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Were British double agents the key to the Normandy invasion?

Were British double agents the key to the Normandy invasion?

Americans' views of the Second World War have been dominated by films, books, and television specials about the role that U.S. troops played in the fighting. Even today, more than three-quarters of a century after the war ended, we tend to believe that it was our ingenuity and...

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Popular Fiction

A brilliant novel of love, hope, and the Rwanda genocide

A brilliant novel of love, hope, and the Rwanda genocide

Today, Rwanda is one of the brightest lights in Africa. The economy is booming. Corruption is rare. Government delivers services. The streets of Kigali, the capital, are clean. It's even easy to open a business. Thirty years ago the country was in chaos, as this award-winning...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction.

And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Look to the right for a rotating random selection culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Cover image of "Top Secret America," one of the good books about espionage

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...
Add Post ‹ Mal Warwick on Books: Insightful Reviews and Recommendations — WordPress

How tea shaped empires and became the world’s favorite beverage

The world is divided between tea drinkers and coffee drinkers. Google Gemini says, "Tea is overwhelmingly preferred in most of Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe (e.g., UK, Turkey). Coffee is the preferred hot beverage in the Nordics, Brazil, Canada, and parts of Europe." But in its impact on the...
A Pulitzer Prize medal, the subject of this article that asks, How much is a Pulitzer Prize worth?

How much is a Pulitzer Prize worth?

If you’ve ever written a book, you might be shocked by the vanishingly small sales, whether your book was fiction or nonfiction. Like me, though, you've probably imagined that winning a big prize such as a Pulitzer or a National Book Award would make all the difference in the world. Here, then, as...
Cover image of "Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express,"

Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express

Work began on the Trans-Siberian Railway on March 9, 1891. Then, Tsar Alexander III still ruled the Russian Empire. But when he died at the age of 49 three years later, his feckless son Nicholas II ascended to the Imperial Throne. And at immense expense, Nicholas realized his father's dream of...
Cover image of "Little Elvises" by Timothy Hallinan, a novel in the JUnio Bender series

Timothy Hallinan’s Junior Bender series of comic crime novels

Since the early 1980s, Timothy Hallinan has divided his time between Southern California and Thailand. One of his three series of mystery novels is set in Bangkok, the second in Los Angeles. A later series featuring a professional burglar named Junior (That's-His-Real-Name) Bender is also set...
Cover image of "The Hallmarked Man," the latest novel in a popular detective series

J. K. Rowling’s tough detective takes on a case implicating the Masons

A dismembered corpse turns up in the vault of a London silver shop, missing its eyes, hands, feet, and penis. A Masonic sash is tied around the body and a Masonic "G" carved into its back. Also, the shop, Ramsay Silver, specializes in silver items bearing Masonic symbols. However, despite the...
Cover image of "Lady Clementine," a biographical novel about Winston Churchill's wife

She edited Winston Churchill’s wartime speeches

Most accounts of World War II show Winston Churchill facing off alone against Adolf Hitler as he rallied the British people to unprecedented heights of heroism. But "Winston wasn’t alone during World War II—even though he’s always pictured that way." As Marie Benedict shows in her novel, Lady...
Cover image of "True Confessions," a classic novel

A classic novel of guilt and corruption

True Confessions, first published in 1977, is widely regarded as a American classic novel. Set in Los Angeles in 1948 and based on the notorious, never-solved Black Dahlia murder case, the story plumbs the depths of guilt and corruption -- in the L.A.P.D., the Catholic Church, the construction...
Cover image of "Hunted,"

An FBI agent struggles to unravel the worst terrorist attack since 9/11

For several years, I've luxuriated in the rich period details in the Wyndham and Banerjee series of historical detective novels set in 1920s Calcutta. The Anglo-Indian author Abir Mukherjee does a masterful job of blending superior suspense fiction with an historical setting solidly grounded on...
Cover image of "The Seersucker Whipsaw," by Ross Thomas

A terrific novel for political junkies about Africa by Ross Thomas

Clint Shartelle is a honey-tongued Southerner who wears impeccable three-piece suits and drinks like a fish. (Do fish actually drink? Whatever.) Shartelle claims to be one sixty-fourth Native American, one-twelfth African-American, and the country's best political campaign manager. Apparently, he...

My Most Popular Reviews

Weekly Reviews Delivered to You!

Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

Weekly book reviews to match your taste!

Love mysteries and thrillers? Historical fiction fan? Prefer to read nonfiction? Or, like me, you just love reading? Take your pick of my three weekly newsletters. Just click the Yes! button, and you’re on your way.

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Mal Warwick

The latest mystery
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…includes my latest mystery and thriller book reviews, with links to other content in the genre.

The latest nonfiction book reviews every Wednesday.

…includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.

My latest
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every Thursday.

…includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.

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