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History
History Books
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THE FREEMASONS
Mozart, Bach, Oscar Wilde, and George Washington all called themselves Freemasons. But were they members of a benign brotherhood or part of a secret society bent on world domination? While not a mason... Read More |
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UNEXPLAINED MYSTERIES OF WORLD WAR II
War can be downright weird. You'll hardly believe these WW II tales of strange coincidences, premonitions, mysteries, twists of fate and the seemingly supernatural. This collection will appeal to love... Read More |
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DOMINION OF MEMORIES
Think of Virginia at the founding of the American Republic. It was the largest state with the greatest population. As Henry Adams, observed its leaders were “equal to any standard of excellence known ... Read More |
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1941 - THE GREATEST YEAR IN SPORTS
In June 1941, millions of German soldiers poured into Russia during Operation Barbarossa, establishing the bloodiest war front in history, and war raged from England to North Africa. In the east, as J... Read More |
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READING THE MAN
A distinguished historian once remarked that General William T. Sherman was incapable of writing a dull letter. He also added that the same could not be said of General Robert E. Lee. As Elizabeth Bro... Read More |
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BROTHERS
Journalist David Talbot reveals the largely untold story of Bobby Kennedy's quest to solve the murder of his brother, an investigation that reached America's darkest realms. HBC Club Edition. 480 pp.
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CHURCHILL AND HIS GENERALS
During World War II no one was more critical of British generals than Winston Churchill. As early as April 1941, when discussing the possible loss of Egypt, he asserted, “[General Sir Arhibald] Wavell... Read More |
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THE PURSUIT OF GLORY
Covering everything from the final bout of religious wars to the time of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, of Newton, John Wesley, and Adam Smith, every essential detail is included. 736 pp.
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THE BERLIN WALL
As the Berlin Wall recedes into the past except for a few sections in Berlin and souvenir pieces in people's homes, its critical role in the history of the Cold War and of modern Germany could easily ... Read More |
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PRESIDENTIAL COURAGE
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss is a familiar face on television, but also a well-known historical voice. His studies of Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman, and F.D.R. have looked through the surf... Read More |
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IN THE RUINS OF EMPIRE
In the bitter struggle for Asia in the aftermath of Japan’s surrender in WW II, peace proved an illusion, reconstruction went disastrously wrong, and the consequences endure to the present. 384 pages... Read More |
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PARTNERS IN COMMAND
Review by Dennis Showalter
Dual biographies of military figures usually feature opponents: Wellington and Napoleon, Eisenhower and Montgomery, even Patton and Rommel. Perry, well known as a histori... Read More |
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ON ROYALTY
Review by Carolly Erickson
"Kings are not born," George Bernard Shaw once wrote. "They are made by artificial hallucination."
The grand hallucination of monarchical rule has haunted the imaginat... Read More |
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THE LAST DAYS OF THE INCAS
Review by Peter Winn
The epic story of the conquest of the mighty Incan empire by a few hundred Spanish adventurers led by an illiterate and illegitimate Francisco Pizarro continues to fascinate ne... Read More |
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KING, KAISER, TSAR
Drawing on previously unpublished letters and diaries made public for the first time by Queen Elizabeth II, Clay (Princess to Queen) tells the fascinating personal sagas of the three royal cousins who... Read More |
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INFERNO
Drawing on previously ignored local German archives and other sources, Inferno critically examines the Allied case for the firebombing of Germany during WWII. 448 pp.
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FATEFUL CHOICES
Review by Dennis Showalter
Kershaw, best known for his magisterial two-volume biography of Adolf Hitler, scintillates here in another context: his presentation of the 10 interfacing decisions that ... Read More |
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A GLORIOUS DEFEAT
Review by Edward Coffman
If Americans think of the Mexican War of a hundred and sixty years ago, they remember the acquisition of what is much of the western United States and, perhaps, that it was... Read More |
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THE VERNEYS
“To know the Verneys is to know the seventeenth century,” writes author Adrian Tinniswood in his brilliant—and true—family saga. That’s because the Verneys had a centuries-long practice of keeping all... Read More |
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ALMOST A MIRACLE
In this gripping chronicle of America’s struggle for independence, veteran historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with her... Read More |
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PATRIOT BATTLES
The author begins this fascinating examination of the Revolutionary War by focusing on what combat was really like.
The assumption that British soldiers went into combat carrying backpacks we... Read More |
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JAMESTOWN, THE BURIED TRUTH
Established in 1607, Jamestown was the vanguard of English settlement in the New World. By 1620, the year of the Pilgrim's famous arrival, the majority of the James River basin, from the mouth of the ... Read More |
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THE WAR OF THE WORLD
Niall Ferguson is unrivaled in the English-speaking academic world for his willingness to address complex subjects with insight, scholarship, and flair. He surpasses himself in this fundamental reinte... Read More |
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THE TROJAN WAR
Review by Thomas R. Martin
For nearly three thousand years, the story of the Trojan War has been synonymous with Homer's Iliad and the Greek myths that complete the narrative before and after Hom... Read More |
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THERMOPYLAE
Review by Thomas R. Martin
Historians use the name “Persian Wars” to describe the conflict in the early fifth century B. C. that pitted the massive forces of the Persian empire, the world’s stronge... Read More |
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THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
A rich and diverse collection of literary artifacts that includes commentary on the Old and New Testaments, apocrypha, poetry, prose, teaching parables, magical tales, lists of buried treasure, storie... Read More |
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BLOOD AND THUNDER
From Hampton Sides, the acclaimed and award-winning author of Ghost Soldiers, comes this riveting look at the bloody and often shocking story of how “Manifest Destiny” was forcibly carried out during ... Read More |
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1776
My desire to employ a cliché to describe 1776—the year in America's past and David McCullough's new book—is almost a compulsion. But rather than succumb to some familiar phrase of praise, let me try t... Read More |
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LITTLE BROWN BROTHER
“Except for a major rupture with adjacent Mexico at mid-century,” writes Leon Wolff of the fateful year 1898, “…America’s international conduct generally consisted of minding her own business…. All th... Read More |
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EXPLORATION AND EMPIRE
“The exploration of the American West,” writes William H. Goetzmann, “was never an isolated event. It belongs to world rather than to national history, and never more so than in the opening decades of... Read More |
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WITNESSES OF WAR
Germany’s children were crucial to the Nazis' utopian visions—the first generation that could be shaped from infancy. Even during the war the regime sought to provide as normal an experience as possib... Read More |
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THE FAILURE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
Many talented historians have written about what is sometimes called the “Revolution of 1800” generated by Thomas Jefferson’s gaining the White House. However, none have adequately grappled with the m... Read More |
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