If you don’t know a derivative from a sub-prime mortgage, Niall Ferguson’s book will enlighten you. Ferguson delivers a breezy history of money while going off on tangents like how the silver the Spanish took from the Incas actually caused financial problems for Spain and Europe. Money is a mixed blessing. However, Ferguson spends most of his time on explaining the financial intricacies of the past century which contributed to our current fiscal meltdown. Ferguson is a good storyteller which helps when trying to hold readers’ attention during a potential eye-glazing description of how the Federal Reserve system works.

A sequel to What If?, this book begins to include counter-factual history of all kinds. While generally the non-military essays are interesting some of them just seem to ramble on about remote political possibilities. So while still highly recommended this may not be for you if you really only enjoy military history.

What If is a collection of military counter-historical essays which while at fiction at there core end up being a great history lesson. Each essay has an in-depth introduction of what really happened, so you learn some history before twisting it into fiction. So, if you enjoy military history and want an interesting read it is highly recommended.

An interesting perspective on the largest single factor that changed Israeli foreign policy. A good insight into why the Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Israel act the way they do. Anwar Sadat is a really interesting man. I wish I knew more about him. It’s also too bad he was assassinated.

I was in a nonfiction kick and when a writer I love decided to write about another writer I love I knew this was something I had to read. Byron’s curiosity yet his need to stay true to facts makes this a very readable and short biography. The facts about Shakespeare’s life are very few and far between but this biography keeps to them. If you want to know more about the Bard but don’t want to be bogged down with hearsay and imagination this is the biography for you.

In 878 grim pages, Tony Judt’s POSTWAR tries to tell the story of Europe recovering from the ravages of World War II and confronting the threat of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. It’s an impossible task, but Judt makes a good run at it. Music, art, movies, TV programs blend with the power politics of Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin. Any way you read it, this is a tragic story.

Everybody knows who Albert Einstein is, but how many people would recognize the name Ernest Rutherford? Rutherford was the improbable, unlikely genius from rural New Zealand who figured out the structure of the atom. Richard Reeves, in his fascinating A FORCE OF NATURE, makes the convincing claim that Rutherford’s experiments in physics make him the equal of Einstein. You won’t get any argument from me.

This was a FANTASTIC read. Short, irreverent, Cullen looks at select presidents and reveals how they made mistakes and then made up for them, during and after their presidencies. Ultimately, this is a great book if you are already somewhat familiar with presidential histories; part of the humor is understanding his little side comments. He has a great section for further reading in his source notes, where he discusses some of the materials that he used, along with reputable authors. How could I not like an author who, when referring to all of the literature on Thomas Jefferson, uses the phrase “blah, blah, blah.” A great read for history buffs.

So having finished my painful trip through the history of salt, I was ready to move on to the next book. Thankfully the next book was another by Erik Larson. Larson, who wrote The Devil in the White City is a fantastic author and well on his way to being one of my favorites.

Issac’s Storm is about Issac Cline whom you may not know was a meteorologist. While the title may clue you in as to the topic despite its probable loss of the true deadliest title, I shall belabor the obvious and direct your attention to the city of Galveston in the year 1900. A hurricane pretty much like no other nailed the city and resulted in a great loss of life. As per usual in hindsight it can be seen that the warnings were there, and were unheeded. The story mostly follows Issac who was the chief of the weather station in Galveston. It speaks of what he did right and what he completely missed. The story also tells of an age where mankind believed in the strength of steel, and knew that the Law of Storms would tell us what the weather would do, and moreover how through our actions we could stop hail and cause rain.

As an aside, I shall say a word about hurricanes, city planning, budgets, and New York. As I read the book my mind was drawn back to the relatively recent disaster in New Orleans, and how our own hubris allows us to believe ourselves safe, and then our greed and penny pinching dooms us in the future. People asked why the levees didn’t stand and I think the core of engineers colonel (if I recall correctly) said it most poignantly when he replied “they were built to levee level 3, the storm was higher than a 3 and they failed.” The incredulous reporter inquired as to why and the colonel replied “cause that is all people were willing to pay for.” So the levees will be rebuilt although almost certainly not strong enough, but New Orleans like Galveston knows to expect another blow. But I await the day with trepidation when the hurricane people continually warn about finally nails NYC and we all suddenly look up in shock like we didn’t know it was coming.

Anyways now that I have made this review significantly more verbose and a bit preachy allow me to continue. Larson again delivers an amazing ride through history. The story is written so well it is hard to believe that essentially you are almost reading a textbook. Again I am willing to recommend this book to almost anyone with a love of reading. I personally I looking forward to later this month when Thunderbolt his newest book hits the shelves paperback style.

Well this is one of those books that I could not walk past in the store without buying it. Most especially since it was a best seller as amazing as that sounds. The subject matter is quite fascinating as few truly realize how large a role salt has played throughout history. That said I had a hard time finishing this book. The author is all about food subjects and he interjects all manner of epicurean information into the book. This may amuse and interest some people but for me it just made it a hard read that seemed disjointed. This is a book I would love to give more stars too because it is fascinating, but I just can’t do it in light of how hard of a read I found it to be.

Quicksilver is a volume consisting of the first three Baroque Cycle books, Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds, and Odalisque.

The series is based in the mid 1600’s to early 1700’s and is based predominantly in Europe. It is a fictional work although it features many historical figures as characters and follows historical events.

I am greatly enjoying this latest series of books by Stephenson as they provide a rich complexity provided not only by a fascinating story over a backdrop largely based on actual events and the political, religious, and scientific intrigues and machinations of the characters, but by Stephenson’s abilities to play on words and situations that bring you out another layer of abstraction above the story.

Stephenson paints with a wide brush in this series, covering in detail everything from the early experiments of the Royal Society to the operations of Amsterdam’s economy and trade, to adventures in Vienna. (This makes for some hefty volumes, each of the three being 800-900 pages long). It is clear that Stephenson has done his research on the time period, although much is clearly fiction in the name of telling a good story. It has certainly piqued my interest in an era that I did not know much about, and has presented it in a way that has often sent me to Wikipedia to learn more about the actual historical figures and events (and also renewed a desire to learn various European languages). Highly recommended.

This book presents an overview of the combat leadership in the Civil War. The author examines the war through the eyes of six generals, three for each side. It is an interesting semi biography for the six men the author follows: Grant, Barlow, Thomas, Lee, Hood, and Gordon. It is fairly well written, however it seems apparent from the get go that the author has a soft spot for General Thomas. As such he is excessively critical of the other generals when they clash with Thomas. None the less it provides interesting insight into some of the less well known generals of the war.

What do Chicago, serial killers, Ferris wheels, and architecture have in common? If you answered the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair you would be spot on. The author chronicles the fair and the events that surrounded it through the lives of two men. The first is the architect responsible for the fair, Daniel Burnham. The second is Dr. H Holmes America’s first serial killer. The author shows you how the magic that was the white city was perverted by the horrid acts of a man who used the draw of the amazing fair to further his murderous schemes. Not only is the book well written, but it is almost hard to believe that all of the events actually happened. Definitely worth a read to learn about the fair that cemented America’s place as a world power and showed the French that we can build it bigger.