Latest Review
20 top books about Africa, including both fiction and nonfiction
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes In the 19th century, as the nations of Europe rushed to grab ever-larger expanses of territory there, Africa was known as the Dark Continent. That label is still apt, but not for the same reason. Everywhere else—Europe, Asia, the Americas—understanding of Africa and Africans is limited, and far too often wildly distorted. It’s t [...]
What You’ll Find on This Site
Hello, and welcome to my site! I’m Mal Warwick. Here you’ll find a huge number of recent books I’ve reviewed. There are three ways to find them:
(1) You can find the most important book reviews via one of the following cornerstone posts:
- Mysteries and thrillers –
- Nonfiction –
- Trade Fiction –
(2) You can find individual book reviews and other posts in any one of five categories:
(3) Or you can find reviews the old-fashioned way.
Looking for the latest by John Grisham? Just click “Search” in the upper right-hand corner of this page and type in his name or thebook title in the box that pops up.
Happy reading!
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Latest Books Reviewed |
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Nonfiction
How the Western democracies stumbled into war with Nazi Germany
The events of the years 1937 through 1941 appear fixed in time. It seems foreordained that Britain, France, the US, and the USSR would have gone to war with Nazi Germany under any circumstances. But that was assuredly not the case, as historian Benjamin Carter Hett makes abundantly clear in his illuminating portrayal of the period, The Nazi Menace. In fact, confusion reign [...]
Trade Fiction
Kurt Vonnegut writes about the end of the world, but it’s not science fiction
Kurt Vonnegut didn't write science fiction, or so he always insisted. So, why would Kilgore Trout keep showing up in his books? Trout is the author of more than 117 science fiction novels and 2,000 short stories, none of which received the approval of either the critics or the reading public. And why would that author's son, Leon Trotsky Trout, narrate this curious story a [...]
Mysteries & Thrillers
From Aya de León, a brilliant thriller that exposes the FBI’s illegal tactics
From the 1950s through the 1970s, the American intelligence establishment ran amok. Until brought up short in 1975 by the Church Committee hearings, the CIA roamed the planet, eliminating "Communist" leaders through assassination and economic sabotage from Iran to Guatemala to the Congo. Domestically, the FBI undermined activist movements both Black-led and white with unde [...]
Commentaries
20 top books about Africa, including both fiction and nonfiction
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes In the 19th century, as the nations of Europe rushed to grab ever-larger expanses of territory there, Africa was known as the Dark Continent. That label is still apt, but not for the same reason. Everywhere else—Europe, Asia, the Americas—understanding of Africa and Africans is limited, and far too often wildly distorted. It’s t [...]
Most Popular Posts |
The 10 top espionage novels reviewed on this site
Over the past ten years, I’ve read and reviewed more than 100 espionage novels (not counting a great many more I never finished). My 10 favorites are listed immediately below. Though my preliminary list included multiple titles by several of the authors included here, I’ve arbitrarily limited myself to a single title from every writer. And I gave every one of these 10 [...]
10 top nonfiction books about World War II (plus many runners-up)
If you've been reading my reviews for very long, you're aware that the World War II era holds special fascination for me. This might have something to do with the fact that I was born then—in fact, about six months before the USA entered the war. Or maybe it's just because it all preceded the disillusionment that set in once the war had ended, when the boundaries between [...]
Top 10 mystery and thriller series
Unless you're a devoted fan of the genre, you may be unaware of the sheer number of mystery and thriller series. I stumble across a new one about every month or two. Over the past ten years, I've read (or at least started reading) nearly 100 such series. More than four dozen of them belong in any list of engaging, well-written stories of crime and intrigue. This post wa [...]
30 good nonfiction books about espionage
For good or ill, a fair amount of what I’ve learned about espionage over the years has come from reading spy stories. A few authors are particularly diligent about research and accuracy, so most of what I’ve picked up is probably true. In fact, many of those authors are veterans of the intelligence game and should know what they write about. But, for assurance that what I r [...]