The History Book Club discussion

Wow a 1771 edition - that must be something.

I'm excited, I just picked up a autograph copy of the recent Pulitzer winner:

by Gilbert King

People who were in line with me who read it said it was brilliant.

Bryan, great score! Can't wait to see your review . . . when you get to it. Nice.

Will do. I have been thumbing through it and it will probably shoot up my short list to read.

Sounds like a great offering for a History Book Club read.

It won the Pulitzer for general non-fiction for 2013 earlier this year. It's also posted on the Thurgood Marshall and civil rights threads.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Price drop strikes again! I just discovered that the Kindle version is selling for only $4.99. It may be a while before I re-read it from beginning to end, but I will surely search and re-read parts of it while I'm reading other works on Lincoln or the Civil War.

This is the book that convinced me in 2009 that it was time to buy a Kindle: I loved the book, but I ruined a leather bag from repeatedly stuffing it into the back pocket.

I highly recommend this to all history buffs, in any format you choose.

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Thanks a bunch Becky

Becky wrote: "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Price drop strikes again! I just discovered that the Kindle version is selling for only $4.99. It may be a while before I re-read it from beg..."

That is a great deal! Plus, if you have it on your kindle, you don't have to carry the book around. It was pretty massive.

I had family in town, so visited Chancellorsville and Wilderness battlefields in Virginia. Picked up:

by Stephen W. Sears

How did you like the visit.

Bentley wrote: "How did you like the visit."

It was really interesting. With the kids, we walked only for a short distance at each site. I will have to go back and do the 2+ mile trails.

At Chancellorsville, we walked the short trail where General "Stonewall" Jackson was shot (by his own men).

At Wilderness, we read the panels at the exhibit shelter and walked around the field where the battle started.

http://www.nps.gov/frsp/index.htm

Sounds like a nice visit and worth your while.

OK, from your local presidential history geek, I picked up the standard to add to my collection:

by Sidney M. Milkis (no photo)

Bryan wrote: "I had family in town, so visited Chancellorsville and Wilderness battlefields in Virginia. Picked up:

by [author:Stephen W..."

I have heard there are guided tours available that do staff tours of the battlefields !

Is it so and if it is are they expensive ?

There are ranger tours and they are free if you time it right.

wow I never realized I never put in the book I got for my birthday.(July) So they are:

,
(already owned this one way before and didn't know it was the second in the series just adding it to show the complete series;hope that's ok),
,
,
.
by Barbara Kyle

so for my birthday I bought books 1,3,4,5

Great Krystal, thanks you. Go ahead and add the author after the last book:

Barbara Kyle

oh oops sorry about that I forgot. eek i'll fix it now.

Picked up some good ones:

by Elizabeth R. Varon (no photo)

by Douglas R. Egerton (no photo)

Brushing up on my military history and just bought a few paperbacks I'm excited to read:

by Peter G. Tsouras (no photo)

by Al Santoli (no photo)

Radiah wrote: "Brushing up on my military history and just bought a few paperbacks I'm excited to read:
..."

Awesome, looks like some great titles. I'm glad someone did a oral history on Vietnam. Oral history is so important.

I picked up a couple of presidential goodies:

by Brooks D. Simpson (no photo)

by Alonzo L. Hamby

Well now aren't you the happy person. (smile)

I picked up no. 2 yesterday:

by Rick Atkinson

Two books about Queen Victoria on my price-drop watch list each dropped to $1.99--so how could I resist?

by Kate Williams

by Gillian Gill

Got my hands on two gems via ebay UK:

by Ibn Battuta

and

by Wilfred Thesiger

Both excellent works, Thesiger is timeless and Ibn Battuta gets even more amazing as time passes

On sale at Amazon, Freedom from Fear...... a two volume Pulitzer Prize-winner in the Oxford History of the United States.
& by David M. Kennedy (no photo)

Wonderful set of books, Becky.

The other History Book Club is sending me:

by Harlow Giles Unger (no photo)

Two on Roman history:

by Julius Caesar
by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Just picked up a 400+ page tome on Maestro Arthur Rubinstein, the greatest classical pianist ever (in my opinion). His interpretations of Chopin are without peer and his life was very colorful.

by Harvey Sachs (no photo)

I just picked this up, and had occassion to hear Tavis Smiley speak about the topic of Dr. King's last year of life generally and he covered some of the topics and themes in the book. He speaks with such passion and thoughtfulness, am really looking forward to reading this. Has anyone else read this?

by Tavis Smiley

Great to hear from you, Alisa, it looks very good. I'm sorry to say I have not read it *yet.*

Had to buy this one to try out; the reviews have been excellent:

by Stephen Kotkin

I hate waiting for some books. Especially if I read one book and the series and the library takes forever with it's long list of people or whatever the case maybe.(Altho I'd never buy a book for over $25) So about two weeks ago I bought

by Suzanne Collins

It was also 40% off Canadian retail price. So I tho it was agood deal. I have so many books that I have that I bought but haven't read yet that I don't want to be buying to many. But there's a book I've been waiting for years to get so I'm going to order it soon.

Bryan wrote: "Had to buy this one to try out; the reviews have been excellent:

Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928

Thanks for the heads up, Bryan. I want to read this. Stalin is endlessly fascinating. I read Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I had trouble putting it down, but the Kotkin book looks even more comprehensive.


by Simon Sebag Montefiore

by Stephen Kotkin"

Krystal wrote: "I hate waiting for some books. Especially if I read one book and the series and the library takes forever with it's long list of people or whatever the case maybe.(Altho I'd never buy a book for ov..."

I liked this series, Krystal, let us know how you like them.

by Suzanne Collins

Ann, Young Stalin is a great book. I started it, but it is dense, so I stopped for awhile. I plan to return to it, though.

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Got 3 copies. Need to read.

A quick sprint through the ever popular Powell's in Portland today and picked these up, all on the to-read list. Plus it came with a nice reusable Powell's shopping bag! Score.

by David King (no photo)
by Ransom Riggs
by Jeffrey H. Jackson (no photo)
by Gary Krist (no photo)

Now, when I get around to reading them is an entirely different question. But it's good to have them on the shelf ready to be pressed into action.

I loved Death in the City of Light and have Empire of Sin on my TBR. Haven't read the other two.

by David King(no photo)

by Gary Krist (no photo)

Becky wrote: "Two books about Queen Victoria on my price-drop watch list each dropped to $1.99--so how could I resist?

by [author:Kate Williams..."

The Kate Williams should be good(it's not on my tbr), I liked her other one. It was with two other authors about all the royal English marriages.

Nice Alisa, I hope you have a much, much better new year.

I'm in political history heaven. I got this for the holiday:

by Richard Norton Smith (no photo)

I have a weakness for the book aisle at my favorite retail warehouse store. That and the great price on the huge bottle of Bombay Sapphire which was the need for my shopping venture tonight but I digress. In addition to the aforementioned gin picked up these little gems:

I think Teddy Roosevelt was somewhat of a spirited crazy genius but I need to read about him:
by Candice Millard
I like wine, and vinegar, and dream of spending others people's money:
by Benjamin Wallace
"Intricately disturbing" as the first two words in the NYT book review was enough to make me take a chance. The author seems to crop up as a favorite in the 50 books thread so will give it a try:
by Jo Nesbø

Great adds and the Bombay Sapphire was a good idea too!

I've been wanting to read by T.E. Lawrence but I decided to read this biography first:
by Scott Anderson (no photo)

Alisa: I loved River of Doubt.

by Candice Millard

You got a good one, I hear, Karen.

I got:

by Andrew J. Polsky (no photo)

by James Mann