I read this book as background research for my biography of James Alexander Hamilton, and I was completely taken in by the drama of the years between the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
We tend not to think too much about these years, but that is a mistake. This book, and the entire Oxford History of the United States series, is just phenomenal for gaining an understanding of how people and events impact each other through the decades.
I read lots of nonfiction, and this is the most captivating I’ve read since Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic.
The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. In this prize-winning, critically acclaimed addition to the series, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican-American War, an era when the United States expanded to the Pacific and won control over the richest part of the North American continent. Howe's panoramic narrative portrays revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. Railroads, canals, newspapers, and the telegraph dramatically lowered travel times and spurred the…
One of the reasons I love writing is that it enables me to shine a light on female historical figures who have not always received the attention they deserve, so when I saw this novel featuring the powerful mother-daughter combo of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, I did not hesitate to download it.
I don’t always enjoy dual timeline novels, but this one was so well done and the women’s stories so captivating that it worked better than had it been written strictly chronologically. Though I wished for happier endings for the authors of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Frankenstein, I was fascinated by so many details of their lives that I hadn’t known before.
From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Frankenstein, a tale of two literary legends—a mother and daughter—discovering each other and finding themselves along the way, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton.
1792. As a child, Mary Wollstonecraft longed to disappear during her father’s violent rages. Instead, she transforms herself into the radical author of the landmark volume A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she dares to propose that women are equal to men. From conservative England to the blood-drenched streets of revolutionary France, Mary refuses to bow to society’s conventions and instead supports…
Robert Harris is a fantastic storyteller of any era, but I have particularly enjoyed his Roman historical fiction books. His Cicero series is a favorite of mine, so I knew I had to read Pompeii.
I felt sympathy for the characters, a combination of real and fictional, and anxiety as they failed to understand the extent of the looming danger. The setting was spectacularly done, truly transporting readers back to the doomed city, where you will wish you could shake people and yell, “Get out while you can!”
I kept thinking I knew what would happen – I mean, we know the volcano erupts, right?! But I was still pleasantly surprised by the ending.
'A stunning novel . . . the subtlety and power of its construction holds our attention to the end' The Times
During a sweltering week in late August, as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world - the mighty Aqua Augusta - has suddenly ceased to flow . . .
Through the eyes of four characters - a young engineer, an adolescent girl, a corrupt…
In the early 1770’s, Nathan Hale is a young philosophy student at Yale. There, he, his brother, and their friend, Ben Tallmadge, are busying themselves with intellectual debate and occasional mischief.
Only too soon, their patriotic ideals of revolution and liberty would be put to the test. Forced to choose between love and duty, young Nathan has to face the harsh personal cost of deeply held beliefs as he leaves to become Washington’s spy.
In this powerful novel of friendship and sacrifice, Samantha Wilcoxson paints a vivid portrait of a young man’s principled passion and dedication to his ideals, turning the legend into flesh and blood. This is the touching and thought-provoking story of how an ordinary boy grew into an extraordinary man – an American hero.
