spends a lot of time speculating on the future of the field. Other than the speculations, an excellent book. Learned a lot.

Ayako   Tezuka Osamu
700-page, bleak, brutal manga about a Japanese family from 1949-1973, nearly every member of which is disgusting. Murder, incest, all forms of deception, political intrigue. Didn’t really enjoy it, at all, but glad I read it, Tezuka is a huge figure in manga history.

The Searcher   Christopher Morgan Jones
Excellent thriller about a man who goes to Georgia (the country, not the state) to find a friend who has disappeared while investigating an act of terrorism. Like Jones’ other books with these characters, it is highly intelligent, convincing, and entertaining. Seems to me, it captures the complexity and brutality of the place. Very good.

The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty   Robert P. Crease Alfred and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber
Well-written, interesting, and informative discussion of the development of quantum theory and mechanics. Good history, and historical and scientific analysis, with special care for the impact on society and culture in general. Based on the course they teach at Stony Brook. Learned a lot, and enjoyed the read.

Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter   Thomas Cahill
Brief, popular, and pseudo-scholarly glance at ancient Greek culture, thought, and politics. At times, Cahill’s tone seems unjustifiably flippant and superior. Also, he couldn’t resist talking about Christianity in an inappropriate and irrelevant closing section. But I’ve loved the Athenians since I first encountered them, spent years studying and writing about Greek philosophy, so even Cahill couldn’t wreck that. Not bad, wish it had been better.

The Ancient Minstrel   Jim Harrison
A collection of three novellas, a form that Harrison mastered. The first of the three novellas is a slightly fictionalized memoir. The second is another of his exquisite portrayals of an idiosyncratic, wonderful life. The third is distilled from Harrison’s 2015 novel The Big Seven, or the novel developed out of this novella. Deeply sad that Harrison died recently, that sadness saturated my reading, especially the memoir. I will miss his rambling style and robust characters.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome   Mary Beard
A “history” of Rome that is more a meditation on all the possibilities than any actual occurrences. Much more about the Roman historians such as Livy and Polybius than what they wrote. She discusses writings about the three Punic wars without any information about the wars themselves. After 200 pages, I hadn’t learned anything about Rome except what we don’t know. Deeply disappointing.

Keynes: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the 20th Century's Most Influential Economist   Peter Clarke
A chatty, even gossipy overview of Keynes’ life, and a good, well-written introduction and evaluation of his economic work. Being who I am, I was much more interested in the biographical elements, especially when they intersected with his economic theory and policy. Wish he had more influence in the 21^st century. Brief, well done, and valuable.

The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos   Leonard Mlodinow
Disappointing book supposedly about human intellectual development. I was really excited about it because of the great title. Turned out that Mlodinow only briefly skimmed over human origins. Also, he presented an irritatingly adolescent view of human thought, the tired idea that current science is the smartest humans have even been, he even disparages Aristotle for not using the scientific method. Too bad the title was the best thing about this book.

This One Summer   Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki
Read this Caldecott award-winning teen graphic novel because I saw an article about it being banned in a school because a single person complained about it, the usual stuff. Story of two friends and a summer they spend at the lake. Very thoughtful, real, sweet, and interesting, even for an old man like me. Graphics strongly influenced by manga. Enjoyed it. Disgusted that it was banned.

The 1920s Decade in Photos: The Roaring Twenties   Jim Corrigan
Excellent little book with good, representative photographs of all the high points of the decade in the United States, with a small nod to Europe and the rise of fascism. Very useful summary, a quick read.

The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931   Adam Tooze
Very well written, highly intelligent, very well researched history of America’s economic and political ascendancy to world leadership. Amazing detail on the economic and political maneuvering of the belligerents in the war, after it, and through the 1920s. Not nearly enough about the domestic situation in the United States for me, but that is not a criticism of this excellent, impressive book. While his understanding of European economics and politics, and America’s growing involvement, in this period is impressive, wasn’t really what I was looking for. But an excellent book.

The Twenties in America   Paul A. Carter
Disappointing rumination on how the twenties have been understood rather than a history of the period. More a meta-history, with abundant reference to scholars who have written about the twenties. No real history here, but plenty of self-referential interpretation. Waste of my time. At least it was short. Too bad.

The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932   William E. Leuchtenburg
Well-written, informative, serious history of the period in the United States. Excellent, concise explanation of Wilson’s reluctant move to war. Good explanation of the social, cultural, and political movements and trends of the 1920, the political and social fundamentalism surprised me. Brief, but effective overview of the causes of the 1929-1932 crash and depression. Well worth it.

The Other Side of Silence   Philip Kerr
Latest in the generally very enjoyable Bernie Gunther series. Even though Kerr’s prose moves things right along, didn’t really like this one very much. Bernie’s in the south of France in 1956, and the rather contrived plot is about Somerset Maugham and British intelligence. Only token Nazi references, and once again, the female relationship is  unconvincing. Too bad. But thanks, Charlie, I really appreciate it. Glad I read it.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania   Erik Larson
Bloated “history” of the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 that helped eventually to nudge the U.S. into World War I. Filled with unnecessary information like what clothes one of the babies was wearing, and extensive commercial background on one of the passengers. It’s like Larson put in anything he found, relevant or not. Written a little sensationally, like true crime rather than real history. Disappointing.

The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1900-1917   John Whiteclay Chambers
More of a survey than a primary-source history, Chambers covers these years in broad strokes. American society changed dramatically because of massive immigration from southern and eastern Europe, rapid urbanization, and sweeping industrialization. He gives a glancing account of the Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson presidencies, but  much detail about what is generally referred to as the progressive movement that resulted from all the change. Also, America’s shift from isolationist to interventionist foreign policy. Pretty good introduction to the first two decades of the 20^th century. Overall, worthwhile, especially since I had trouble finding histories about these two decades.

The Universe in a Nutshell   Stephen Hawking
A lavishly illustrated sequel to Hawking’s unbelievably popular A Brief History of Time. A little too rudimentary, and about 15 years out of date. Good, clear explanations of concepts that are, however, basically incomprehensible in any practical sense, like real time and imaginary time. All that matters in understanding the universe is whether the math works. Ok, I guess.

The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World   Sean Carroll
Interesting, lucid, and up-to-date book about the “God particle.” Fascinated by the idea that there are no such things as particles, everything is really a field, and what we call particles are really vibrations or fluctuations in a field. Good background on particle physics, the history of colliders and what they do, and the LHC experiments. An excellent history of the development of “Higgs” theory. Very helpful diagrams and photographs. Good book for me, learned a lot.

Providential Accidents   Geza Vermes
Deeply interesting autobiography of one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus.. He is chatty, gracious, and a little emotionally distant. Would have been nice to know what it was like for him to go from lifelong celibacy to falling in love and getting married. I loved his discussions of his life of scholarship. I’ve always enjoyed books like this, and I really liked this one.

American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work   Susan Cheever
Gossipy rather than scholarly, admittedly very repetitive, account of the interplay of the lives of some of the greatest writers and thinkers in American history, all congregated in Concord, Massachusetts in the middle of the 19^th century. While Cheever acknowledges their genius, she is disparaging of the men, but always sympathetic to the women. The book is like an exposé, it became very tedious. Deeply disappointing. Too bad.

The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science   Richard Holmes
Beautifully written, fascinating intellectual history of the English “second scientific revolution” that occurred between the 1760s and 1831, when Darwin began his voyage on H.M.S. Beagle. Never heard of Joseph Banks before, but what a profound effect he had on the development of the sum of human knowledge. Really enjoyed the sections on Banks, on the Herschels, the science of Frankenstein. Informative and very enjoyable.

Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War   Fred Kaplan
Almost exclusively a tedious recounting of the political development of cyber security policy, players, and meetings. Covers the bureaucrats and organization charts of U.S. government cyber security and action, but there’s no theoretical or technical information. Very disappointing, waste of my time.

Trying Conclusions: New and Selected Poems, 1961-1991   Howard Nemerov
I first encountered Nemerov in the stacks of my high school library back in the 60s, and I have liked his poetry very much ever since. “To A Scholar in the Stacks” is a good example of what I love about his work, beautiful and intellectual. Some of the earliest poems in this collection seemed dated, and the newest poems reflect a world without depth. For national poetry month.

Midnight Sun   Jo Nesbø
Interesting novel about a man hiding from a drug dealer’s assassin in the remote arctic area of Norway. Pretty good, but the ending was kind of unbelievably positive and lovely. Whole thing was kind of a fantasy. What happened to the Joe of the Harry Hole novels. Not bad though, no regrets.

America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T, and the Making of a Modern Nation   Jim Rasenberger
Well-written, engaging history of the year in United States history. Unfortunately, the subjects are more what would be considered for sensationalist journalism than social history, such as the sordid Shaw murder trial, the around-the-world auto race. But the other points of focus were highly relevant to where the U.S. was then and how it would develop throughout the 20^th Century. Pretty good.

Baseball Haiku: The Best Haiku Ever Written about the Game   Nanae Tamura, Cor van den Heuvel
A collection of 200 haiku about baseball, some average, some pretty good, all entertaining. The editors admit that the form doesn’t really work in English, so many of the English poems don’t have the structure, and the translations of the Japanese poems can’t retain the syllable structure, but, in my opinion, haiku does seem to go well with the subject of baseball. Glad I read it, especially in April.

The Wright Brothers   David McCullough
Well-written, fascinating, and detailed account of their aerial achievement. As usual, McCullough is not interested in tearing down the images, and in this case that seems appropriate. Gained a profound respect for the brothers’ thrilling and monumental achievement and the way they accomplished it. Very engaging and enjoyable history of something I have always loved. Really liked it.

Quarry’s Vote   Max Allan Collins
1987 addition to the Quarry series. This time he is happily married and living a retired and contented life until everything goes bad, big surprise. He proceeds to track down the people who did him wrong. While this book follows the formula of the other books, pretty much identically, I didn’t find it as interesting, got kind of slow. Same clear, effective prose.

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War   James Bradley
An account of the cruise in 1904-1905 to cement U.S. colonies in Asia with in-depth background to it. Completely undermines Teddy Roosevelt’s manly image. Good description of the powerful racism everywhere in American culture, especially in Roosevelt’s policies toward Asia, the depth of Roosevelt’s personal racism is staggering. Astonishing how Roosevelt and Taft completely bungled policy toward Asia. Bradley does a pretty good job of showing how their policies led to our involvement in World War II in the Pacific. Found Alice to be kind of interesting. Informative and mostly convincing.

The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898   Evan Thomas
Informative, well-written, and useful history of the push to continue American expansion beyond our borders once the frontier was closed. Really enjoyed the focus on the people and not just what they did. William James turns out to be a hero, to me, by not being swept along. Teddy Roosevelt, notwithstanding his later reformist work, was an egotistical, malevolent jerk. Unsurprisingly, Hearst was an evil, unfeeling manipulator. Learned a lot. Good bridge into the twentieth, American, century.

The Jackal’s Share   Christopher Morgan Jones
Beautifully written, intelligent, and entertaining novel about the investigation of a man who wants to be proven above reproach. Not even close. The investigator gets into violent confrontations and political intrigue with the Iranian secret police. While the bad guy needed more development, this was an entertaining and rewarding read. Really enjoyed it.

Banquet at Delmonico's: The Gilded Age and the Triumph of Evolution in America   Barry Werth
Engaging and informative intellectual history of the general adoption of the concept of Spencer’s notion of “the survival of the fittest” in the United States. Follows the lives and intellectual development of the eminent thinkers and personalities who spoke at the late-1882 banquet, as well as Spencer himself. Good history of the period as well as the influence of the concept. Excellent read.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn  

Nathaniel Philbrick
At turns compelling and stuffed with useless facts, Philbrick explores the epic imagery and facts of Custer’s fateful battle on the Little Big Horn river. I was much more interested in the Amer-Indian histories than the military rivalries and infighting, but both are well documented. I think Philbrick’s proposed reconstruction of the demise of Custer’s command is plausible. Found Sitting Bull a much better man and leader than Custer. Pretty good book.

Quarry’s Cut   Max Allan Collins
Brief, entertaining 1977 novel about the hit man turned killer of hit men. This time Quarry is snowbound in a mostly-abandoned hotel with the small crew of a porn shoot. Some twists, some skin, violence, and a little sex. Collins’s clean, crisp style and Quarry’s no-nonsense pursuit made it worthwhile. Pretty good distraction.

Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900   Jack Beatty
Very well written (e.g., “the Populists sought to pull the New Deal through the sleeve of time”), well-researched, highly intelligent, and erudite history of the United States in the last third of the 19^th century. Interesting emphasis on Tom Scott’s unacknowledged place in financial and political corruption. Gripping accounts of the horrors of southern “redemption,” the Great Railroad and Homestead strikes, and the People’s Party juxtaposed against the conspicuous and disgusting opulence of the moneyed class. Really enjoyed the uncompromising, accurate point of view. This is a very good book.

Chomsky for Beginners   David Cogswell
Introduction to Chomsky’s intellectual contributions to linguistics and political analysis of American politics. Enjoyed the valuable introduction to Chomsky’s linguistics ideas, but the analysis of Chomsky’s theories about the media and politics seemed strained and out of date, especially media. Maybe it’s because I’ve already read several books by Chomsky himself. Not very good, too bad.

American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900   H.W. Brands
Economic history describing the explosion of American capitalism through the gilded age to the end of the 19^th century. Excellent distilled explanation of the attempts at economic reconstruction of the south after the Civil War, and the economics of the conquering of the peoples and spaces of the great plains. Interesting accounts of the waves of immigration, the complete corruption of the political system by all the money, the urges to imperialism, and the ongoing conflict between capitalism and democracy during this period. Very good.

Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877   Eric Foner
Extremely-detailed, scholarly, highly-intelligent history of the attempts to reconstruct the defeated confederacy as part of the greater United States and create a new social order with Negro equality in the conquered states. The failure to do so, caused by racism, in the north as well as the south, incompetence, greed, political infighting, and economic depression, spawned the deeply depressing and revolting institutionalization of illegitimate white supremacy that lasted a century. Very good, essential but depressing read.

After Lincoln: How the North Won the Civil War and Lost the Peace   A. J. Langguth
Very readable overview of the mismanagement of the post Civil War period from 1865-1877. As with his other books, Langguth uses the main players for the framework of the history. Very informative for me especially about Andrew Johnson’s corrupt mismanagement of Reconstruction and racist policies that led to the Jim Crow south. Reinforces the point that the failure of Reconstruction wasn’t the unsuccessful reconstruction of the union, it was the betrayal of the negroes by allowing the construction of a social order in the south almost as brutal and discriminatory as slavery. Deeply tragic.

The Stainless Steel Kimono   Elliot Chaze
A collection of short stories set in occupied Japan shortly after the end of World War II. Chaze’s tone and descriptions capture the sordid, pathetic, and uncomfortable relationships between the U.S. soldiers themselves and with the Japanese civilians. Very well written in clear, straightforward, readable prose. Very good, too bad he is not well known.

The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 3: Red River to Appomattox   Shelby Foote
Incredibly detailed, very beautifully written, 1000+ page “narrative” of the last 18 months or so of the Civil War. Impressive use of primary sources, though nothing is footnoted. I guess that’s why it’s a narrative. Even though I read other books before and simultaneously, I really learned a lot from it. Many powerful images from the narrative are stuck in my mind. Really enjoyed reading about the North’s victory and the destruction of the elitist, racist society of the South. Very, very good, notwithstanding the inappropriately reverential eulogizing of Jefferson Davis at the end.

Quarry’s Deal   Max Allan Collins
Another of Collins’ generally entertaining Quarry novels about the ex-hitman who now kills only other hitmen. This time she’s beautiful and he starts falling for her. Even though there’s plenty of sex, this iteration lacks the intelligence and violence that made others in the series more fun and interesting, it was just a little boring. Too bad. Good thing the style still made it a quick, easy read.

The New York Times: Complete Civil War, 1861-1865   Harold Holzer, Craig Symonds
Original news articles covering the war. Disappointed that they are not produced as facsimiles, but I understand that that wouldn’t have worked spatially. Also, the included DVD was useless, didn’t work in either of my computers, too bad. That having been said, this is an invaluable historical source, well organized, well presented. Thoughtful and helpful annotations, inclusion of interesting drawings and photographs from the published editions. Also includes dispatches from other papers, even from the south. Many of the histories I’ve read and learned so much from use the same accounts assembled here. Excellent to have these original accounts compiled together.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass   Frederick Douglass
Deeply troubling and well-written brief firsthand account of Douglass’s life as a slave in Maryland. As bad as I thought slavery was, this account portrays it as worse than I imagined even though Douglass’s tone isn’t bitter or incendiary. The ugliness, violence, and hypocrisy of slaveholders is astonishing and sickening. I wish I could have read how he escaped, but I fully understand why he could not record it. My view of our history is changed, and it is nauseating that ¼ of U.S. presidents have owned slaves. Everyone should read this.