What Senator Bernie Sanders calls the “billionaire class” has had a profound impact on American society—and, indeed, on the world at large. Still, I was surprised to learn that so many of the books I’ve reviewed involve billionaires playing instrumental roles. Yes, they’ve built huge and...
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The mid-year point offers a convenient opportunity to take stock, with a glance back at the best books of 2023 so far. Now, when I write “best books,” keep in mind that I’m only writing about the best books I’ve read from January 1 to June 30. In short, they’re only the “best” of more than...
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Since at least the 1930s, the Hollywood-based film industry has been capturing the world’s imagination. Films such as Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane represent America in general and California in particular as surely as any legion of diplomats. And writers have noticed....
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I’ve spent more than half my life in business, engaged in founding or leading a number of small companies. So it’s only natural that I should read a good deal about economic and business history. Here, I’ve listed more than sixty of the best books about the history of business...
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Thoughts while reading Why the West Rules – for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future, by Ian Morris. Ian Morris’ extraordinary book has led me to a surprising conclusion: that climate change has been one of the most profound determinants of the course of human history.
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If you think you know the salient facts about Charles Darwin and evolution, prepare to be surprised when you read A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. For starters, Charles Darwin was by no means the first person to posit a theory of evolution. His own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin,...
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Over the past decade, I’ve read and reviewed more than 150 espionage novels (not counting a great many more I never finished). My 15 favorites—well, make that 16: I couldn’t choose—are listed immediately below. Though my preliminary list included multiple titles by several of the authors...
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Writers from India have garnered a large share of critical attention for their work in recent years, and no wonder. The country has a rich literary tradition, which has animated a new generation of writers to publish in English. And there is no lack of English-speakers on the subcontinent. At a...
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The 10 books highlighted here may not be the very best novels written about World War II. But they are the best ones I’ve read and reviewed since January 2010. I’ve given every one of them a rating of ★★★★★. There’s a second below that includes some four dozen runners-up. All are novels...
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Most of the books about World War II that are widely read by Americans concern the war in Europe. My own reading reflects that imbalance. Still, I’ve managed to find, read, and review 11 that fit my definition of “good books” that cast light on the titanic, eight-year-long war unleashed by the...
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You won’t find the best-known war novels here, since I imagine you’re already familiar with them. I’m referring to Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead, Joseph...
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As a teenager, I devoured science fiction, and my addiction resumed for extended periods later in life. I was attracted above all by the sheer creativity the writers demonstrated in speculating about life and reality from new perspectives. And I must admit I was a bit of a nut about space...
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As the son and brother of doctors, I’ve long had an intense interest in medical history. And I’ve been more aware than most Americans what the threat of epidemic disease represents to our future. That awareness came to the surface in 2017, when I published Hell on Earth: What we can learn from...
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(Image credit: NBC News) When you read, what floats your boat? If you said “mystery and thrillers,” “history,” or “biographies and memoirs,” you’re in good company. According to the best data I can locate online, those three categories are at the top of the list of all genres in popularity among...
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Japanese officials arriving onboard the USS Missouri, September 2, 1945, to sign the instrument of unconditional surrender. Image credit: Stars and Stripes. For many years, I’ve been reading a great deal about World War II, both fiction and nonfiction. And that reading is reflected in the reviews...
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China played a huge role in World War II, if only because it occupied millions of Japanese soldiers in a futile attempt to subdue one of the biggest countries in the world. The virtue of history is that it affords us perspective—not just the distance that the passage of time occasions but the...
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If you’re a bibliophile, you may visit the website of Lit Hub or read one of its newsletters. I do. I get my fix of literary comment and criticism on a daily basis from Lit Hub. And I rushed to click through to The Ultimate Best Books of 2019 List by Emily Temple (Lit Hub, December 11,...
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What follows is my best effort to list (in no particular order) the eleven biggest issues Washington ignores – issues Congress should be addressing, but hasn’t – and maybe never will despite what the Biden Adminisration might try to achieve. Table of contents1. The climate crisis2. Public...
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We all know some writers make it, and some don’t. In fact, most people who are gripped with the obsession to write a book never make a dime from it, if they can even get it into print. (Even self-publishing isn’t all that easy for the technologically challenged, as it turns out.) But...
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Classic authors, most of them bestsellers in their time. You’re gonna love this. Once upon a time, back in the distant reaches of the twentieth century—well, actually it was 1984—one of my clients assigned me to ghostwrite a fundraising letter that Isaac Asimov had agreed to sign. I approached the...
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The Weekly 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.
Science Fiction Monday includes my latest SF book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly 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.
Science Fiction Monday includes my latest SF book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly 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.