Welcome

This is the section of our website that reviews and discusses non-fiction history books.

Not your common book club

A history book-club?? You've got to be kidding!

Actually, we're not. Dave and I have an interest in history - everything from ancient civilizations to current events. Something more than just names and dates - research, analysis and opinions of events and famous people. Sometimes, we found that we had both read the same history-related book. We would spend an enjoyable (and often lively) hour or two discussing it.

A couple of years ago, after one of these discussions, Dave wondered if other people would be interested in joining our talks. I said "sure, maybe we could start a regular monthly meeting". The local Barnes&Noble bookstore offered us a meeting area (and free coffee!), so we were off and running

Selection Criteria

Our criteria for book selection is pretty simple. We decided to choose books that sounded interesting to us, were short enough for "working people" to read in a month, and were in paperback. Our first selection was From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman. It took two months to read it, but we had good turn-outs at the both meetings and got viewpoints from people that had actually "been there". We were encouraged to keep going.

Starting the Site

When Dave took a new job in another state, we decided to set up book-club meetings in both Idaho and Texas, and use a website to publish our book reviews and discussions. This would also allow online participation from anyone who shared our interests.

Here's a list of the books we've read so far:

• From Beirut to Jerusalem (Thomas Friedman)
• In the Wake of the Plague (Norman Cantor)
• The Geography Behind History (W. Gordon East)
• How the Irish Saved Civilization (Thomas Cahill)
• Founding Brothers (Joseph J. Ellis)
• The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg (Nicholas Dawidoff)
• Silent Night: The WWI Christmas Truce (Stanley Weintraub)
• American Massacre (Sally Denton)
• What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam & Modernity (Bernard Lewis)
• The Gifts of the Jews (Thomas Cahill)
• Nothing Like It in the World (Stephen E. Ambrose)
• The Last Samurai (Mark Ravina)
• Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Jared Diamond)
• Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (Thomas Cahill)