Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • Redwood by Ben Macintyre

    Quite simply, if Ben Macintyre’s name is on the book, I am going to love it. Redwood is no different. In telling the story of a KGB agent who decides to switch sides, Macintyre has once again found a tale that is not well-known, but has such far-reaching effects that I am thoroughly confused how…

  • Are They Dead Yet? by Sam Roberts

    Being a huge history nerd, my definition of “fun” is very skewed. Case in point, when I saw Sam Roberts had written Are They Dead Yet?: The Art of the Obit, my only question was how fast I could get my hands on it. What could be more fun than writing obituaries? Clearly, this book…

  • War Without Mercy by Mark Edward Lender and James Kirby Martin

    I am not fully objective on this one. The co-author of War Without Mercy is the late James Kirby Martin, who passed in 2024. He was a repeat guest on History Nerds United and a true scholar of the American Revolution. More importantly, he was truly wonderful man who was extremely generous with his time…

  • Tower Hill by Alan Taylor

    There is one thing about slavery in America that I will never quite understand. Why torture and enslave your fellow man when nobody benefits? If you don’t understand my question, then you absolutely must read Tower Hill by Alan Taylor. Basically, while it is obvious slavery was bad for the enslaved, it didn’t help the…

  • American Alt by Chris Lockhart

    Schizophrenia seems like a massive challenge by itself, but if you add dissociative identity disorder to it then you get, well, Michael Dodd! Dodd is one of two main characters in the excellent American Alt by Chris Lockhart. Lockhart, the author, is the other main character who doesn’t have either of those mental disorders, but…

  • Captain’s Dinner by Adam Cohen

    It’s always the books in the middle which are the hardest to review. Captain’s Dinner (ew, and you’ll know why in a second) by Adam Cohen is one of those books where I have very little to complain about, but I also think could probably have been much shorter. The setup is certainly intriguing, so…

  • The Forsaken Founder by Scott Greenberger

    Gouverneur Morris presents as the least likely Founding Father to be forgotten so easily. He was rakish, rather hilarious and arrogant at times, while also extremely intelligent. He is the author of the U.S. Constitution’s Preamble, after all. So why do so many people not know who is, let alone how to pronounce his name?…

  • The Nazi Ghost Train by Greg Lewis

    I am going to read a lot of books in 2026, but I doubt any will have a better title than The Nazi Ghost Train by Greg Lewis. I mean, come on! Yes, you might be holding back a little bit because of one word in that title, but I assure you they lose in…

  • Queens and Kings by Lucy Worsley

    Well, this was delightful. For those of you unfamiliar with Lucy Worsley, I don’t know how. The woman is everywhere. In print, streaming, and in your social media. I think the best way to describe her is that she constantly looks like she is having the BEST time. Now, she is doing it in book…