My Favorite Books

The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison Salisbury
History has much to teach us, and I am an eager student of historical fiction and non-fiction. Two of my favorite books deal with events experienced by the “greatest generation” during World War II. 1491 describes pre-Columbian civilizations with details recently discovered that are still unknown to most non-historians. Finally, Wolf Hall (winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize) is a brilliantly written account of Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, and their struggle for power.

D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen Ambrose

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Favorite Authors

Alan Furst’s espionage novels, beginning with Night Soldiers (1988).

John Sanford’s detective novels, beginning with Rules of Prey (1989).

Caesar: Life of a Colossus (2006), Adrian Goldsworthy.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (2011), S. C. Gwynne.

My preference for history is also evident in this list. Alan Furst’s novels are rooted in pre-World War II Eastern Europe, and they are all a good read. So are the volumes in John Sandford’s Prey series. The biography of Caesar captures the spirit of the man and his time that has much to teach us today. Empire, on the other hand, plots the demise of the great Comanche nation as American manifest destiny rolls westward.