JZ's comments (member since Aug 07, 2007)

JZ's comments from the Our History group.

I've finished "John Adams" which I thought was good, although perhaps meandering a bit. I have "The Power Broker" on my shelf to read.

I've read the two Edmund Morris books about Teddy Roosevelt; the first was very good, the second seemed to lack focus, but was still a good read. It doesn't hurt that Teddy is a great subject for a biography.

"Peter The Great" by Robert Massie was excellent. Probably one of the best bios that told me so much about the era as well as the person.

I guess that's the difficulty I sometimes find in biographies. I'm more interested in events, as I like to say, the "how" and the "why". Biographies by their nature tend to go with the "who" and the "where" and so much of the book is about youthful influences and activities in the declining years, except for those like Cromwell who's declining years are cut short <smile>.

I just posted a review on "The Slave Trade" by Hugh Thomas:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17847...

Another book about slavery which I haven't gotten to, but is recommended is "Inhuman Bondage"
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17867...

Thanks for the info. I'll be at fifty sometime sooner than later I think ;)

I have a couple of books on my list that don't have cover shots. Since I have the books I figure I could take a photo of the cover and upload it, but I'm not sure how to do that. Anyone know?

I've added a few more books, all with reviews. Again, enjoy!

From Rindis:
"JZ, looked at the Flashman article. I usually don't care for anti-heroes... but it does look fun, and I'm going to have to look them up. Do you recommend starting at the beginning, or is there a later one that would be a good starting point?"

I'd recommend starting with "Flashman", the first book (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Paget... ) and then reading them in the order they were published. This isn't the chronological order for the character, but the author added more background and filler information on Flashman as the books were written so it will probably make more sense this way. The first book might be on a subject a bit obscure with non-British readers, but hang in there because "Royal Flash" is a hoot, especially if you have read "The Prisoner of Zenda" or seen the movie.

As I've said I read mostly non-fiction, however, there is one series of historical fiction that I am a big fan of and that's the Flashman series by George McDonald Fraser, see the Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Paget...

Wildly politically incorrect in so many ways, but rousingly good reads and good history to boot. Just don't let your less than open minded friends see you reading one!

I've had a sudden burst of literary enthusiasm lately so I had added more of my books and reviews to the list. Enjoy!

Thought I'd start a thread just to see who's out there and to find out what people are interested in discussing.

My interests in history are rather catholic (with a small "c"). I read almost exclusively non-fiction nowadays, technical as well as historical topics. I would probably characterize my desired type of book as "how" and "why" rather than the plain "who" and "when".

I'll post some more book reviews as I get time.