The four dozen novels cited here may not be the very best novels written about World War II. But they are the best ones I’ve read and reviewed here since January 2010. I’ve given every one of them a rating of @@@@ or @@@@@ (4 or 5 out of 5), eliminating a substantial number I […]
Continue Reading...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 time to […]
Continue Reading...Amphitrite (Black Planet #1) Brandon Q. Morris—Journey to a newly discovered planet far out from the sun Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut—Kurt Vonnegut writes about the end of the world, but it’s not science fiction
Continue Reading...The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by Nicholas Dawidoff—An absorbing biography of Moe Berg, baseball player and WWII spy
Continue Reading...Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara—A deeply affecting tale of child trafficking in India today A Spy in the Struggle by Aya de León—From Aya de León, a brilliant thriller that exposes the FBI’s illegal tactics
Continue Reading...It’s that time of year again, when the National Book Awards and the Booker Prize are announced and the Washington Post, the New York Times, and just about any other publication with literary pretensions releases their “best books of the year” lists. And I always review those lists, hunting for treasure I might have missed. […]
Continue Reading...For decades, the pivotal role many women played in codebreaking, espionage, and the Resistance in World War II went largely unappreciated. But with the advent of the twenty-first century, historians have begun bringing more of their extraordinary stories to light. In some cases, what they write reflects newly declassified files. But in others it’s merely […]
Continue Reading...Boston-based thriller author Joseph Finder holds degrees in Russian studies from Yale and Harvard and taught for a time on the Harvard faculty. As of 2020, he has written 17 novels about industrial espionage and international intrigue. At this writing, I’ve read and reviewed all but four of the Joseph Finder thrillers: Red Carpet (1983), […]
Continue Reading...During the years 1998 to 2005, the popular cultural historian and author Ron Goulart (1933-) published a series of six Groucho Marx Mysteries featuring the legendary comedian in an unfamiliar role as a crime investigator. They’re set in the period immediately before the United States entered World War II—the heyday of the big Hollywood studios. […]
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