Nonfiction Review: Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War by Madeleine Albright

Format: Hardcover, ebook
Pub Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Harper
Length: 450 pages
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

If you're like me, the most you know about Czechoslovakian history is tied directly to appeasement during World War II.  I knew just the bare facts about what happened: France and England allowed Hitler to take over Czechoslovakia without putting up a fight (effectively ignoring an alliance that should have protected the country), hoping that he would be happy with that and would not encroach further outside his current sphere of influence. And, as history tells us, that appeasement was a spectacular failure.

What I didn't know was what life was like for those living inside German-occupied Czechoslovakia. I didn't know why Hitler wanted that land, what ruses or justifications he used, or what happened after the West basically turned a partially blind eye to the problem. Prague Winter fills in those gaps with a wealth of research and knowledge in a way that incorporates the author's, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, family history and background.

Review: American Uprising by Daniel Rasmussen

Publisher: Harper
Format: Trade Paperback
Pub Date: January 4, 2011
FTC: Review copy provided by the publisher
Blurb: (due to the length, placed at end of review)

I love micro-histories. They highlight stories often lost to history, and often have a narrow focus that allows them to go in-depth into the subject. And such is the case with American Uprising by Daniel Rasmussen.

The research into this forgotten piece of history is amazing. The volume of first person quotes and primary source material used is tremendous. And Rasmussen's writing avoids that dry, textbookish style of writing often present in so many histories.

Between the Pages

 

If there's one thing I complain about regarding modern technology, it is the demise of the snail mail letter. We still send a limited number of cards, but actual letters have been replaced by email, texting and Facebook. And that, I feel, is a shame. Because there's a certain impersonality and impermanence to electronic mail or comments. There are few (if any) painstakingly handwritten letters anymore to be filed away in someone's keepsake drawer. Or tucked away in the pages of a favorite romance novel...like the set of three letters I rediscovered today.

During my time as a used bookseller, I found all kinds of crazy things stashed in between the pages of books: grocery lists, handmade bookmarks, business cards, cash register receipts, prescriptions...but my favorite discoveries were always letters. The letters I saved. And while cleaning out my office papers today I found my favorite letters of them all: a set of letters between two obviously young people written in 1984/1985. If the handwriting didn't give away the fact that these are teenagers, the content definitely would. But they are still incredibly sweet.

Historical Accuracy in Historical Romance

A recent conversation about historical accuracy in romance fiction caused me to spend some time pondering my reading preferences and expectations.

Some background: I have a history degree. It's only a B.A. (4 years for non-US peeps) and I don't use it for anything remotely useful. But I do have a pretty decent *general* knowledge of most European and American history. I am--in short--a font of useless trivial knowledge and not much else. Some would probably think that having spent 4 years (okay, 4.5) studying history, I would demand absolute historical accuracy in my fiction. But I don't. In fact, most of the authors who spend a lot of time getting the details right are the ones on my do-not-read-under-any-circumstances list.

*Gasp!* Why?