An in-depth look at America following the end of World War
I. The home front was as violent as the fields of France, from race riots to
the jailing of antiwar protestors the country was learning lessons on what
happens when you boil everything down to, “us vs. them”
A look at what causes a person to become a rebel (or a
patriot depending on how you see it) and what causes another to do the
opposite. Ben Franklin was one of the nation’s founding fathers but his own son
saw him as a traitorous rebel. This book breaks down the battle between
Patriots and Loyalists and shows how each side came to their final decisions
I could tell you that an heir of Alexander Hamilton and his
con artist wife go on trial for stabbing their nurse and that’s not the whole
of this book, it’s not even the whole of the first chapter. This book and its
main characters, especially Evangeline Hamilton, are outrageous. Such an
interesting look at this story and the reporters that managed to make it even tawdrier.
The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism by Thomas Frank
(336 pages)
What is a populist? It seems like a simple question but the
term and political movement that coalesced around it have changed. This book
looks at the ever changing face of populism, the idea that the will of the
people should reign supreme and shows how elites and political opposition have
smeared it to make it almost unrecognizable to the people who founded the
movement.
A lengthy look at the creation, break up, and reformation of
the friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. From the earliest days,
these two titans had differing views about almost everything, and finally the
strain of running a nation drove them apart. A look at their letter to each
other (and to others about each other) show the different personalities of
these two men and how they shaped the earliest history of the United States
As the Roman Empire finally defeats its longtime foe the Sassanid
Persians, something they’ve been trying to do for centuries. Time to kick your
feet up and…here comes the newly founded Islamic army from the desserts of
Arabia. A look at the three way dance of the ancient world that saw the two
established empires, Rome and Persia, get absolutely trucked and pushed to the
brink of extinction
There’s a poisoner in
the court of the King of France, they’ve been picking off high ranking
officials and members of the nobility, send for the police right? Well this is
happening in the Court of Louis XIV and there isn’t one, so it’s up to the Nicolas de la Reynie who is appointed as the
first police chief of Rome to stop the killing (and clean up the streets if he
has time).
