On The First Day of Holiday Giving – Neal’s Books For The Guys in Your Life
ON THE FIRST DAY OF HOLIDAY GIVING NEAL’S BOOKS FOR THE GUYS IN YOUR LIFE What follows is a list, in no particular order, of twelve books I’ve read or re-read in the past year that I recommend to others, particularly those of the male persuasion. You might want to give one as a gift. […]
Empires, Nations and Families
Empires, Nations & Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860 Although my professional life as a historian has been devoted almost exclusively to 20th century Britain and Europe, my life-long obsession with history arose in part because of reading about the Mountain Men, the very essence of boot-strapping individualism. As I grew older, […]
Lawrence in Arabia
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East “We [the young men who won the war] stammered that we had worked for a new heaven and a new earth, and they [the old men] thanked us kindly and made their peace.” – T. E. Lawrence King […]
The War that Ended Peace
The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 I typically read a book about World War I (the Great War) by beginning at the back with the bibliography. I know this signifies that I am one of “those people,” someone who probably reads the last chapter of a mystery novel about half way through, […]
Bring up the Bodies
With this novel Hilary Mantel joins a short list of novelists who have won two Booker Prizes since the competition’s inception in 1969. Bring Up the Bodies is the second installment of what she has promised will be a trilogy. The first was Wolf Hall, a Booker winner, and previously reviewed by Ann Ronald on […]