The History Book Club discussion

Bryan wrote: "Indeed, if it was a Kennedy book, I would understand, because the family is very diligent in keeping their reputation intact...I will try to reach out and let people know."

Yes, a good example is with one of my favorite authors William Manchester. Robert Kennedy fell out of favor with him due to some comments about LBJ and Jacqueline Kennedy filed against his best selling book “The Death of a President”, which I see you have read. Apparently the case was settled prior to publication in 1967.

by William Raymond Manchester

Bentley wrote: "Bryan, that would be very helpful. Thank you. I kind of feel that I received a very cryptic, vague response myself. Maybe you will have better luck.

In fact, what troubles me is that if it is..."

I heard back from the FDR library (store manager). For the event in June, the last thing she heard was "sometime in 2013". Perisco came for the festival, but the bookstore had his other titles, not this one.

So like us, she has no idea when this book will be available.

Wow - very strange indeed - thank you Bryan for the detective work - smile

It appears that the mystery deepens.

Interesting Mark.

Confirmation from RH just awhile ago today that the Amazon date is correct for now but that things can be uncertain in the publishing world. So May 2014 is the date that we will go with until we hear otherwise.

It is now my understanding that sometime in the very distant future we will still have the opportunity to receive the book.

Bryan, I'll let you proceed. If you need me to do anything, let me know.

Virginia thank you. I think we pretty much know now that 2014 looks like the outside date and if everything comes together then maybe 2013 the earliest.

See message 56 and Bryan received some information already (see 52).

Just got a notice today from Amazon - the publication date has been moved up, and the shipment is now set from May of 2014 to May 31-June 4, 2013! So we gain a year.

Oh dear - I guess that is good news. I do look forward to the book and wonder what the background story is about the delay.

Thank you so much Virginia for keeping us in the loop.

Good to know. We'll see how this unfolds!

Indeed. I hope the date sticks.

I just noticed, it is interesting that they indicated a one week date range rather than a month/year for release. That would lead me to believe that it is looking fairly certain. Thanks Virginia, and I am sure Bentley will hear from RH as things are firmed up as well. I am hopeful.

I certainly hope so Alisa.

May 2013 is right now the release date.

Bentley wrote: "May 2013 is right now the release date."

I saw a sign on a desk once that said WARNING! Dates in calendar are closer than they appear!

Very funny Peter - let us hope this date sticks. But they seemed pretty confident. We will find out for sure. Just looked up at the comments above and Bryan and I used the same words. I have my fingers crossed.

It appears that the book is coming very soon - in May. Will keep you posted. Received heads up from RH.

Received confirmation that book is coming and will be sent in the next couple of weeks. Will post when I get the exact date when the books have been actually placed in the mail.

I am sure that all of you who have waited so long will be very excited. Since it has been so long I will send all of the lucky recipients of this offer a personal note to give them a heads up and to ask them to check this thread for further details.

We will be given full editions of the book and not ARCS.

I just looked up my order on Amazon, and it now says the book will be released May 28, 2013; I ordered it April 25, 2012. Let's see how this works out.

They say it is a go.....so I believe them (smile). We have been waiting for a long time Virginia and remember the date at one time said May 2014 so things are looking up (smile).

Folks, I have been told that the books are "being processed" so they are coming and those lucky recipients of the book should be receiving them in the next couple of weeks before the kick off date.

THE BOOKS ARE IN THE MAIL AND ON THEIR WAY TO ALL LUCKY RECIPIENTS OF THIS FREE BOOK OFFER. THANK YOU RANDOM HOUSE.

ALL, ON ONE OF THE ROOSEVELT'S CENTURION THREADS - WHEN YOU GET THE BOOK - LET ME KNOW ASAP.

We have been waiting a long time.

I saw that this book is also the featured selection in the latest circular put out by the History Book Club (the traditional "Book of the Month Club" respond to this mailing or you'll get the latest book automatically club as opposed to this Goodreads group.) So I imagine this book will be one of top-selling history books of the summer.

It most definitely will be a very big seller. They are the History Book Club ( a book of the month club) and we are The History Book Club on Goodreads.

I am not sure about their mailing but I imagine if this book is featured and it certainly should be - that all recipients who purchase the book of the month from them and pay them for it - will receive the book at some point in time.

Here we are the lucky recipients of the free book offer from Random House - we were supposed to be receiving the ARCs but they were not available it appears and now we are receiving full editions (I just received mine and after reading the preface) - I know that this book will not disappoint. May 28th is the official release date.

The folks who are the lucky recipients of our free book offer should be on the look out for their books because they are "in the mail" and on their way.

I am personally very excited since I had been waiting a very long time (smile).

Hello! I hope I am posting in the correct thread.... But what a WONDERFUL surprise to receive by on my front porch today!! THANK YOU!! I look forward to being an active participant!

We look forward to your being an active participant too. We are in crunch time preparing for the discussion but we will be ready. (smile)

And we are looking forward to your participation.

Make sure to prepare for those citations - book cover, author's photo, and author's link (smile)

by Joseph E Persico

You are very welcome and we are thrilled that you got your book in time for the discussion.

ah!! I missed that one.... Thanks for the reminder! (Double smile)

My a/c on Amazon is now saying delivery is estimated between May 31, 2013 through June 4, 2013 by 8PM! Gets more (slightly) pinpoint. I remain patient but with a sense of building excitement.

Yes, that could be for the rest of you guys _ I am not sure. I know ours are on the way and I have extended the first week's assignment beyond the first week for just this sort of situation - so the first week's reading may begin on May 28th but you have until June 9th. So you will be OK and I have the book and it is very worthwhile. I think his style is a little like Kearns-Goodwin but well researched. You are reading about tough subjects but in an easy and understandable style. He is not dry like I found Keegan to be.

Doris Kearns Goodwin

John Keegan

Assignment is only Preface, Intro and Chapter One for Week One.

I may have missed posting my intro! I graduated from FSU with a communication degree. I have been in pharmaceutical sales for the last 15 years. When my daughter started parochial school about 10 years ago, I became interested in religious history. Since then, history is my favorite subject to read about! It is fluid and ongoing and so many current events really have much basis in history. I believe it is nearly impossible to grasp any current event without going in back in time - to day one- to fully understand the background, undertones and prejudices, factual or not. My interest has led me to new and exciting paths such as taking the Foreign Service Officer exam and becoming certified to teach. I was interested in this book because I have been slow to fully appreciate American history. And I just read that the author was a Foreign Service Officer early in his career! I have participated in online discussions through my online religious history courses I took a few years ago via St.Thomas University in Miami, FL.

Great Michelle, if you haven't done it, go ahead and say hello at the "Please Introduce Yourself" thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Amazon now says delivery can be expected between May 31 and June 3. I figured Amazon's shipping would stretch, too.

Interesting - this was to be expected - but we have an extended first week through June 9th so all is well. Virginia odd that you posted here - I was just thinking of our very small private group when I first started the group here and that you were one of the pioneers and one of my first members in the group which at that time was private.

I received my book recently.

Thank you Bea.

Just to get started and to get to know each other before the book discussion begins - here are a few topics that we can discuss now. After a year's time, there are many folks who are just joining us for the discussion or who have not posted here before.

It would be great for you to introduce yourselves to each other and chat about the following:

a) Why history is interesting to you and why this is one of your favorite subjects. Do you teach history (what level - secondary, college, post- graduate)? Are you a lawyer or a politician? How has history influenced your life or maybe even the decisions that you make or does it?

b) What started you reading non fiction versus fiction and/or do you read both?

c) What are your favorite genres and why?

d) Who are your favorite non fiction historians and writers and why?

e) What appealed to you about this book: Roosevelt's Centurions which makes you want to read it and discuss it?

And or what appeals to you about historian Joseph Persico? Have you read some of his other books and what can you tell us about those?

f) Have you ever participated in a virtual book discussion before and what were your experiences? What do you hope to get out of this experience and what would make this a positive experience for you?

Note: When mentioning any book and/or any author - be sure to follow our citation rules: always cite the book cover, the author's photo and always the author's link which is the author's name in linkable text like this:

by Joseph E. Persico

I'm sure I've done an intro when we first started over here, as you have mentioned. Finding it in that first Intro section is another matter. Should I do another Intro, and if so, where - here or in the new Intro section?
This group has indeed expanded - or should I say exploded - in population since first coming here. I've lost track - how long have we been here?

Hello Virginia - 5 and a half years. Since 2008 (smile). Hard to believe - I was just thinking about you and the start of this group. We started out as a very small private group and you are one of our longstanding members from those early days. And every week we kept getting personal letters via PM asking if we would let in this person or that person - sometimes 30 in a week. Finally we just opened the group up. And as they say the rest is history.

That first introduction thread I have archived because it was 7000 posts long (lol). It is still there in the folder for all to read. And I am positive that you are in there someplace (smile)

I figured I was in the archived Intro thread. Too bad there isn't a word (in this case - name) search engine for threads to make hunting easy.
I may not post often, but it doesn't mean I'm not 'here'. Distractions of various kinds frequently get in the way, but I'm still around, albeit silently. This has been my history (lol), and I thank you for not giving up on me, and continuing to encourage my presence.

Of course Virginia - you are one of those "pioneer members" - we were here a good year before goodreads got their Venture Capital funding In December 2009 from True Ventures. So I guess we have been a member on the ground floor - look how Goodreads has grown since then. They started out with 800 users sometime in 2006 or 2007 I think.

My copy of Persico's book arrived early this week. The topic feeds into one of my central interests. As a professor of social studies methods, I frequently used World War II as the course's central focus: one that was large enough to provide significant, interesting topics for everyone, and one that had undeniable weight and consequences. All of my male relatives who were of age during the war served, so the war had/has a lot of resonance for me.

Great Larry, we are glad to have you along for this discussion. We look forward to your participation.

Larry glad that you have received your book - we need confirmation from the recipients and we were frankly worried that you might not have received yours.

We begin May 28th so there is no rush - we have extended the first week so that everyone has enough time to get the book and get started.

Week One assignment is - the Preface, the Introduction, and Chapter One.

I am so interested to hear from the discussion participants what has stimulated their interest in this book and period of history. I am sure it is a variety which will make for a great discussion. So folks, tell us what brought you here. Look forward to hearing from you all!

Personally I find the twenty-year period between the end of World War I and the start of World War II among the most fascinating eras in world and American history. When you look at the technological, military, economic, social, and political changes happening at that time, it boggles my mind how much was happening in such a short time-frame. Although I've read several books on FDR in the past, I've never thought much about his military leadership. Therefore I'm quite eager to see what the relationship was between the American military leaders and FDR himself.

The intro and chapter one were very well-written so I'm eager to read the rest of the book although I'm going to try to stick to the assigned reading schedule as it makes it easier for me to comment on the book a chapter or two at a time.

My father fought in WWII in the navy. It was something that he did not talk about, but I would find bits of his history in the war every now and then as I looked through things he and my mother had saved. After both he and my mother passed away my sibling and I found his medals and a few other things. My parents were married many years before they had children, so we arrived in the 60s, well past his war times. I am just filling in the gaps of my own past history I suppose.

I see where author Joseph Persico is a guest this morning (Sunday, May 26th) on the Memorial Weekend edition of CBS TV's Face the Nation.

Not sure if they'll add video later of the interview, but here's a general link to the CBS Face the Nation web site - http://www.cbsnews.com/face-the-nation/

Joseph E. Persico

Thank you Craig - I am sure that they might - what a find - thanks.