The History Book Club discussion

38. by Lee Child
Date: October 2012
Genre: Suspense
Rating: B+
Review: Fans of Lee Child's Reacher novels will need little introduction. Those unfamiliar: Jack Reacher, th protagonist, is a 6'6" tall, very muscular, highly trained former military policeman. He wanders around the country with only a toothbrush and the clothes on his back and, while he doesn't look for trouble he always seems to find it.

This novel starts with Reacher trying to hitch a ride from Nebraska to Virginia. But the ride he accepts turns out to be trouble indeed. The trouble involves what at first looks like a relatively simple if brutal murder. But it quickly starts involving the CIA, the FBI and the State Department. As usual, there's a good bit of mayhem.

Not perhaps the best of this series but quite good nonetheless.

38. by John Keegan
Date: October 2012
Genre: History
Rating: A
Review: This is a great single volume history of World War I. WWI is a subject I knew little about before reading this book and I picked it up hoping to learn more. I certainly did, as will almost anyone who reads it. Yet, at the end, the war remains a mystery, not just for me but for the immensely knowledgeable Keegan as well.

At the start of the 20th century, not only was Europe at peace and wealthy, but it ruled much of the world. England, of course, had an immense empire spanning the world, but the other European powers had many colonies as well.

Four years later, the empires were gone, many of the colonies were gone, millions upon millions of men were dead and the seeds had been sown for the even more destructive Second World War.

Keegan does a masterful job of covering all aspects of this huge war - not just the battles themselves, but the personalities of the key players and the role of technology in the war. My only real complaint is that there were an insufficient number of maps.

You picked up one of the seminal books on the Great War. There are many, but not one better than Keegan's for introductory history..... glad you enjoyed it.

by John Keegan

38. by P.G. Wodehouse
Date: October 2012
Genre: Humor
Rating: A
Review: Ah Wooster and Jeeves. Light and wonderful. For those who don't know, Bertie Wooster is a wealthy English gentleman in post-WW I London. Jeeves is his "gentleman's personal gentleman". Wooster, while a nice enough chap, is a layabout and is also not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Jeeves is that sharpest knife and he is always extricating Wooster from disaster.
Wodehouse is one of the great humorists of the 20th century.

39. by Robin Sloan
Date: October 2012
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: In current day San Francisco, an unemployed web designer gets a job in an unusual bookstore. They are always open but they hardly have any customers. They have some regular books, but they have huge tall shelves of very strange books written in code.

From there, we get into mysterious mystical organizations, the nature of the web, type faces, obscure objects and all sorts of other fun stuff. A most pleasurable read.

Great job, Peter, almost there!

The author image on message 55 is not appearing, and don't forget to add the word Review on 54 & 55. Thanks.

Great, thanks for fixing those :-)

Peter you read some fun stuff and am enjoying your reviews, and your progress. Keep it up!

40. by Josh Bazell
Date: October 2012
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Review The continuation of the life of Dr. Pietro Brnwa that was started in Brnwa has been in witness protection for a long time and is working as a doctor on a cruise boat when a reclusive billionaire hires him to help investigate claims of some "wild thing" living in an obscure lake in Minnesota - a sea monster. Violence, sex, science and a surprise visit from a former vice presidential candidate.

41. by John Sandford
Date: October 2012
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Review: The latest in the Virgil Flowers series. Here, Flowers is dealing with a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde on a murder and robbery spree in rural Minnesota. A good page turner.

November
38. by Terry Pratchett
Date: November 2012
Genre: Historical fantasy
Rating: A-
Review: Dodger is the latest offering of Sir Terry Pratchett, and is quite different from his other books. First off, it's set in London in the early days of Queen Victoria. Its protagonist is loosely based on Charles Dickens character the Artful Dodger, in Oliver Twist , but this is, in the author's words "historical fantasy". Pratchett is always funny and he often makes a point with his humor. Here, his point is that London in those days was not a good place to be poor (not at all).

I enjoyed the book, although not as much as the best of Pratchett's more familiar Discworld novels.

39. by Christopher Moore
Date: November 2012
Genre: Humor
Rating: B
Review: Christopher Moore is a very funny man. He is fond of taking on (and writing humorously) about things that others might not find funny, such as the life of Jesus (see ), and vampires (see e.g. ). Here, he's spoofing death and zombies.

Charlie Asher is a nice guy. He's a bit of a nebbish (or, as Moore puts it, a beta-male). He's totally in love with his wife. Then, very near the beginning of the book, she dies. What happens next is wild and crazy.

I liked this book, but not as much as some of Moore's other work.

Great Peter. I would put the book titles on the bottom of the reviews. This way it reads cleaner. Thank you.

NOVEMBER
38. by Melvin I. Urofsky
Genre: Biography
Rating: A-
Review: Anyone wishing to understand the state of the law in modern America should be familiar with Louis Brandeis, and this book is a great way to gain that familiarity.
Brandeis is most famous as a Supreme Court Justice, but he was also a very successful lawyer, a fighter for many progressive causes and an organizer of American Zionism. He transformed how law firms are run and greatly increased the importance of pro bono work.
On the Court, he could not be pigeonholed into more modern versions of "liberal" and "conservative". Although he was an ardent proponent of civil liberties, on economic issues his views varied. Rather, he was an opponent of "bigness" - whether large corporations, large unions or large government.
A fascinating man and a well-written biography.

I have not read anything on Brandeis, looks like a good one to add to the list. Thanks!

39. by Caitlin Moran
Date finished: November
Genre: Essays
Rating: A
Review: What a wonderful collection of essays! Moran is very funny and often political (she is on the left). She covers a range of topics from marriage to abortion to Dr. Who to movies to poverty. Highly recommended.

DECEMBER
40. Robert A. Caro
Date finished: December, 2012
Genre: Biography
Rating: A
Review:
Master of the Senate by Robert Caro is the third volume in what will eventually be a five volume life of Lyndon Johnson. As in the first two (The Path to Power and Means of Ascent), Master of the Senate is well-written, magnificently researched and highly detailed.

Master of the Senate is about what LBJ's wife would later call the happiest years of their lives: Johnson is Senator from Texas, and he very quickly figures out where the power is and how to get. In short order he is, as the title says, master of the Senate. In many ways, the United States Senate was an ideal field for LBJ. It is a small enough body (96 senators when LBJ was there) that he could learn the idiosyncrasies of each member. It is dense in tradition and rules (which Johnson masterfully exploited). Much of the action takes place in the small groups that were Lyndon Johnson's metier of choice.

Throughout Lyndon Johnson's life he got himself positions that, prior to his getting them, had little power. Then he transformed them. In Master of the Senate, that position is majority leader. Prior to him, majority leaders had all been weak and often figures of ridicule. Power was held by the committee chairmen, who got to be chairmen strictly by seniority. Yet, soon after LBJ became majority leader, that position was so powerful that some people thought he was the second most powerful politician in the United States (after the president).

How Johnson did this is told in Master of the Senate.

Robert Caro traces two strong currents in LBJ's highly complex personality. There was a strong streak of compassion. Johnson, Caro concludes, genuinely felt for the poor and powerless. He very much wanted to help them. But, strong as this character was, it was secondary to his need for power. Johnson had to win. He needed to be the most powerful person in the situation.

Of course, Washington DC is not short of people who want power. But, early in his life, LBJ internalized a rule: If you do everything, you'll win. And he was willing to do everything. If he needed to work 80 and 90 hours a week, he would do so. If he needed to ignore his children, he would do so. If he needed to abuse his staff, he would. If he needed to be obsequious, he would. But it went beyond that. If Johnson needed to utterly destroy a decent human being, he would (e.g. Leland Olds). If he needed to accept and solicit bribes, he would. In short, he would do everything.

Legislatively, the highlight o Master of the Senate is Johnson's work in passing the first civil rights bill to get out of the Senate in 82 years. This bill (passed in 1957) wasn't a very good bill. It wasn't a strong bill - in fact it was very weak. But LBJ saw that you had to start with something. Later, he would also be instrumental in passing much stronger bills.

Lyndon Johnson is one of our most complex presidents, and this volume, like the others in The Years of Lyndon Johnson, does an astounding job of capturing that.

Peter, you did a great job in 2012.

Thanks Bentley! And thanks also for all you do on this group.

Thx Peter for the kind words - I have a great team of assisting moderators who have done a great job.