The History Book Club discussion

I just received this title today and from one of my favourite authors as well:


by Giles Milton

Bentley wrote: "Maybe the freezer or the fridge during those hot days...would serve two purposes - enjoyment and cooling. Under the couch or in the dog's crate (the dog usually sleeps at your feet while you are ..."

And we thought we were joking... check this website out:

http://bookshelfporn.com/archive

Maybe AR's wife would feel better if he printed out a few of these pictures and affixed a sign that read, "It could be worse."

Some of them are unbelievable Elizabeth S.

Oh my God, its heaven :)

You are making me laugh. I like the one where they are piling the books up in the window; no need for a shade.

Elizabeth, these are great photos! I like the Christmas tree, and the woman on 5 inch heels on a ladder. Aussie Rick, you crack me up.

More new used books that I got this week:


by Rick Atkinson

by Michael Eliot Howard

by John Keegan

by Robert Harvey

Nice line up of some interesting books, Tom. Looks like you will be busy!

Some good books there Tom, I really enjoyed "Crusade" by Rick Atkinson, it was the first book of his that I had read and I really liked it. "Cochrane" by Robert Harvey is a decent account as well. The book I loved the most on Cochrane has to be; "Cochrane: The Story of Britannia's Sea Wolf" by Donald Thomas

by Rick Atkinson

by Robert Harvey

by Donald Thomas

Today I brought home two new but very different books:


by Desmond Seward

by William Cull

Picked this title up today, first published in 2007 covering a dramatic rescue operation during the Vietnam War; "Rescue of Streetcar 304" by Kenny Wayne Fields.

by Kenny Wayne Fields

Thank you for the adds Aussie Rick.

With ANZAC Day in a couple of days I went and purchased this new Australian release; "Pozieres the ANZAC Story" by Scott Bennett. Pozieres being one of Australia's most costly battles on the Western Front, 23,000 casualties in forty-five days.

by Scott Bennett

books this week. most are used, got a few at library sale....


by Carlo D'Este
by Philip Bobbitt
by Rory Stewart
by Sherry Sontag
by Alistair Horne
by Sam C. Sarkesian
by Russell F. Weigley
by Robert Taber
by Ernesto Guevara
by Zedong Mao
by Robert L Bateman
by Bernard Lewis
by Rick Atkinson
by John Masters

not sure when i will find the time. first I need to find some place for them, its about an 18" pile.

Some good books in that lot Tom!

Nice haul, Tom.

Today I purchased a nice second hand (1956) edition of; "The Bernal Diaz Chronicles".


by Bernal Díaz del Castillo
"Bernal Díaz del Castillo(1495–1584) served under Cortés through the entire Mexican campaign, and his narrative, one of only four extant firsthand accounts, is both an invaluable hirstorical document and a spectacular epic. He was with Cortés when the latter sank the ships, thus committing the small band of conquistadors irrevocably to the Conquest; he was privy to the counsels of the leaders and was at hand when Montezuma was made a prisoner in his own palace. Bernal Díaz fought in over a hundred battles and skirmishes against an enemy who made living sacrifices of their prisoners. These things he saw and recorded in a bold blunt voice whose immediacy, in Maudslay’s classic translation, reaches across the centuries to invite readers to witness for themselves the horrors and wonders of the initial, apocalyptic clash between two great civilizations."

Picked up this book on special today and it covers my favourite European city, Paris.


by Andrew Hussey

I got this recently. It looks facsinating and I can't wait to read it:

by Richard Holmes

Reviews:
‘“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,” Wordsworth recalled, thinking of the fall of the Bastille in 1789. But Richard Holmes's exuberant group biography celebrates the scientific revolution that preceded and outsoared the political one, changing life, the universe and everything in the last decades of the 18th century... Holmes suffuses his book with the joy, hope and wonder of the revolutionary era. Reading it is like a holiday in a sunny landscape, full of fascinating bypaths that lead to unexpected vistas. He believes that we must engage the minds of young people with science by writing about it in a new way, entering imaginatively into the biographies of individual scientists and showing what makes them just as creative as poets, painters and musicians. The Age of Wonder is offered, with due modesty, as a model, and it succeeds inspiringly’
-- John Carey, Sunday Times

‘The Age of Wonder gives us...a new model for scientific exploration and poetic expression in the Romantic period. Informative and invigorating, generous and beguiling, it is, indeed, wonderful’
-- Jenny Uglow, Guardian

‘vividly conveys the compelling fusion of art and science in the 18th century ... this is a book to linger over, to savour the tantalising details of the minor figures ... The Age of Wonder allows readers to recapture the combined thrill of emerging scientific order and imaginative creativity’
-- Lisa Jardine, Financial Times

‘If ever there was an argument for a biographical analysis of complex scientific and technological history, this is it ... well paced and rich in detail ... Heartbreaking accounts of hope and fears, ambitions and disappointments dance along the pages. Even the choice of pictures gives us new insights into old favourites ... There is no dry page in this visceral, spirited and sexy account’
-- The Times

‘Richard Holmes's stellar collective biography ... gives a gripping account of the scientific research that inspired a sense of wonder in poets and experimenters alike ... fascinating ... this beautifully crafted book deserves all the praise it will undoubtedly attract. Well-researched and vividly written The Age of Wonder will fascinate scientists and poets alike’
-- Literary Review

‘Holmes triumphantly shows the Romantic age was one of symbiosis rather than opposition...no biographer is better than Holmes at evoking the thrill of the chase ... elegant ... fascinating ... entrancing’
-- Sunday Telegraph

‘Exhilarating...instructive and delightful...finely observed...generous and hugely enjoyable’
-- Daily Telegraph

‘Romanticism and Science are justly reunited in Richard Holmes's new book....a revelation....thrilling’
-- Independent

Ooops, Easter back log at the Post Office box:


by Duff Hart-Davis

by Robert Tonsetic

by Lawrence A. Kreiser Jr.

by Stephen Budiansky

by Thomas Hodgkin
(my edition is 1897)

My goodness.




Belated of course.

Let me know if you like by Stephen Budiansky , it sounds fascinating. He also wrote which I enjoyed a lot.

Received an ARC of by George Vecsey in the mail the other day. I'm excited to learn about this amazing but unknown baseball player.

(Thanks again to Alisa for getting me started on the goodreads giveaways. This is my second win!)

Hi Elizabeth, will do :)

Oooh, and another baseball book! It's a fun way to try something you might not otherwise find. I will look forward to seeing your review. Fun!

I received these two interesting books today:


by Alastair Massie
(second hand)

by Robin Waterfield
(new release)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I received these two interesting books today:..."

Looks good, I have been looking at the "Robin Waterfield " book for a while.

by Robin Waterfield

Just got an interesting book byLothar Maier have to say it was the title that got my attention.

That is quite the eye-catching title. My first thought was that something had fallen on the keyboard while someone was typing the title into goodreads. :)

My copy of by Barbara W. Tuchman just arrived in the mail today. I am so glad my page numbers match up with the posted Table of Contents!

Great, I am glad too.

Big day at the Post Office for me, I just love going down there and finding lots of book parcels :)


by Allan Converse

by Gregory Troubetzkoy

by David Cordingly

by Jim Lacey

by John Julius Norwich (one of my favourite author's)

It is kinda like Christmas.

Elizabeth S wrote: "It is kinda like Christmas."

No doubt :-)

Two arrivals today:


by Robert F. Dorr

by Adam Hochschild

A friend of mine who also shares my love of history, especially military related history, loaned me this book. It may sound a little dry but surprisingly it holds your interest throughout and provides new information about the German Army from the time of Frederick the Great through the dark days of Nazi Germany. An excellent, but I think, not very well known book.

by John Laffin

Great post, Jill. Looks like a great recommendation.

Another good day at the Post Office box this morning, two new arrivals to welcome into my library:


by William L. Smallwood

by Peter Caddick Adams

Our library has a shelf of sale books for $2.00 (hardback) and I found this one:

by Juliet Nicolson.

She also wrote:


Juliet Nicolson which was a socio-economic study of England in the year preceding WWI. I have it on my TBR shelf also.

I've seen "The Great Silence" about before, it sounds like an interesting book, good bargain as well for $2.00!

by Juliet Nicolson

Excited finally got my copy of by Marisa Bowe I have heard a lot of good thing about this book

I never had a chance until now to comment in this thread but last saturday May 28 I convinced my mom I'd be really fast in buying this book

by Michael Scott It's on my TBR list after I read by Susan Holloway Scott I will be reading the whole series from Michael Scott.

Great job on the citations and both look like good books.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Another good day at the Post Office box this morning, two new arrivals to welcome into my library:


by [author:William L. Smallwood|..."

Aussie Rick, I like how you describe 'finding' these in the post, like you don't expect them to be there and it's a surprise. You make me laugh.

:)

Am waiting for the good old Post Office to deliver my latest purchase.

by Giles Lytton Strachey.

It is comprised of biographical sketches of four public figures of the day and was quite a bombshell when published in 1918. It does not paint a particularly flattering picture of the subjects. I am looking forward to receiving it.

I hope you enjoy it Jill! I visited a second-hand bookshop today and purchased these two books for a very good price:

by Voltaire

This one is not listed on Goodreads; "The Lost Generation" by Reginald Pound.

Jill, you and Aussie Rick have something in common - waiting for the post office to deliver books (smile).

Those wonderful post offices.

Bentley

How true, Bentley. But, oh, when they arrive it is just like receiving a birthday present!!!

My postage is on strike so I won't recive anything for awhile but I might be getting a surprise giveaway from an author. Michelle Zink always does these prophecy fanpacks and I might get one because i've commented alot on her books and stuff. On facebook, her website and on goodreads here.