Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg is really good, and reads like a novel. Now that I wrote this, I want to reread it! Have a great day off, all. I'm celebrating 35 years of marriage today.
Such an interesting book. I wish it was more accessible; I don't find myself recommending it much because even though it's short, it's fairly dense and even technical re: speechwriting.
Agreed; the historian Ronald White wrote a great book on Lincoln’s second inaugural which is def more accessible than Willis’s, but it’s a totally different speech
Two not-necessarily Memorial Day books came to mind for me. The first is Harry Ferguson's Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy, the Man with a Hundred Faces. This real life rescue of a British spy from Russia during WWI reads like a spy novel, not a historical nonfiction book. I can't recall if anyone dies, hence taking the point of being a Memorial Day reading to task, but it is definitely worth it for discovering a basically unknown part of the Great War.
The second is Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I have no real justification for this as a Memorial Day read except how surprisingly fun and well-written it was, and Abe Lincoln is involved. It ties in an interesting plot twist with the Civil War's fight against slavery, but that's about as close to the day as you can get.
Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg is really good, and reads like a novel. Now that I wrote this, I want to reread it! Have a great day off, all. I'm celebrating 35 years of marriage today.
Haven't read that one yet — thanks for reminding me!
And congrats on your anniversary!
The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw
I've read some Kershaw, but not that one. Thx!
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley.
The story of the Iwo Jima flag raising and the six men involved. Written by one of the flagraisers son.
Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills
Such an interesting book. I wish it was more accessible; I don't find myself recommending it much because even though it's short, it's fairly dense and even technical re: speechwriting.
Agreed; the historian Ronald White wrote a great book on Lincoln’s second inaugural which is def more accessible than Willis’s, but it’s a totally different speech
Oh I didn't know that! I love Ron White — A Lincoln is my favorite bio.
Oh, man. ON DESPERATE GROUND is a powerful book! Anything by Hampton Sides is great.
His new book is high on my list.
Two not-necessarily Memorial Day books came to mind for me. The first is Harry Ferguson's Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy, the Man with a Hundred Faces. This real life rescue of a British spy from Russia during WWI reads like a spy novel, not a historical nonfiction book. I can't recall if anyone dies, hence taking the point of being a Memorial Day reading to task, but it is definitely worth it for discovering a basically unknown part of the Great War.
The second is Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I have no real justification for this as a Memorial Day read except how surprisingly fun and well-written it was, and Abe Lincoln is involved. It ties in an interesting plot twist with the Civil War's fight against slavery, but that's about as close to the day as you can get.
Ha, I loved Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter. So much better than it had to be, frankly.
I know! Even the movie was better than it should have been.