A Journey Through History: Recent Episodes
Accessible World
A Journey through History on Accessible World. Meets the first Tuesday of each month at 8pm Eastern. Facilitator leads the discussion of that month's history book including the playing of author interview and other related audio clips. Sponsored by Helping Hands for the Blind.
John Hancock: first to sign, first to invest in America’s independence DB132603
Author: Randall, Willard Sterne
Reading Time: 7 hours, 15 minutes
Read by: Steve Hendrickson
Subjects: Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures, U.S. History, Government and Politics
“A contemporary of Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette, Hancock’s contacts read like a who’s who of the American Revolution. But shockingly little has been written about the man himself — and current biographies tend to over-rely on critical portrayals by his political opponents. John Hancock the story of a man who deserves far more acknowledgment for his involvement in the American Revolution than previously credited — and award-winning scholar Willard Sterne Randall is determined to give him his due at last. Born to relatively modest means, Hancock was sent to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt as a child, who raised him as their own and prepared him to take over the family company. An incredibly successful businessman, Hancock began to get involved in politics in the mid-1760s. He quickly rose in the ranks, eventually serving as the president of the Continental Congress and the first governor of Massachusetts. John Hancock details all of the major moments in the Revolution, from the Boston Tea Party to the battles of Lexington and Concord to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Hancock’s actions fundamentally altered each of these events — and ultimately the course of the United States — in ways never taught in the history books. Randall also dives into less-known parts of Hancock’s life with nuance and compassion, including his education and controversial work with Harvard; his long courtship and complicated marriage to Dorothy Quincy; and his close relationship and eventual bitter rivalry with Samuel Adams. John Hancock was immensely popular in Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution, but his lack of personal writings have allowed him to be pushed aside in favor of easier biographies to tell. Through extensive research, Randall aims to restore Hancock to his rightful place, celebrated for his achievements as one of our Founding Fathers at last.” — Goodreads. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York, NY : Penguin Random House, 2025.
BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6590359?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUpvaG4lMkJIYW5jb2NrJTI1M0ElMkJmaXJzdCUyQnRvJTJCc2lnbiUyNTJDJTJCZmlyc3QlMkJ0byUyQmludmVzdCUyQmluJTJCQW1lcmljYSUyNTI2JTI1MjMzOSUyNTNCcyUyQmluZGVwZW5kZW5jZSUyQg
BARD annotationThe gunfighters: how Texas made the West wild DB129769Author: Burrough, BryanReading Time: 12 hours, 53 minutesRead by: Fred SandersSubjects: U.S. History, True Crime, Social Sciences
“The “Wild West” gunfighter is such a stock figure in our popular culture that some dismiss it all as a corny myth, more a product of dime novels and B movies than a genuinely important American history. In fact, as Bryan Burrough shows us in his dazzling and fast-paced new book, there’s much more below the surface. For three decades at the end of the 1800s, a big swath of the American West was a crucible of change, with the highest murder rate per capita in American history. The reasons behind this boil down to one word: Texas. Texas was born in violence, on two fronts, with Mexico to the south and the Comanche to the north. The Colt revolver first caught on with the Texas Rangers. Southern dueling culture transformed into something wilder and less organized in the Lone Star State. The collapse of the Confederacy and the presence of a thin veneer of Northern occupiers turned the heat up further. And the explosion in the cattle business after the war took that violence and pumped it out from Texas across the whole of the West. The stampede of longhorn cattle brought with it an assortment of rustlers, hustlers, gamblers, and freelance lawmen who carried a trigger-happy honor culture into a widening gyre, a veritable blood meridian. When the first newspapermen and audiences discovered what good copy this all was, the flywheel of mythmaking started spinning. It’s never stopped. The Gunfighters brilliantly sifts the lies from the truth, giving both elements their due. And the truth is sufficiently wild for any but the most unhinged tastes. All the legendary figures are here, and their escapades are told with great flair-good, bad, and ugly. Like all great stories, this one has a rousing end-as the railroads and the settlers close off the open spaces for good, the last of the breed, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, really do get on a boat for South America, ending their era in a blaze of glory. Burrough knits these histories together into something much deeper and more provocative than simply the sum of its parts. To understand the truth of the Wild West is to understand a crucial dimension of the American story.”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Penguin Random House, 2025.BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6582209?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmd1bmZpZ2h0ZXJzJTI1M0ElMkJob3clMkJUZXhhcyUyQm1hZGUlMkJ0aGUlMkJXZXN0JTJCd2lsZCUyQg
BARD annotationThe Harvey girls DB132858Author: Fay, JulietteReading Time: 11 hours, 51 minutesRead by: Cassandra CampbellSubjects: Historical Fiction, General Fiction
“1926: Charlotte Crowninshield was born into one of the finest Boston society families. Now she’s on the run from a brutal husband, desperate to disappear into the wilds of the Southwest. Billie MacTavish is the oldest of nine children born to Scottish immigrants in Nebraska. She quit school in the sixth grade to help with her mother’s washing and mending business, but even that isn’t enough to keep the family afloat. Desperate, both women join the ranks of the Harvey Girls, waitresses who serve in America’s first hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. Hired on the same day, they share three things: a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other … and each has a secret that will certainly get them fired. Through twelve-hour days of training in Topeka, Kansas, they learn the fine art of service, perfecting their skills despite bouts of homesickness, fear of being discovered, and a run-in with the KKK. When they’re sent to work at the luxurious El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon, the challenges only grow, as Billie struggles to hide her young age from would-be suitors, and Charlotte discovers the little-known dark side of the national park’s history.” — From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025.BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6859904?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPXRoZSUyQmhhcnZleSUyQmdpcmxz
Jana Littrell facilitates A Journey through History book group to discuss Denial: Holocaust history on trial DB119278
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Denial: Holocaust history on trial DB119278
Author: Lipstadt, Deborah E.
Reading Time: 13 hours, 18 minutes
Read by: Kate Udall
Subjects: World History and Affairs, Legal Issues
“In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called David Irving, a prolific writer of books on World War II, “one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.” The following year, after Lipstadt’s book was published in the United Kingdom, Irving led a libel suit against Lipstadt and her publisher. She prepared her defense with the help of a first-rate team of solicitors, historians, and experts, and a dramatic trial unfolded. Denial, previously published as History on Trial, is Lipstadt’s riveting, blow- by-blow account of this singular legal battle, which resulted in a formal denunciation of a Holocaust denier that crippled the movement for years to come. Lipstadt’s victory was proclaimed on the front page of major news- papers around the world, such as The Times (UK), which declared that ‘history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory.'” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : HarperAudio, 2016.
BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5934409?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPURlbmlhbCUyNTNBJTJCSG9sb2NhdXN0JTJCaGlzdG9yeSUyQm9uJTJCdHJpYWwlMkI
Jana Littrell facilitates A Journey through History book group to discuss Royal audience: 70 years, 13 presidents–one queen’s special relationship with America DB120048 by David Charter.
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Royal audience: 70 years, 13 presidents–one queen’s special relationship with America DB120048
Author: Charter, David
Reading Time: 8 hours, 40 minutes
Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress
Read by: Mark Meadows
Subjects: World History and Affairs, Government and Politics, Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures
“From the moment she first enchanted the world as a youthful princess, Queen Elizabeth II found a unique place in American hearts–and she also played an unprecedented role in forging transatlantic ties. Over her seventy-year reign, she developed extraordinary and varied personal bonds with thirteen U.S. presidents–Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bush Sr. and Jr., Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden–that other diplomats and leaders could only dream of. A fascinating, in-depth look at international relations and interpersonal intrigue, Royal Audience peels back the curtain on the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. as embodied by the Queen herself–charting Elizabeth II’s distinctive brand of one-to-one diplomacy through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand. From horse-riding with Ronald Reagan, to sharing her recipe for scones with Dwight D. Eisenhower, to striking up a kinship with the Bushes and the Obamas, the Queen’s interactions with her U.S. counterparts often acted as a restorative tonic for relations between two nations, even when political tensions ran high. Not all royal encounters with U.S. presidents went smoothly, though. Between Jackie Kennedy’s complaints about Elizabeth and the Queen Mother’s shock at being kissed on the lips by Jimmy Carter, there was never a dull moment. Throughout the years, Queen Elizabeth II’s sense of duty and service remained steadfast, and her iconic legacy is unlikely to be repeated”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Penguin Random House Audio, [2024]
BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5915251?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVJveWFsJTJCYXVkaWVuY2U
BARD annotationPropaganda girls: the secret war of the women in the OSS DB129114Author: Rogak, LisaReading Time: 6 hours, 4 minutesRead by: Naeymi, SamaraSubjects: Women, World History and Affairs, War and the Military
“Betty MacDonald was a 28-year-old reporter from Hawaii. Zuzka Lauwers grew up in a tiny Czechoslovakian village and knew five languages by the time she was 21. Jane Smith-Hutton was the wife of a naval attaché living in Tokyo. Marlene Dietrich, the German-American actress and singer, was of course one of the biggest stars of the 20th century. These four women, each fascinating in her own right, together contributed to one of the most covert and successful military campaigns in WWII. As members of the OSS, their task was to create a secret brand of propaganda produced with the sole aim to break the morale of Axis soldiers. Working in the European theater, across enemy lines in occupied China, and in Washington, D.C., Betty, Zuzka, Jane, and Marlene forged letters and “official” military orders, wrote and produced entire newspapers, scripted radio broadcasts and songs, and even developed rumors for undercover spies and double agents to spread to the enemy. And outside of a small group of spies, no one knew they existed. Until now.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Macmillan, 2025.BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6501598?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZ0aXRsZT1Qcm9wYWdhbmRhJTJCZ2lybHMlMjUzQSUyQnRoZSUyQnNlY3JldCUyQndhciUyQm9mJTJCdGhlJTJCd29tZW4lMkJpbiUyQnRoZSUyQk9TUyUyQiZib29rc1RvU2VhcmNoPUFMTCZxdWFsaXRpZXM9UFVCTElTSEVSJnF1YWxpdGllcz1FWENFTExFTlQmX2NvbnRhaW5zSW1hZ2VzPW9uJl9jb250YWluc0ltYWdlRGVzY3JpcHRpb25zPW9uJnNvcnRPcmRlcj1SRUxFVkFOQ0Umc2VhcmNoPUFkdmFuY2VkJTJCU2VhcmNoJl9jYXRlZ29yaWVzPW9u
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Star-spangled men: America’s ten worst presidents DB46576
Author: Miller, Nathan
Reading Time: 9 hours, 48 minutes
Read by: Gregory Gorton
Subjects: Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures, U.S. History
Biographical profiles of American presidents the author judges to be the ten worst in the nation’s history. Candidates were evaluated on the basis of their personal qualities and the extent to which they damaged the nation. Includes Richard Nixon for his moral lapses and Jimmy Carter for lacking purpose and direction.
New York, NY : Scribner, c1998.
Bookshare
This book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6372261?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVN0YXItc3BhbmdsZWQlMkJtZW4lMjUzQSUyQkFtZXJpY2ElMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJ0ZW4lMkJ3b3JzdCUyQnByZXNpZGVudHMlMkI
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Star-spangled men: America’s ten worst presidents DB46576
Author: Miller, Nathan
Reading Time: 9 hours, 48 minutes
Read by: Gregory Gorton
Subjects: Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures, U.S. History
Biographical profiles of American presidents the author judges to be the ten worst in the nation’s history. Candidates were evaluated on the basis of their personal qualities and the extent to which they damaged the nation. Includes Richard Nixon for his moral lapses and Jimmy Carter for lacking purpose and direction.
New York, NY : Scribner, c1998.
Bookshare
This book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6372261?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVN0YXItc3BhbmdsZWQlMkJtZW4lMjUzQSUyQkFtZXJpY2ElMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJ0ZW4lMkJ3b3JzdCUyQnByZXNpZGVudHMlMkI
Enter the Journey Through History Zoom RoomA Journey Through History Meets the first Tuesday of each month at 8pm to 9pm Eastern.Join A Journey Through History Meeting from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:Or iPhone one-tap: US: +14086380986,,177809772 or +16468769923,,177809772#Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 408 638 0986 or +1 646 876 9923 Meeting ID: 177 809 772International numbers available
BARD annotationA sense of the world: how a blind man became history’s greatest traveler DB62703
Author: Roberts, Jason
Reading Time: 12 hours, 41 minutes
Read by: David Cutler
Subjects: Biography of Persons with Disabilities, Disability, Travel
Biography of Englishman James Holman (1786-1857), who was blinded at twenty-five after serving in the Napoleonic wars and who then achieved fame as a world traveler. Quoting from Holman’s memoirs, describes how he fought slavery in Africa, survived captivity in Siberia, charted the Australian outback, and published three books. 2006.
New York : Harper Collins Publishers, c2006.
BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6462474?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUElMkJzZW5zZSUyQm9mJTJCdGhlJTJCd29ybGQlMjUzQSUyQmhvdyUyQmElMkJibGluZCUyQm1hbiUyQmJlY2FtZSUyQmhpc3RvcnklMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJncmVhdGVzdCUyQnRyYXZlbGVyJTJC
Jana Littrell facilitates A Journey through History book group and will lead the discussion on 9/2/25 at 8pm Eastern of James K. Polk DBC27665 by John Seigenthaler.
BARD annotationJames K. Polk DBC27665
Author: Seigenthaler, John
Reading Time: 5 hours, 21 minutes
Read by: Raines, Eric
Subjects: Biography, Government and Politics, U.S. History
The story of a pivotal president who watched over our westward expansion and solidified the dream of Jacksonian democracy. James K. Polk was a shrewd and decisive commander in chief, who served as Speaker of the House and governor of Tennessee before taking office in 1845. Shortly after his inauguration, he settled the disputed Oregon boundary and by 1846 had declared war on Mexico for the annexation of Texas and California. The considerably smaller American army never lost a battle. At home, however, Polk suffered a political firestorm of antiwar attacks from many fronts. And yet despite his tremendous accomplishments, he left office an extremely unpopular man, whose stresses had taken such a physical toll that he died within three months of departing Washington. Fellow Tennessean John Seigenthaler traces the life of this President who, as Truman noted, “said what he intended to do and did it.” Adult.
New York : Times Books, 2004.
BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/70191?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUphbWVzJTJCSy4lMkJQb2xr
David Faucheux will join us again on 8/5/25 at 8pm Eastern to facilitate the discussion of The Colony Club: a novel DB127808 by Shelley Noble.
NLS annotationThe Colony Club: a novel DB127808Author: Noble, ShelleyReading Time: 11 hours, 42 minutesRead by: Hewitt, CarolineSubjects: Historical Fiction, Women, General Fiction
“When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard. She hires the most sought-after architect in New York, Stanford White, to design the clubhouse. As “the best dressed actress on the Rialto” Elsie de Wolfe has an eye for décor, but her career is stagnating. So when White asks her to design the clubhouse interiors, she jumps at the chance and the opportunity to add a woman’s touch. He promises to send her an assistant, a young woman he’s hired as a draftsman. Raised in the Lower East Side tenements, Nora Bromely is determined to become an architect in spite of hostility and sabotage from her male colleagues. She is disappointed and angry when White “foists” her off on this new women’s club project. But when White is murdered and the ensuing Trial of the Century discloses the architect’s scandalous personal life, fearful backers begin to withdraw their support. It’s questionable whether the club will survive long enough to open.Daisy, Elsie, and Nora have nothing in common but their determination to carry on. But to do so, they must overcome not only society’s mores but their own prejudices about women, wealth, and each other. Together they strive to transform Daisy’s dream of the Colony Club into a reality, a place that will nurture social justice and ensure the work of the women who earned the nickname “Mink Brigade” far into the future.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : HarperAudio, 2024.BookshareThis book can be found on Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6193331?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmNvbG9ueSUyQmNsdWI
NLS annotationGod save Benedict Arnold: the true story of America’s most hated man DB122599Author: Kelly, JackReading Time: 8 hours, 42 minutesRead by: Jim SeybertSubjects: U.S. History, Biography
“A gripping exploration of the intense psychology and character of Benedict Arnold, arguing that he was essential to victory before he was a traitor. Benedict Arnold committed treason — for more than two centuries, that’s all that most Americans have known about him. Yet Arnold was much more than a turncoat — his achievements during the early years of the Revolutionary War defined him as the most successful soldier of the era. GOD SAVE BENEDICT ARNOLD tells the gripping story of Arnold’s rush of audacious feats — his capture of Fort Ticonderoga, his Maine mountain expedition to attack Quebec, the famous artillery brawl at Valcour Island, the turning-point battle at Saratoga — that laid the groundwork for our independence. Arnold was a superb leader, a brilliant tactician, a supremely courageous military officer. He was also imperfect, disloyal, villainous. One of the most paradoxical characters in American history, and one of the most interesting. GOD SAVE BENEDICT ARNOLD does not exonerate him for his treason — the stain on his character is permanent. But Kelly’s insightful exploration of Arnold’s career as a warrior shines a new light on this gutsy, fearless, and enigmatic figure. In the process, the book offers a fresh perspective on the reasons for Arnold’s momentous change of heart”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Tantor Media, Inc., 2023.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5795457?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUdvZCUyQnNhdmUlMkJCZW5lZGljdCUyQkFybm9sZCUyNTNBJTJCdGhlJTJCdHJ1ZSUyQnN0b3J5JTJCb2YlMkJBbWVyaWNhJTI1MjYlMjUyMzM5JTI1M0JzJTJCbW9zdCUyQmhhdGVkJTJCbWFu
David Faucheux will join us again on 4/1/25 at 8pm Eastern to facilitate the discussion of the historical fiction novel The house is on fire DB120593 by Rachel Beanland.
NLS annotationThe house is on fire DB120593Author: Beanland, RachelReading Time: 12 hours, 31 minutesRead by: Rachel Beanland, Michael Crouch, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Andi Arndt, Ruffin Prentiss IIISubject: Historical Fiction
“Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment at the front of a church. On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly-widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first. When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined. Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious–and fleeting–chances at redemption” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Waterville, Maine : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5948434?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmhvdXNlJTJCaXMlMkJvbiUyQmZpcmU
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The first conspiracy: the secret plot against George Washington DB93794
Authors: Meltzer, Brad, Mensch, Josh
Reading Time: 11 hours, 10 minutes
Read by: Scott Brick
Subject: U.S. History
An account of a treasonous plan by George Washington’s bodyguards, working together with New York City mayor David Mathews and New York governor William Tryon, to kill the commander in the months leading up to the Revolutionary War. Some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
[New York, NY] : Macmillan Audio, 2019.
Bookshare
This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/3674411?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmZpcnN0JTJCY29uc3BpcmFjeQ
NLS annotationAnne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: the mother and daughter who changed history DB124509Author: Borman, TracyReading Time: 8 hours, 53 minutesRead by: Tracy BormanSubjects: World History and Affairs, Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures, Women
“One of the most extraordinary mother and daughter stories of all time – Anne Boleyn, the most famous of Henry VIII’s wives and her daughter Elizabeth, the ‘Virgin Queen’. Anne Boleyn is a subject of enduring fascination. By far the most famous of Henry VIII’s six wives, she has inspired books, documentaries and films, and is the subject of intense debate even today, almost 500 years after her violent death. For the most part, she is considered in the context of her relationship with Tudor England’s much-married monarch. Dramatic though this story is, of even greater interest – and significance – is the relationship between Anne and her daughter, the future Elizabeth I. Elizabeth was less than three years old when her mother was executed. Given that she could have held precious few memories of Anne, it is often assumed that her mother exerted little influence over her. But this is both inaccurate and misleading. Elizabeth knew that she had to be discreet about Anne, but there is compelling evidence that her mother exerted a profound influence on her character, beliefs and reign. Even during Henry’s lifetime, Elizabeth dared to express her sympathy for her late mother by secretly wearing Anne’s famous ‘A’ pendant when she sat for a painting with her father and siblings. Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts, this book tells the story of Anne Boleyn’s relationship with, and influence over her daughter Elizabeth. In so doing, it sheds new light on two of the most famous and influential women in history.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.London : Audible Studios, 2023.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5297406?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUFubmUlMkJCb2xleW4lMkIlMjUyNmFtcCUyNTNCJTJCRWxpemFiZXRoJTJCSQ
NLS annotationThe situation room: the inside story of presidents in crisis DB121216
Authors: Stephanopoulos, George, Dickey, Lisa
Reading Time: 10 hours, 10 minutes
Read by: Peter Ganim, George Stephanopoulos, Elisabeth Rodgers
Subjects: U.S. History, Government and Politics
“George Stephanopoulos, former senior advisor to President Clinton and for more than 20 years host of This Week and Good Morning America, recounts never-before-told crises that decided the course of history, from the place 12 presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White House Situation Room. No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Created under President Kennedy, the Sit Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades. Time and again, the decisions made within the Sit Room complex affect the lives of every person on this planet. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, THE SITUATION ROOM will take readers through dramatic turning points in a dozen presidential administrations, including: –Incredible minute-by-minute transcripts from the Sit Room after both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot –The shocking moment when Henry Kissinger raised the military alert level to DEFCON III while President Nixon was drunk in the White House residence –The extraordinary scene when President Carter asked for help from secret government psychics to rescue American hostages in Iran –A vivid retelling of the harrowing hours during the 9/11 attack –New details from Obama administration officials leading up to the raid on Osama Bin Laden –And a first-ever account of January 6th from the staff inside the Sit Room. THE SITUATION ROOM is the definitive, past-the-security-clearance look at the room where it happened, and the people–the famous and those you’ve never heard of–who have made history within its walls”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : Hachette Audio, 2024.
BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6017442?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQnNpdHVhdGlvbiUyQnJvb20
David Faucheux will be leading a historical fiction discussion as he does three times a year of Ella: a novel DB123445 by Diane Richards. Below is a book review submitted by David of this novel followed by its NLS annotation, Bookshare link, and Zoom invitation.Book reviewI want to thank Alan for forwarding this review of my December choice for discussion during the next Journey through History.
First the NLS annotation:Ella: a novel DB123445Author: Richards, DianeReading Time: 10 hours, 24 minutesRead by: Alexandra GreySubjects: Historical Fiction, African American Topics“When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald’s mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the “ungovernable” adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York–a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after “The World Famous Edwards Sisters” number, the homeless Ella, wearing men’s galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
I have always found biographical novels of interest because they somehow — and in a way that nonfiction simply cannot – manage to bring characters to life and make us care. Sometimes, after taking one of these historic novels in, I look for a nonfiction biography to add depth or another perspective.
Reviewer’s Note: See the short bibliography at the conclusion of this review.
I found this novel about Ella Fitzgerald’s early life interesting if a bit upsetting. The novel opens on July 18, 1948, with her about to appear on The very new Ed Sullivan Show. But then we are taken back to January of 1932 when Ella is told by her mother that she will have to help out in the laundry where the mother works. Ella, needless to say, is not amused. She loves to dance and has been practicing with her neighbor; they live in Yonkers and Ella lives for dance contests especially because participants who do well can earn money prizes.
In any event, the mother unexpectedly dies at work, her white boyfriend becomes abusive to Ella who goes to live with her aunt in Harlem where she takes up with a criminal element and becomes a Numbers Runner in order to bring in much-needed income as the money is very good in the numbers racket. Her mentor is killed when the white mob decides that they want to muscle in on the lucrative numbers game. In typical mob fashion, people start dying as bullets start flying.
Because Ella has been missing so much school at the excellent institution where her aunt has enrolled her, she is picked up by the truant officer. With the help of several police officers who have accompanied the truant officer, Ella is taken to jail. She then is sent to an upstate reformatory where she is badly treated as are other “colored” girls who are told “to know your place.” They are not taught typical high school subjects such as English as are the white girls but rather made to work in the reformatory garden. They learn from other imprisoned girls about the sexual predations of several low-life white, male workers at the reformatory. Ella herself is locked up in solitary for over a week.
She manages to escape after a year when several of the girls, both white and African-American, are chosen to sing Christmas carols at the nearby town. With the help of several women hiding in the train yard, she hops a train to New York City and lives on the streets of Harlem where she dances with street kids for coins.
Due to a lucky break (she draws the shortest straw), She is chosen for a coveted spot to participate in an early Amateur Night at the famed Apollo where the audience is known for its ruthless critique; if they like you — they love you. Otherwise, they scream and boo and you are swept off the stage by a broom-wielding tap dancing someone called The Executioner.
Ella was supposed to dance but as she was put on first during Amateur Night, she would follow the conclusion of the professional show which consisted of two superb twin sister dancers clad in vivid yellow dresses spangled with sequins, even to their sparkly dance shoes. Ella manages to convince the emcee to let her sing which she does. The audience falls in love.
Then, suddenly, we are back with Ed Sullivan and she goes on and sings. How Ella gets from the stage at the Apollo in November of 1934 to Sullivan’s world in 1948 is anyone’s guess as the novel does not explain.
All in all, an excellent intro to Ella Fitzgerald with some interesting singing by narrator Alexandra Grey who herself has an interesting story to tell. Meet Alexandra Grey, the 2016 Breakout Star of … – ScreenCrush
For further interest:Ella Fitzgerald – Ed Sullivan Show
And on BARDElla Fitzgerald: a biography of the first lady of jazz DB40020
She persisted: Ella Fitzgerald DB115988
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: the jazz singer who transformed American song DB118643
Dangerous rhythms: jazz and the underworld DB109819
And I would encourage anyone interested in either Ella Fitzgerald or Marilyn Monroe to keep checking on BARD as I’m sure the novel Can’t We Be Friends by Denny Bryce and Eliza Knight that came out earlier this year should appear there at some point. A search indicated at this time the book is not in progress, but I think it will eventually make it. I reviewed it for Library Journal and enjoyed it. There are certainly enough books, fiction and nonfiction, about Marilyn. EnjoyNLS AnnotationElla: a novel DB123445Author: Richards, DianeReading Time: 10 hours, 24 minutesRead by: Alexandra GreySubjects: Historical Fiction, African American Topics
“When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald’s mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the “ungovernable” adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York–a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after “The World Famous Edwards Sisters” number, the homeless Ella, wearing men’s galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
New York : HarperAudio, [2024]BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6016879?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZsaWJyYXJ5VG9TZWFyY2g9Ym9va3NoYXJlJmF1dGhvckZpbHRlcj1EaWFuZSUyQlJpY2hhcmRzJmF1dGhvcj1EaWFuZSUyQlJpY2hhcmRzJnNvcnRPcmRlcj1SRUxFVkFOQ0U
We will be discussing the book Master slave husband wife: an epic journey from slavery to freedom DB112758 by Ilyon Woo.NLS AnnotationMaster slave husband wife: an epic journey from slavery to freedom DB112758Author: Woo, IlyonReading Time: 12 hours, 59 minutesRead by: Janina Edwards, Leon NixonSubjects: Bestsellers, Biography, U.S. History, African American Topics
“The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave. In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown. But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.[New York] : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5915051?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPU1hc3RlciUyQnNsYXZlJTJCaHVzYmFuZCUyQndpZmUlMjUzQSUyQmFuJTJCZXBpYyUyQmpvdXJuZXklMkJmcm9tJTJCc2xhdmVyeSUyQnRvJTJCZnJlZWRvbQ
Jana Littrell has generously volunteered some of her new retirement time to leading and programming this group’s discussion, congratulations Jana ! Her first book is Walls: A History Of Civilization In Blood And Brick, DB 92383, by David Frye. Approximately 10 hours in reading time.NLS AnnotationWalls: a history of civilization in blood and brick DB92383Author: Frye, DavidReading Time: 9 hours, 56 minutesRead by: Robert SamsSubject: World History and Affairs
A historian discusses the role of man-made edifices and barriers throughout history. Explores the importance of walls in ancient civilizations, a thousand-mile-long wall in Asia, sieges of fortified cities, political conflicts centered upon walls, gated communities, and more. 2018.New York : Scribner, [2018] c2018BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/2790145?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVdhbGxzJTI1M0ElMkJhJTJCaGlzdG9yeSUyQm9mJTJCY2l2aWxpemF0aW9uJTJCaW4lMkJibG9vZCUyQmFuZCUyQmJyaWNrJTJC
On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, the group will discuss 1923: The Crisis of German Democracy in the Year of Hitler’s Putsch by Mark William Jones (DB116875 ). The book recounts the unsuccessful first attempt to overthrow Germany’s democracy. This was followed 10 years later by Hitler’s appointment as Prime Minister, the end of democratic government in Germany and the deaths of millions in World War Two. Can this happen again?NLS Annotation1923: the crisis of German democracy in the year of Hitler’s putsch DB116875Author: Jones, Mark WilliamReading Time: 14 hours, 11 minutesRead by: Matt AddisSubjects: World History and Affairs, War and the Military
“In 1923, the Weimar Republic faced a series of crises, including foreign occupation of its industrial heartland, rampant inflation, radical violence, and finally Hitler’s infamous “beer hall putsch.” Fanning the flames of anti-government and anti-Semitic sentiment, the Nazis tried to violently seize power in Munich, only failing after they were abandoned by like-minded conservatives. In 1923, historian Mark William Jones draws on new research to offer a revealing portrait of German politics and society in this turbulent year. Tracing Hitler’s early rise, Jones reveals how political pragmatism and unprecedented international cooperation with the West brought Germany out of its crisis year. Although Germany would succumb to tyranny a decade later, the story of the republic’s survival in 1923 offers essential lessons to anyone concerned about the future of democracy today.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5898846?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPTE5MjMlMjUzQSUyQnRoZSUyQmNyaXNpcyUyQm9mJTJCR2VybWFuJTJCZGVtb2NyYWN5JTJCaW4lMkJ0aGUlMkJ5ZWFyJTJCb2YlMkJIaXRsZXIlMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJwdXRzY2g
On August 6 we will review THE GREAT DIVIDE: A NOVEL, db120159 by Cristina Henríquez. The program is produced by David Faucheux.The author describes the Pros and cons regarding the construction of the Panama Canal through a sweeping description of the lives of the inhabitants living in or drawn to canal area by the chance of employment .NLS AnnotationThe great divide: a novel DB120159Henríquez, Cristina Reading time: 13 hours, 25 minutes.Robin Miles
Historical FictionFamily
“It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection. Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man, Omar, who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid. John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.”– OCLC. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5915809?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPXRoZSUyQmdyZWF0JTJCZGl2aWRl
Join us on July 2, 2024, first Tuesday, to review another blockbuster and best seller by Robert Woodward , Fear: Trump in the White House DB91876Duration: 12 hours 20 minutes.NLS AnnotationFear: Trump in the White House DB91876Woodward, Bob Reading time: 12 hours, 22 minutes.Robert Petkoff A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
BiographyGovernment and PoliticsBestsellersU.S. History
Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist details the decision-making process for both foreign and domestic policy within the Trump administration. Draws on interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, diaries, files, and documents. Strong language. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2018.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/2686300?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUZlYXIlMjUzQSUyQlRydW1w
NLS AnnotationMercury rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the new battleground of the Cold War DB110864Shesol, Jeff Reading time: 11 hours, 40 minutes.James Frangione
BiographyHistory, Juvenile
“A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War–a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival–and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the “hour of maximum danger.”” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/4597347?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPU1lcmN1cnklMkJSaXNpbmc
On May 7th, JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY introduces best-selling author, poet and teacher, Clint Smith, who brings his Harvard sociology training on his visits (with recorder) to Civil War and Reconstruction Era Monuments from New Orleans to New York and Virginia to Texas in his book How the word is passed: a reckoning with the history of slavery across America DB103908.
As noted on Blinkist.com: “ Through immersive visits to historical sites, Smith examines how slavery is remembered and how it continues to shape the country today.”
The Journey through History Zoom meeting link follows. Be aware that all Accessible World Zoom meetings are set to automatically record and the Zoom Clienton both your computer and your smart device presents a message announcing the recording when you first enter a meeting using these clients. You must tabor swipe to the Got it or OK button and execute it to acknowledge your awareness of the recording or you will be unable to unmute your device and speakin the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/177809772?pwd=dSt5ZjBzK3hYL3doRE5NVy96M3JVUT09
Please join us on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 8:00 PM Eastern to discuss the following: HOW THE WORD PASSED: A RECKONING WITH THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA. DB103908
By her own design DB110548Huguley, Piper Reading time: 12 hours, 48 minutes.Tracey Conyer Lee
Historical FictionHistorical Romance FictionRomance
“1953, New York City. Less than a week before the society wedding of the year where Jacqueline Bouvier will marry John F. Kennedy, a pipe bursts at Ann Lowe’s dress shop and ruins eleven dresses, including the expensive wedding dress, a dress that will be judged by thousands. A Black designer who has fought every step of the way, Ann knows this is only one struggle after a lifetime of them. She and her seamstresses will find the way to re-create the dresses. It may take all day and all night for the next week to accomplish the task, but they will do it. 1918, Tampa. Raised in Jim Crow Alabama, Ann learned the art of sewing from her mother and her grandmother, a former slave, who are the most talented seamstresses in the state. After Ann elopes at twelve with an older man who soon proves himself to be an abusive alcoholic, her dreams of becoming a celebrated designer seem to be put on hold. But then a wealthy Tampa socialite sees Ann’s talent and offers her an amazing opportunity–the chance to sew and design clothing for Florida’s society elite. Taking her young son in the middle of the night, Ann escapes her husband and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Based on the true story of one of the most famous designers of the twenties through the sixties who has since been unjustly forgotten, By Her Own Design is an unforgettable novel of determination despite countless obstacles and a triumph celebrated by the world.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Download By her own design DB110548
Here is the Bookshare link to this title:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/4583204?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPWJ5JTJCaGVyJTJCb3duJTJCZGVzaWdu
Please join us on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 8:00 PM Eastern to discuss America’s first daughter DB88020 by Stephanie Dray.NLS AnnotationAmerica’s first daughter DB88020Dray, Stephanie Reading time: 21 hours, 53 minutes.Pilar Witherspoon A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
Historical Fiction
Patsy Jefferson, eldest daughter of Thomas, grows up during the tumult of the American Revolution. When her mother dies, she joins her father in France and is torn between love and filial duty when courted by an abolitionist. This conflict of desires follows her through life. Some violence. 2016.BookshareThis book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/1887909?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPWFtZXJpY2ElMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJmaXJzdCUyQmRhdWdodGVy
Tuesday night a stalwart group of History Buffs read and reviewed the first half of American Prometheus which is a product of over twenty-five years of painstaking research by its two prize winning authors.The first half or “TRIUMPH” portion of the book focuses on how he resolved his social problems which many financially privileged prodigies experience to demonstrate the leadership skills to successfully direct the massive and famous World War Two Atomic Bomb Project. After the “triumph” comes the “TRAGEDY “the how and why of his fall from national fame plus his plans for nuclear control. The list of literati attending his two funerals demonstrated the extent of his fame which surpassed the impact of loss of Security Clearence the during the McCarthy era.We know how it ended and hope to find out the why and how of the fall and its ultimate impact on the world under the nuclearumbrella. So read on and tell us your thoughts next February sixth.
American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer DB61087Bird, Kai; Sherwin, Martin J. Read Chapter 23 to end.
On February 6 Here’s the Bookshare link for this title:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5599711?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUthaSUyQkJpcmQlMkI
Don Queen
Our next month’s book to discuss is the best seller “American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” DB61087 by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, 699 pages. Because of its length, we will cover the growing up and transformation of the brilliant Oppenheimer and ultimate triumph in Chapters 1 through 23In our January 2nd meeting and the remainder of the book covering the outcome of his loss of security in our February 6th meeting.
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. the first full-scale biographyof J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome fire of the sun forhis country in time of war.
Here’s the NLS annotation:
American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer DB61087Bird, Kai; Sherwin, Martin J Reading time: 27 hours, 34 minutes.Steven Carpenter A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
Science and TechnologyBiography
Biography of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)–“the father of the atomic bomb.” Chronicles his New York City upbringing, marriage to Kitty Puening, work on the Manhattan Project, and life after the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearings which denied Oppenheimer his security clearance for questioning the ethics of nuclear weapons. Pulitzer Prize winner 2006. 2005.
Here’s the Bookshare link for this title:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5599711?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUthaSUyQkJpcmQlMkI
Hello Journey through History book group fans,
Our book for 12/5/23 in A Journey through History is Lady Tan’s Circle of Women DB 115160 by Lisa Se. David Faucheux will be leading our discussion and has provided the below email received from the author Lisa See in the email history with some links regarding the book.
Hope to see you at the meeting.Here is the NLS annotation:
Lady Tan’s circle of women DB115160See, Lisa Reading time: 13 hours, 6 minutes.Jennifer Lim
Historical FictionWomenBestsellers
“According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.” — Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.
From: David F
Below is the bit from Lisa See’s email reply to me that I wanted to share with the group.
I love to join book clubs on Zoom. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join you on that date, because that’s my husband’s birthday. Since I can’t join you, I hope you’ll take a look at my web site, particularly the Step Inside the World of Lady Tan section, where I have a lot of photos, videos, etc. Here’s the link: https://lisasee.com/step-inside/lady-tans-circle-of-women/#guide
Two more things. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women was Target’s Book Pick for August. I signed all the copies that people can order online. Plus the edition comes with a special essay written by me. I think it’s discounted too. I know they still have copies. Here’s the link in case your participants want to take advantage of this: https://www.target.com/p/lady-tan-39-s-circle-of-women-a-novel-target-exclusive-edition-by-lisa-see-hardcover/-/A-89091344#lnk=sametab
Second, I’m not sure if you’ll be interested in this either, but Linda Louie, the owner of Bana Tea, has created a tea package for book clubs that has the teas that are in the novel. The reason they’re in the novel is because they’re two of my favorite teas! Writers get to do things like that. Here’s the link: https://www.banateacompany.com/pages/Lisa-See-Tasting-Kit-2023.html
A Journey through History will be discussing The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder DB 113965 when we next meet on 11/7/23. When we met on 10/3/23, our November book was announced as Peril by Bob Woodward but on further review, we discovered we had already discussed this book at our 2/1/22 meeting.
NLS annotation:
The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder DB 113965Grann, David. Reading time 8 hours, 32 minutes.Read by David Grann A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress.
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then … six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. BestsellerInstead, We have a highly rated best seller .
Autobiography by William Thomas Hamilton one of the legendary Mountain Men who explored and settled the Louisiana Purchase which he published in 1905. He began his exploits in 1842as a fur trapper and later Army Scout assisted by his extraordinary skills in Indian sign language.Here’s the NLS annotation:
My sixty years on the plains: trapping, trading, and Indian fighting DB20468
Hamilton, W. T, (William Thomas); Sieber, E. T. Reading time: 4 hours, 44 minutes.Read by Art Metzler.
U.S. History
Straightforward account of the author’s experiences as a mountaineer. First published in 1905. Classics of the Old West.
Miss Del Rio novel DB111757 by Barbara Louise Mujica 13 hours and 9 minutes long It is a largely true book selected by David Faucheux, our Historic fiction editor. It is the dramatic and vividly described life as told by her best friend including their life and flight from revolutionary Mexico in 1910 and Miss Del Rio’s rise to movie stardom. She pulls no punches as to the class and racial discrimination which sadly still exists today.
Our August book was written by two prominent Historians, One Russian and the other American, who took advantage of the demise of the Soviet Union and thaw in the Cold War to access KGB AND OTHER Soviet and American files in 1990 to find out what truly happened. While it cleared up a number of issues some were rather frightening such as how close we came to a nuclear war. Also, it revealed JFK’s repeated private attempts to reach a détente with Khrushchev before the Missile Crisis.. TITLE: One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958to 1964
AUTHOR: Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali DB46210 Bookshare link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/1562841?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPW9uZSUyQmhlbGwlMkJvZiUyQmElMkJnYW1ibGU
The first and only successful slave revolution in the Americas began in 1791 when thousands of brutally exploited slaves rose up against their masters on one of the most profitable colonies in the Atlantic world. Their success was devastating not only to their former masters but to colonial powers including the United States. We’ll discuss this in the next meeting of A Journey through History on 6/6/23 with the book Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution DB60295. The NLS annotation follows:
Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution DB60295 Dubois, Laurent Reading time: 14 hours, 45 minutes. Anne Flosnik A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
World History and Affairs
Professor analyzes the 1791-1803 revolution in the French Caribbean country of Haiti. Traces the history of Hispaniola and describes how slaves from Africa under Toussaint Louverture defeated France, Britain, and Spain and achieved emancipation at great economic and human cost. Violence. 2004.
We will review Captain James Cook by Richard Hough (DB41944). It chronicles the life of James Cook, born 1728, who began working with his father as a day laborer at age eight, rose from lowest rank in the merchant marine, then to the Royal Navy to become the most celebrated explorer of his time. His three final trips mapping one third of the world and discovery of the cause of scurvy were the foundation of the British Empire.
On April 4, David Faucheux will present his historic fiction, Switchboard Soldiers, a novel, by Jennifer Chiaverini (DB109619)NLS ANOTATION:In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American Forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls and speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire and be utterly discreet since the calls often conveyed classified information. At the time, nearly all well-trained American operators were women. But women were not permitted to enlist or even to vote in those days. Nevertheless, the US Army Signal Corp promptly began recruiting them. More than seven thousand six hundred responded. Their story has never been the focus of a novel until now. For those interested in a nonfiction account of this unique aspect of World War I, you may also wish to check out The Hello Girls: America's first women soldiers DBC06268.
The Face Maker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War Iby Lindsey Fitzharris, DB108939. Approximate reading Time: 8 hours, 20 minutesArmed with a Cambridge diploma and compassionate manner, Dr. Harold Gillies from New Zealand, opened the first hospital specializing in facial reconstruction of previously shunned, disfigured soldiers. The author describes the many challenges encountered such as the absence of text books or specialists.
This is a Memoir with a happy ending. how a ten year old Chinese peasant boy living at a starvation level in a Mao Commune became a international Ballet star after recruitment into and undergoing rigorous training at Mao’s wife’s National Ballet school. While visiting Houston Texas he defected from China after finding “my first love” angering Chinese officials resulting in His imprisonment in the Chinese consulate in Houston Texas. He was released after the intervention by vice-president and Mrs. Bush.Read the book for a happy but realistic ending.Mao’s Last DancerLi Con XinDb 60921Fifteen hours and twenty minutesRead by Gordon Gould
During the busy Winter Holidays don't forget our book to review on January3.. It is shorter than some.. If you can't finish it suggest readingChapters 9 through 11. 10, Our reading suggestion for January (FALLING IDOLS: TWELVE STATUES THATMADE HISTORY is a short 9 hour 10 minutes. The Author states that this bookis "about how we make history ". selecting Statues which have been inthe news yet preserves our \"memories in stone ." The author selects historically significant personagesfrom the last 350 years spending considerable time on the controversialstatues of personages such as Robert E. Lee and Jeff Davis related to TheCivil War and reconstruction.
David Faucheux will be presenting the following book on December sixthThe storyteller of Casablanca DB107192NLS ANNOTATION:Morocco 1941, Twelve year-old Josie and her family fled Nazi occupied France for Casablanca where they awaited safe passage to America. Seventy years later, Zoey is a wife and mother living as an ex-pat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers Josie's diary from the 1940's beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie. 2021
Brad Snyder and Alan Lemly co-hosted the October session discussing the book ISAAC STORM by Erik Larson. Everyone seemed to like it. There were no challengers with the Erik Larson Best Sellers we had reviewed.
On Tuesday, November 1st we will leave the familiar Trumpian, Anglo-American literary venue for Hitler's Germany and some incredibly courageous dissidents.
Defying Hitler: the Germans who resisted Nazi rule DB94884
Thomas, Gordon; Lewis, Greg
NLS ANNOTATION:
An account of the many Germans who actively resisted Hitler. Describes and profiles individuals who passed industrial secrets to Allied spies, forged passports for escaping Jews, denounced Nazi law, distributed anti-Nazi fliers, spied on the SS, and more. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
2019.
On October 4 we will be reviewing Isaac Storm: a Man, a Time, and the deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson(db48811). This was published more than a hundred years after the Galveston Flood and was this author six best selling books four of which we have discussed. Name them if you can.
NLS ANNOTATION
Galveston Texas, September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane approaches the city. Isaac Kline, head of the Weather Bureau’s Galveston Station fails to receive advance warning due to bureaucratic blundering and scientific snobbery. No evacuation is ordered and more than eight thousand citizens are subsequently lost including Kline’s wife. Best Seller 1999.
On September 6 we will review our second World War Two Churchill book, The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, covering WWII from May 1940 to May 1941. It focuses on how Winston Churchill and his Family coped with the Blitz which killed over forty-thousand Londoners and led England to foil Hitler and his plans to conquer all of Europe. Similar to Lincoln and Napoleon, there are already many books on Churchill. The author’s access to the detailed diary of Churchill’s youngest daughter, Mary Churchill, gave the author a unique view of the family during the Blitz.
As usual, we will skip July and meet on August 2 when David Faucheux present his historic fiction but is a realistic history of the 1937 NAZI invasion of the Ukraine. A real page-turner with realistic character description.
The title is The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, db107522.
Again, except for July, Journey Through History meets on the first Tuesday of the month at eight P.M. Eastern Time.
On Tuesday, June 7, your History Group will discuss the consequences of WWII after Yalta and the expanded roles of the privileged daughters of the three powerful leaders. Here’s the NLS annotation:
The daughters of Yalta: the Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans : a story of love and war DB102417 Katz, Catherine Grace Reading time: 14 hours, 57 minutes. Christine Rendel
Biography World History and Affairs
An account of the "daughter diplomacy" of Anna Roosevelt, Sarah Churchill, and Kathleen Harriman, who accompanied their powerful fathers to the Yalta Conference with Joseph Stalin in the final days of World War II. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
Don Queen
the Journey Through History Group will review The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial settlers , Tribal Nations and the kidnap that shaped America by Matthew Pearl( Db106571). Reading time: six hours fifty seconds.
Synopsis from Bookshare.org.
The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl
“A rousing tale of frontier daring and ingenuity, better than legend on every front.” — Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stacy SchiffA Goodreads Most Anticipated Book In his first work of narrative nonfiction, Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of acclaimed novel The Dante Club, explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone’s daughter and the dramatic aftermath that rippled across the nation. On a quiet midsummer day in 1776, weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thirteen-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends Betsy and Fanny Callaway disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air. A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party has taken the girls as the latest salvo in the blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers who have decimated native lands and resources. Hanging Maw, the raiders’ leader, recognizes one of the captives as Jemima Boone, daughter of Kentucky's most influential pioneers, and realizes she could be a valuable pawn in the battle to drive the colonists out of the contested Kentucky territory for good. With Daniel Boone and his posse in pursuit, Hanging Maw devises a plan that could ultimately bring greater peace both to the tribes and the colonists. But after the girls find clever ways to create a trail of clues, the raiding party is ambushed by Boone and the rescuers in a battle with reverberations that nobody could predict. As Matthew Pearl reveals, the exciting story of Jemima Boone’s kidnapping vividly illuminates the early days of America’s westward expansion, and the violent and tragic clashes across cultural lines that ensue. In this enthralling narrative in the tradition of Candice Millard and David Grann, Matthew Pearl unearths a forgotten and dramatic series of events from early in the Revolutionary War that opens a window into America’s transition from colony to nation, with the heavy moral costs incurred amid shocking new alliances and betrayals.
Copyright: 2021
ISBN: 9780062937810
The Engineers Wife
by Tracey Enerson Wood
She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow. Emily Warren Roebling refuses to live conventionally—she knows who she is and what she wants, and she's determined to make change. But then her husband Wash asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible. Emily’s fight for women's suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when Wash, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash's vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building—hers, or her husband's. As the monument rises, Emily's marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it? Based on the true story of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Engineer's Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan's elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. It's the story of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts—even at the risk of losing each other.
by Tracey Enerson Wood
In March, (finally after fifty years) the real people behind Roe V. Wade are revealed. Families were afflicted by alcohol and drugs. There was never an abortion.
The opposition to Roe V. Wade is rising and faces a conservative Supreme court.
FROM BOOKSHARE.ORG
A masterpiece of reporting on the Supreme Court’s most divisive case, Roe v. Wade, and the unknown lives at its heart. Despite her famous pseudonym, “Jane Roe,” no one knows the truth about Norma McCorvey (1947–2017), whose unwanted pregnancy in 1969 opened a great fracture in American life. Journalist Joshua Prager spent hundreds of hours with Norma, discovered her personal papers—a previously unseen trove—and witnessed her final moments. The Family Roe presents her life in full. Propelled by the crosscurrents of sex and religion, gender and class, it is a life that tells the story of abortion in America. Prager begins that story on the banks of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River where Norma was born, and where unplanned pregnancies upended generations of her forebears. A pregnancy then upended Norma’s life too, and the Dallas waitress became Jane Roe. Drawing on a decade of research, Prager reveals the woman behind the pseudonym, writing in novelistic detail of her unknown life from her time as a sex worker in Dallas, to her private thoughts on family and abortion, to her dealings with feminist and Christian leaders, to the three daughters she placed for adoption. Prager found those women, including the youngest—Baby Roe—now fifty years old. She shares her story in The Family Roe for the first time, from her tortured interactions with her birth mother, to her emotional first meeting with her sisters, to the burden that was uniquely hers from conception. The Family Roe abounds in such revelations—not only about Norma and her children but about the broader “family” connected to the case. Prager tells the stories of activists and bystanders alike whose lives intertwined with Roe. In particular, he introduces three figures as important as they are unknown: feminist lawyer Linda Coffee, who filed the original Texas lawsuit yet now lives in obscurity; Curtis Boyd, a former fundamentalist Christian, today a leading provider of third-trimester abortions; and Mildred Jefferson, the first black female Harvard Medical School graduate, who became a pro-life leader with great secrets. An epic work spanning fifty years of American history, The Family Roe will change the way you think about our enduring American divide: the right to choose or the right to life.
Our next month’s title ‘PERIL’ by Bob Woodward. Was there really a “PERIL”? Last March 5, 1919, we reviewed Fields of Blood: Violence in congress and the road to Civil War by Jane Freeman where Congressmen from slave states carried and used clubs and guns to intimidate beat and even kill (at least one) fellow Congressman to prevent their submission of anti-slavery petitions. While the January 6 insurrection lasted only one day it cost several lives and nearly brought the American Democracy to a standstill. Also, it nearly upset Nuclear China enough to making a preventative first strike. Author Bob Woodward says we may have to repeat this peril again in four years.
We will review the new bestseller “Peril DB 104817” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, 13 hours thirty-six minutes.
The doctors Blackwell: how two pioneering sisters brought medicine to women and women to medicine DB 104506
Nimura, Janice P. Reading time 11 hours, 27 minutes. Read by Laural Merlington. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress.
Subjects: Biography; Health and Medicine
Description: Biography of Doctor Elizabeth Blackwell, the first licensed female physician in the United States, and her sister, Doctor Emily Blackwell. Discusses their early years, their founding of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, and the challenges they faced in their chosen profession. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
In December we move from the grim tenements of Belfast to the glittering mansions of the 1900’s New York rich and powerful although living alongside the despised minorities.
THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN IS WRITTEN BY Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray who are both attorneys as well as successful writers.
NLS ANNOTATION:
The personal librarian DB103929
Benedict, Marie; Murray, Victoria Christopher Reading time: 12 hours, 25 minutes.
Robin Miles
Historical Fiction
In 1906, Belle da Costa Greene was hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society, but she is African American passing as white. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
We will review a fourteen hour true crime story, its history and long-term consequences. Was it war or just plain murder? It occurs in the slums of Belfast Northern Ireland during the Troubles (1968-1998). It delves into the lives of the participants at all levels providing insight of the causes and consequences.
The book title is SAY NOTHING: A TRUE STORY OF MURDER AND MEMORY IN NORTHERN IRELAND by Patrick Raddin Keefe 14 hours and 40 minutes. db9439.
WARNING: For those using BOOKSHARE, there is also a book with the same name “Say NOTHING” dealing with the same facts
I almost read the wrong book.
In October we return to more familiar ground with a biography by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.Edison DB 96904 Morris, Edmund. Reading time 25 hours, 7 minutes. Read by Arthur Morey. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress.
Subjects: Science and Technology ; Biography
Description: A Pulitzer Prize-winning author provides an account of the life and work of the near-deaf Thomas Alva Edison, best known for his invention of the first practical incandescent lamp and advances in sound recording technology. Draws on original documents from Edison's lab, family papers, and more. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
We will review The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership and the Fate of the Empire, DB78621.
Join us for some historic analysis of the causes of England’s longest war.
BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory. In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire.
Copyright: 2013
SYNOPSIS
In Julia Kelly’s The Light over London, we enter two timelines: one during World War II and the other in the present. A diary and photograph send antiques dealer Cara Hargraves on a journey to discover the identity of the smiling woman in uniform. Louise Keene leaves her Cornish village and puts her mathematical abilities to work by becoming a gunner girl. Romance is in the cards for at least one of these heroines. Join us on Tuesday, August 3 for Kelly_ Julia the light over London DB93702 Don Queen
On June 1, 2021 we will read a book by MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization
DB102486 8 hours 5 minutes Read by author.
BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS
History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful? The year was 1947. The Soviet Union had moved from being America’s uneasy ally in the Second World War to its most feared enemy. With Joseph Stalin’s ambitions pushing westward, Turkey was pressured from the east while communist revolutionaries overran Greece. The British Empire was battered from its war with Hitler and suddenly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. Only America could afford to defend freedom in the West, and the effort was spearheaded by a president who hadn’t even been elected to that office. But Truman would wage a domestic political battle that carried with it the highest of stakes.
ON May 4, 2021 we will discuss Dreams from my father, db43877.
BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS:
Dreams from my father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
Before Barack Obama became a politician he was, among other things, a writer. Dreams from My Father is a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking the big questions about identity and belonging. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama describes his search for meaning in his life as a black American and recounts an emotional odyssey. First to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother's family to Hawaii; then to his childhood home in Indonesia; finally, to Kenya, where he confronts the bitter truth of his father's life and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.
Copyright: 2008
ANNOUNCEMENT: David Faucheux will Co Host and present his quarterly non-fiction history selection on April 6, 2021.
Last Tuesday, Sherry Wells selection for March was read and liked by most participants. Two members objected to war subject matter. Some members complained about wordiness or detail in a book written by this professional editor.
NLS ANNATATION for April’s book
The night watchman
Erdrich, Louise. Reading time: 13 hours, 34 minutes. Read by Louise Erdrich.
Historical Fiction Bestsellers 1953. Chippewa Council member Thomas Wazhashk tries to balance the demands of his job as a night watchman at the new jewel bearing plant outside the Turtle Mountain reservation and monitoring the consequences of the bill purporting emancipation for Native American tribes wending its way through Congress. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2020.
Don Queen
In recognition of Presidents Day, we return to flamboyant Teddy Roosevelt whose famous charge up Kettle Hill set America’s course towards imperialism and role as colonial master and nation builder. How did we do?
Who was the worst screw-up in the invasion of Cuba according to the author?
The crowded hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the dawn of the American century DB96418
Account of the famous American regiment led by Theodore CA Roosevelt whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the twentieth century. Explores the daily lives and struggles of the future president and his Rough Riders using diaries, letters, and memoirs. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
On February 2 we go North across the Canadian Border in the year 1917.
NLS ANNOTATION:
The great Halifax explosion: a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism DB94498 Bacon, John U. Reading time: 10 hours, 40 minutes. Read by Johnny Heller. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
World History and Affairs
An account of the world's largest man-made explosion prior to the creation of the atomic bomb, which took place in 1917 when a freighter carrying thousands of tons of explosives caught fire. Examines the recklessness that led to the tragedy, the ensuing rescue efforts, and the extent of the damage. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Don Queen
Last Tuesday, on December 1, David Faucheux prepared the recorded portion of the program and facilitated the discussion on the book Neffertiti. It was agreed that any story about the lives of persons who lived over three thousand years ago had to be fictional, although it read like a novel it was informative.
On January 5, 2021 at 8:00pm The group will review a book written by the Pulitzer prize winning granddaughter of participants of the Great Migration of six and a half million Afro-Americans to the North.
NLS ANNOTATION:
The warmth of other suns: the epic story of America's great migration DB71929
Wilkerson, Isabel. Reading time: 19 hours, 57 minutes. Read by Erin Jones. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
U.S. History Bestsellers
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist chronicles the migration of African Americans from the South during 1915-1970. Recounts experiences of sharecropper's wife Ida Mae Gladney in 1937, citrus picker George Starling in 1945, and physician Pershing Foster in 1953. Asserts that institutionalized racism spurred millions to uproot themselves. Some violence. Bestseller. 2010.
Journey THROUGH HISTORY meets monthly on the first Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET.
Last night’s discussion of Author in Chief: the untold story of our “presidents, their books and the shaping of American history “was ably led by guest host, Michele Bernstein.
On Tuesday, December First Cohost David Faucheux will lead us in the discussion of Nefertiti, our quarterly Historical Fiction book. See a list of discussion questions taken from a Nefertiti study guide at heading level 1 at the end of this newswire. Be aware that some of the questions may contain spoilers.
NLS ANNOTATION:
Nefertiti DB64454
Moran, Michelle. Reading time: 15 hours, 50 minutes. Read by Cassandra Campbell. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
Historical Fiction
Egypt, 1351 B.C.E. When seventeen-year-old prince Akhenaton inherits the throne of Egypt, his mother marries him to her fifteen-year-old niece, Nefertiti. Nefertiti's younger sister Monojet witnesses the ruin of her country as the royal couple spends recklessly and alienates the priests. Commercial audiobook. 2007.Books on Tape
Author in chief: the untold story of our presidents, their books, and the shaping of American history Author: Fehrman, Craig Book Number: DB98626
The History group met Tuesday night and unanimously applauded the biography of Virginia Hall, world’s most successful but unrecognized spy.
Book to be discussed: A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win WWII DB95178 NLS ANNOTATION: A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win WWII DB95178
On August 4th we will be discussing the historic fiction book presented by Cohost David Faucheux, Pompeii a Novel. NOTES FROM NLS Title Pompeii a novel Names Harris, Robert. Book Number DB057646
The History Group almost unanimously liked Lincoln’s Spies by Douglas Waller except for the repetitious battle scenes.
Last night Co HOST, David Faucheux presented His quarterly program on Historical fiction with the book and author interview ‘The shores of Tripoli: Lieutenant Putman and the Barbary Pirates’, db86275.
ANNOUNCEMENT:A Journey Through History will meet on Tuesday, April 7, 2020 to discuss THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI_ LIEUTENANT PUTNAM AND THE BARBARY PIRATES BY HALEY_ JAMES D. B86275.Read by James Bamer Aproximate reading time: 15 hours; 45 minutes.
In deference to those wishing to follow the election on SUPER TUESDAY, March 3, Journey Through History will move to March tenth, this month only.
Our January book, THE IMPEACHERS, created a lively discussion about the meaning of “high Crimes and misdemeanors’ and several said they planned to read future books by the author, Brenda Wineapple.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Journey Through History will meet on January 7, 2020 to discuss the very topical book, The Impeachers(db95385) by Brenda Wineapple. Last nights book –RED DAUGHTER-- continued to be controversial among the History Group.
David Faucheux, host of historical fiction, has selected a fictionalized account of the saga of the daughter of one of the evilest persons of the genocidal twentieth century to escape her history and lead a normal life.
SUBJECT: Journey Through History will meet on Tuesday, November 5 2019 It is time for a change in time and place, so let’s try14th century feudal Japan featuring an African ex-slave, Portuguese Jesuit missionaries and it’ mostly all true.
NLS ANNOTATION Custer's trials: a life on the frontier of a new America DB83009 Stiles, T. J. Reading time: 23 hours, 47 minutes. Read by Arthur Morey. Biography War and the Military
Last month’s book (Saboteur) was enthusiastically received last night although the group criticized the “Keystone Cops” meets the Gang who couldn’t shoot straight” performance by the U.s. government and the German spies.
Last night we reviewed the best selling, rather steamy account of a famous painter and his young model during the Dutch Golden Age.
David Faucheux takes our focus away from the Founding Fathers and the Washington Beltway with this STORY which provides a glimpse into the structured, middle class life during the 17 th
NLS ANNOTATION The field of blood: violence in Congress and the road to civil war DB92299 Freeman, Joanne B. Reading time: 11 hours, 21 minutes. Read by Joanne B. Freeman. U.S. History
In deference to the New Year's Holiday, in January only, we will meet on the second Tuesday, January 8, 2019 to discuss the first nine chapters (13 hours) which covers the era prior TR’s Presidential inauguration which occurred on September 14, 1901
NLS ANNOTATION The big ones: how natural disasters have shaped us (and what we can do about them) DB90799 Jones, Lucile M. Reading time: 9 hours, 22 minutes. Read by Lucy Jones. Science and Technology
Hi all, Don Queen and David Faucheux, co-facilitators, are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Newswire: Tuesday October 2, 2018 8:00pm EDT, 5:00pm PDT
NEWSWIRE: Journey through History will meet on the first Tuesday, September 4, 2018, to discuss” Darkest hour: how Churchill brought England back from the brink”.
NEWSWIRE: Journey through History will meet Tuesday, August7 2018 to discuss “ Jessie: a novel based on the life of Jessie Benton Fremont”
NEWSWIRE: Journey Through History will meet Tuesday, June 5, 2018 to discuss “THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT.”
NEWSWIRE: JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY TO MEET ON Tuesday MAY 1, 2018 TO DISCUSS ‘THE POPE AND MUSSOLINI.’ Thanks to Bob and Vince Acosta here is a one-hour presentation and sumnation by the author on Booktalk:youtube.
NEWSWIRE: Journey through History to meet January 2, 2018 to review ‘Enemies: a History of the FBI’ Last Tuesday Co-host David Faucheux led us into two different worlds with Historical Fiction stories of 18 th
This month, we will be discussing “JACKSONLAND” which is both written and read by NPR’s Steve Inskeep of Morning Edition. Also, we will meet Guest Co-Host for December
On June 6, we will be reviewing a book on the 7 th President. It is readable, but long and we suggest getting started right away.
In view of today’s Presidential Hi-Jinks our selection for March seems appropriate. NLS ANNOTATION The general vs. the president: MacArthur and Truman at the brink of nuclear war DB86009
This book is a history including stories describing the lives of the thousands of African and Indian slaves who labored in the rice and cotton fields of Edward Ball's families' many plantations for over 150 years enabling the Ball family to rise from
We wish to cordially invite you to attend our book discussion on the turbulent life of Patty Hurst in a Journey Through History.
NLS ANNOTATION: Hell and good company: the Spanish Civil War and the world it made DB81151 Rhodes, Richard. Reading time: 11 hours, 16 minutes. Read by Bill Burton. War and the Military
In September, we leave the somewhat dry but frightening HISTORY OF THE Cold War Era and nuclear disarmament for the parlors and salons of 17th century Europe and Colonial America with this biography of Louisa Adams the talented wife of the brilliant bu
TITLE: The Crusades of Cesar Chavez DB78585 AUTHOR: Miriam Pawel READER: Barry Bernson We will meet on the first Tuesday, February 2,2016 at 9:00 EST. Don Queen queens@pacbell.net
ON January5, 2016 we will discuss the newly released, bestseller The Wright Brothers by Pulitzer Prize winning author David G. McCullough.
On December 1, we will return to the late 19th and early 20th century and the now one-hundred year old debate over the cause of World War One.
NLS ANNOTATION: The train to Crystal City: FDR's secret prisoner exchange program and America's only family internment camp during World War II DB81065 Russell, Jan Jarboe. Reading time: 15 hours, 23 minutes.
Our book for September First was 'A Good Place to Hide' by Peter Grose (DB81761) WHICH IS read by Julian Elfer. This is a new BARD listing and describes a RARE bright spot amid the horrors of the holocaust .
ON June 2, in view of recent headlines regarding Blackwater, we will be discussing the controversial issue of mercenary Armies and the Iraq War described in Jeremy Scahill's bestseller. Backwater
We will be discussing the impact of the invention of the telegraph during the Victorian era and its historically significant parallels with today's internet
Our book for April is a fast pace best selling account of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 By an editor of Vanity Fair. NLS SYNOPSYS
we will discuss "the presidency of George Washington" one of the most popular books authored by presidential expert, Forrest McDonald.
In February we leave the Far East and 20th century for the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, the Dutch empire and it's North American Colony secreted between Boston and Virginia.
Everyone liked last month’s book ‘Empress Dowager.’ The book was readable and seemed well documented. However, several of the group said there was too much diplomatic trivia and court protocol cluttering up the narrative in places.
In November we will be covering Pre-republican china to read a drastically new interpretation of China's last Empress who ruled china behind the scenes (the only way a woman could) from 1861 her death in 1908.
Our October book also deals with Middle Eastern History and brings us forward 300 years from the year 687 to 1187, to the Third Crusade.
A spirited discussion marked our June meeting between defenders and opponents of former President Richard Nixon. However everyone criticized the slanted presentation by the authors, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan in 'The Arrogance of Power'.
The group will be reviewing "Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's most Perilous Year." This month by month political and military history begins on January 1, 1862 just nine months after Lincoln's election with a 37% popular vote (the lowes
We urge you to read this fine book which thanks to NLS we discuss below: Double cross: the true story of the D-day spies DB 75277 Macintyre, Ben. Reading time: 12 hours, 24 minutes. Read by Gregory Maupin.
On June 4, 2013 we will be reviewing "Argo: how the CIA and Hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history" This eight-hour book is more than a gripping true-adventure story, it is an important element in the history of United States Foreign
Our book for April is Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash. NLS lists it as an "Adventure rather than "History" and the plot reads like a suspense novel.
In January we will jump back into the milieu of the 18th century to read about Catherine the Great, Serf’s, Cossacks Court favorites, French philosophers of the Enlightenment and even John Paul Jones.
Our book for November focuses on how Abraham Lincoln a Frontier lawyer and politician who had little or no early contacts with Afro-Americans and was indifferent to slavery came to issue one of the Nations most important edicts to free millions of slav
This October we continue our reading in the Age of Exploration with the saga of Christopher Columbus’s fourth and last voyage which while largelly forgotten by history, was one of his most eventful and greatest.
Alexander Hamilton: A splendid life of an enlightened reactionary and forgotten Founding Father” (a great quote from Kirkus Review of Jan. 15, 2004).
On Tuesday, May 1st the group discussed the book “In The Garden Of the Beasts”, by Erik Larson. Everyone liked the book or planned to read it. The Chief concern was similar things could happen here if we were not careful.