Book recommendations

[Aardvark86]

Kotkin's first two volumes of his planned three volume Stalin biography are also fantastic.

The stuff about the purge in this volume is too insane to believe. He was a frothing murdering madman.

That has a lot of appeal to me, except that my senior seminar entailed an entire semester of reading soviet camp novels, which was both depressing and uplifting. The craziest part of it all was, many of the people in the camps were absolutely certain that there was a mixup by his underlings, and that if they could just get stalin's personal attention to the matter, he'd set things right.

 

[GES4]

That has a lot of appeal to me, except that my senior seminar entailed an entire semester of reading soviet camp novels, which was both depressing and uplifting. The craziest part of it all was, many of the people in the camps were absolutely certain that there was a mixup by his underlings, and that if they could just get stalin's personal attention to the matter, he'd set things right.

That is totally a theme during the purges. And a huge percentage of the time they felt that way because they were loyal bureaucrats who had done nothing wrong. The security services simply had quotas to fill and so the black trucks would show up at night and haul people away. Often forever.

That seminar sounds great btw.

 

[Aardvark86]

That is totally a theme during the purges. And a huge percentage of the time they felt that way because they were loyal bureaucrats who had done nothing wrong. The security services simply had quotas to fill and so the black trucks would show up at night and haul people away. Often forever.

That seminar sounds great btw.

it was, in that by the end of it, you developed a certain appreciation of the qualities that lead some to survive, and some not to. ironically, in a completely unrelated freshman seminar, I'd read an absolutely fantastic book by Terence De Pres called "The Survivors" that examined this very theme through the eyes of both soviet and nazi camp survivors. (sadly, de pres committed suicide at a pretty young age).

Man's capacity for insane cruelty should never be underestimated. Nor should his ability to survive it.

 

[Ronnie_B]

Solid contribution as usual.
How about you tell us your favorite Hardy Boy book.

Says the wokie who spews out 100% radical liberal bullshit 😂

In other words what you think of me is zero concern of mine.

And I would recommend "The Masked Monkey".

 

[Scruddy]

The Parent Revolution

A NATIONAL (USA TODAY) BESTSELLER! ‘A great guide to help moms and dads take back control of their children’s education from the radical Marxists...

www.hachettebookgroup.com

This one has to do with several posters on this forum actually

 

[BelemNole]

Says the wokie who spews out 100% radical liberal bullshit 😂

In other words what you think of me is zero concern of mine.

And I would recommend "The Masked Monkey".

 

[themelrosemauler]

 

[lonestar50]

This is one of my favorite book I've read this year.

Fire Exit by Morgan Talty

The blood that came out of me was blood that ran through her veins. It’s strange: all bloodlooks the same, yet it’s different, we’re told, in so many various ways and for so many various reasons. But one thing is for certain, I thought: you are who you are, even if you don’t know it.

From the porch of his home, Charles Lamosway has watched the life he might have had unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. On the far bank, he caught brief moments of his neighbor Elizabeth’s life—from the day she came home from the hospital to her early twenties. But there’s always been something deeper and more dangerous than the river that divides him from her and the rest of the tribal community. It’s the secret that Elizabeth is his daughter, a secret Charles is no longer willing to keep.

Now, it’s been weeks since he’s seen Elizabeth, and Charles is worried. As he attempts to hold on to and care for what he can—his home and property; his alcoholic, quick-tempered, and bighearted friend Bobby; and his mother, Louise, who is slipping ever deeper into dementia—he becomes increasingly haunted by his past. Forced to confront a lost childhood on the reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved stepfather, Fredrick, in a hunting accident—a death he and Louise are at odds over as to where to lay blame—Charles contends with questions he’s long been afraid to ask. Is his secret about Elizabeth his to share? And would his daughter want to know the truth, even if it could cost her everything she’s ever known?

 

[The-Dude-Abides]

Going through my lists of books listened to that fall under historical fiction/non fiction this is what I got as far as recommendations:

1) Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
2) Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand (*maybe my favorite book....his story is unbelievable)
3) Band of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose
4) Helmet for My Pillow - Robert Leckie
5) With the Old Breed - Eugene Sledge
6) Masters of the Air - Donald Miller
7) The Dog Stars (Peter Heller) ***not historical fiction or non-fiction but I liked it.
8) Killers of the Flower Moon (David Grann)
9) The Wager (Davin Grann)
10) Shogun - James Clavell
11) A Higher Call - Adam Makos (pretty incredible true story from WWII)


**** @Whiskeydeltadeltatango you ever read any Peter Heller books? I feel they would be right up your alley. If not, start with The Dog Stars, then maybe The Painter......but they are all pretty good.

Strong second for Devil in the White City. I didn't think it sounded all that interesting looking at the back of the cover, but he does a great job intertwining the stories to give a real sense of that place and time. Reads like fiction but it's not. His In the Garden of Beasts is pretty good too.

Jefferson bios are always interesting to me as well, such a fascinating individual. Meacham's Art of Power and Ellis's American Sphinx are both solid.

This one's a bit dense, but I loved U.S. Grant's autobiography. He's pretty candid about a lot of things for a Civil War general and complicated president. It's all the more interesting when you learn that he basically willed himself to stay alive to finish it while dying of cancer to save his family from financial ruin.

If you want to get even more nerdy, there is an annotated compilation of most of the correspondence between Jefferson and Adams throughout their lives. It's a fascinating primary source view of the early days of our nation and their personal conflicts.