OT: Good books

[ZooCougar]

The Count of Monte Cristo is a great book. The movie with James Caviezel is very good as well.

The movie is stop what you are doing and watch the movie until it’s over good. Super underrated.

 

[CL82]

In that book he stated the Lee thing as a fact? Are you sure?

Amongst Park Rangers and historians it’s not universally believed. Chamberlain changed his story several times.

And CSA General Gordon’s corroborating testimony is also viewed skeptically.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/chamberlain-gordon-salute-fiction.189132/?amp=1

Yes it was in "A Companion to the Killer Angels" which you recommended to me. At the end of the book, they do a brief bio on all the major characters.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yes it was in "A Companion to the Killer Angels" which you recommended to me. At the end of the book, they do a brief bio on all the major characters.

I don’t buy the story. Pretty much the only source that corroborates it is Chamberlain. It’s way too good to be true, particularly the part about Gordon’s horse. It’s like the whole idea that the battle started because Heth was out looking for shoes.

 

[CL82]

I don’t buy the story. Pretty much the only source that corroborates it is Chamberlain. It’s way too good to be true, particularly the part about Gordon’s horse. It’s like the whole idea that the battle started because Heth was out looking for shoes.

OK, you can be a denier about anything you want, but, the historian that you cited to start this discussion, states it as fact.

 

[ZooCougar]

OK, you can be a denier about anything you want, but, the historian that you cited to start this discussion, states it as fact.

Sure. It’s not that much of stretch that the whole thing is folklore. There’s lots of folklore history out there.

 

[CL82]

Sure. It’s not that much of stretch that the whole thing is folklore. There’s lots of folklore history out there.

Sure, well, except of course that an actual historian says it's true, but other than that… Sure.

 

[ZooCougar]

Sure, well, except of course that an actual historian says it's true, but other than that… Sure.

And there’s others that say it didn’t. Chamberlain wrote five different accounts. Which one is the right one?

 

[CL82]

And there’s others that say it didn’t. Chamberlain wrote five different accounts. Which one is the right one?

Yeah, but he's the person you cited as your source, until it was inconvenient.

I think beaten, the horse enough, though, don't you? It's not going to get any more dead.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yeah, but he's the person you cited as your source, until it was inconvenient.

I think beaten, the horse enough, though, don't you? It's not going to get any more dead.

It doesn’t mean that I agree with everything from every source. A story that sounds too good to be true likely isn’t.

 

[CL82]

It doesn’t mean that I agree with everything from every source. A story that sounds too good to be true likely isn’t.

And that's fine. You can believe or not believe anything you want. You don't need to have a factual basis for it.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Just finished this one. Worth the read if you like baseball, even though this book is more than baseball.

 

[HCCForever]

A graduate of UConn and my former roommate wrote this book with his wife. It deals with issues raising their autistic son and acquiring support if you are a veteran. It was just released last week.

Home Page - themissionathome.com

Your Mission at Home Matters as Much as the One in Uniform. Authors Jaime and Elizabeth Parent draw on decades of experience as parents, military family members, and professionals to offer clarity and compassion for families navigating autism within the unique demands of military life. Their...

themissionathome.com

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Fiction:

Anything by Richard Russo is great.

Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra - Ganesh Gaitonde is one of the best fictional gangster characters in the history of fiction.


Non-Fiction:

1491 - Charles Mann. A lot of his theories about the pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere are mainstream now, but were groundbreaking when he wrote this book.

The Warburgs - Ron Chernow - A book about one of the most important banking families in history that also is a story about the growth of anti-Semitism in Germany that led to Hitler.

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created - William Bernstein
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today - William Bernstein

Bernstein doesn't get everything right, but if you want to read just two books that explain why the world is the way it is, these are the two.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Just finished North Woods by Daniel Mason very interesting if you like the history of a place kinda like a Michenor novel

 

[Jaydumo20]

Fiction:

Anything by Richard Russo is great.

Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra - Ganesh Gaitonde is one of the best fictional gangster characters in the history of fiction.


Non-Fiction:

1491 - Charles Mann. A lot of his theories about the pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere are mainstream now, but were groundbreaking when he wrote this book.

The Warburgs - Ron Chernow - A book about one of the most important banking families in history that also is a story about the growth of anti-Semitism in Germany that led to Hitler.

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created - William Bernstein
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today - William Bernstein

Bernstein doesn't get everything right, but if you want to read just two books that explain why the world is the way it is, these are the two.

Sully Sullivan is one of my favorite characters in modern lit - also Empire Falls is one of the only books I am 100% confident recommending to almost any reader. It usually starts them on a deep dive into all his stuff - justifiably.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Just finished North Woods by Daniel Mason very interesting if you like the history of a place kinda like a Michenor novel

I’ve read that over the summer. Was a struggle for me to finish, but I appreciate the writer’s talent.

 

[alphasigko]

Fiction:

Anything by Richard Russo is great.

Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra - Ganesh Gaitonde is one of the best fictional gangster characters in the history of fiction.


Non-Fiction:

1491 - Charles Mann. A lot of his theories about the pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere are mainstream now, but were groundbreaking when he wrote this book.

The Warburgs - Ron Chernow - A book about one of the most important banking families in history that also is a story about the growth of anti-Semitism in Germany that led to Hitler.

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created - William Bernstein
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today - William Bernstein

Bernstein doesn't get everything right, but if you want to read just two books that explain why the world is the way it is, these are the two.

1491 and it's companion book 1493 are great reads complete with really interesting arcane historical facts, like the Chinese penchant for manufacturing forgery in the 1,500s!

I will get that Chernow book. IMO his best books are The House of Morgan and Titan. If The Warburgs is anything like those, I will be thoroughly entertained!

 

[Edward Sargent]

Oh I did also just finish Danny's book Never Stop. Got a few new insights into our coaches psyche.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Sully Sullivan is one of my favorite characters in modern lit - also Empire Falls is one of the only books I am 100% confident recommending to almost any reader. It usually starts them on a deep dive into all his stuff - justifiably.

Nobody's Fool and Risk Pool are two books that could have gone on for another 1000 pages and I would have been entertained. They didn't need a plot.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

1491 and it's companion book 1493 are great reads complete with really interesting arcane historical facts, like the Chinese penchant for manufacturing forgery in the 1,500s!

I will get that Chernow book. IMO his best books are The House of Morgan and Titan. If The Warburgs is anything like those, I will be thoroughly entertained!

I have not read Titan, but I did read House of Morgan. The Warburgs is better.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Nobody's Fool and Risk Pool are two books that could have gone on for another 1000 pages and I would have been entertained. They didn't need a plot.

I know exactly what you mean. I'd be simply entertained reading about Sully doing home repairs. Russo is the best at depicting life in a working class neighborhood. You can live in it.

 

[uconndogs]

I have not read Titan, but I did read House of Morgan. The Warburgs is better.

Titan is terrific. JDR was a fascinating man.

I just downloaded The Warburgs.

 

[alphasigko]

I have not read Titan, but I did read House of Morgan. The Warburgs is better.

I forgot to add Alexander Hamilton to my List of good read Chernow books. His Washington book is not that good, IMO.

 

[alphasigko]

Hampton Sides is an excellent writer. I just finished his Blood and Thunder, a detailed history of Kit Carson and the the conquest of southwestern USA. His Hellhound on his Trail is an excellent narrative of James Earl Ray and the assassination of MLK.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I forgot to add Alexander Hamilton to my List of good read Chernow books. His Washington book is not that good, IMO.

I didn’t like Grant, and I didn’t finish it. Grant really wasn’t that interesting a person, and there was not really a bigger story to tell about him or his role in the era.

 

[tomtom80]

If you want to have some real insight into the current situation in Iran, try ALL THE SHAHS MEN by Stephan Kinzer. My pop, who was a voracious reader and rabid UConn fan, gave a copy of this book to all his kids over 20 yrs ago. Told us to turn off the evening news and read this first

It chronicles how the US fledgling CIA under Kermit Roosevelt jr( Teddys grandson) orchestrated a coup deposing democratically elected president Mohammed Mosaddegh in 1953 and installed US puppet known as the shah of Iran. Reads as a thriller and was written as a cautionary tale. These kind of actions usually never go as planned, as we all can see now, with 20 20 hindsight’.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I mostly read fiction that you folks might not appreciate (fantasy, sci fi, espionage). But I realized there's an outstanding fun non-fiction book I can recommend.

And a Bottle of Rum, Revised and Updated: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails by Wayne Curtis. This is an interesting look at U.S. history through the lens of Rum. It's fun, funny, informative and interesting.

 

[CL82]

Just finished "Pendergast The Beginning" which was a prequel to Relic, the start of the Lincoln and Childs Pendergast series. I enjoyed it, but if I recall correctly, people on this board didn't really enjoy Relic when I suggested it a few years ago.

The Pendergast series is a 23 book thriller series that blends crime, horror, and science fiction genres. Of the 23 novels, 20 were on the New York Times bestseller list. Pendergast is a quirky FBI agent with Sherlock Holmes like attention to detail. The authors often highlight that by having him lay back when others do the initial crime scene investigation and then later have him highlight details that often they either missed or saw but didn't understand the relevance.

Each book is arguably a standalone, but there are overarching storylines including two interconnected "sub trilogies." Pendergast, The Beginning is a good introduction to the series, because, though it is the most recent book, it would be the first if you listed them by timeline within the series.

 

[Windham4th]

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Into The Hands of Providence by Alice Rains Trulock and An Environmental History of the Civil War by Judkin Browning/Timothy Silver if you like Civil War history stuff.

 

[HCCForever]

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Into The Hands of Providence by Alice Rains Trulock and An Environmental History of the Civil War by Judkin Browning/Timothy Silver if you like Civil War history stuff.

Team of Rivals is a great book.