I’m willing to edit. I can’t wait for the first draft…
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“The Fate of the Day,” the second in Rick Atkinson’s trilogy of the Revolutionary War, following “The British are Coming.” The difficulty of fighting a war with significant logistical challenges against a determined insurgency remains a constant.
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Need to get both of those toute suite. I’m fascinated by the American Revolution and have heard nothing but great things about Atkinson as a writer and storyteller.
I started on Frank Dikötter’s series about China beginning with, The Tragedy of Liberation – A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957.
Also in the series:
Mao’s Great Famine – The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-62
The Cultural Revolution – A People’s History, 1962—1976
China After Mao – The Rise of a Superpower
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I’m pretty well-read on American history, especially Texas and the West, but am semi-woefully deficient on Colonial America. This article popped up on the google feed and had a good-looking book cited in it:
Daniel Morgan sounds like a very interesting fella, I’ll have to look and see if PBS has done some sort of documentary on his life.
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If you’re interested in more obscure or lesser known facts about Colonial America during the Revolution, you should look into the history of Florida. A lot of people don’t realize that at the time of the Revolutionary War there were 15 British colonies in what is now the U.S. Only 13 declared independence, with the two colonies of East Florida and West Florida remaining loyal to Great Britain. A good account is “East Florida in the Revolutionary Era, 1763-1785” by George Kotlik
https://www.amazon.com/East-Florida-Revolutionary-Era-1763-1785/dp/1588385027
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Same as ever, there’s no accounting for Florida.
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At the time, Florida was mostly an ill-governed, yellow fever-infested swamp, inhabited by pirates, outlaws, and toothless hillbillies. Not much has changed in 250 years.
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My impression is that yellow fever is less of a problem.
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It has been because of you…vaccines. Don’t expect that trend to continue.
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Why are hardcover books $7ish more expensive than paperbacks on Amazon?
How many shots do you have to take before moving to Midland, as opposed to say, New Guinea?
Because they’re always more expensive?
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I’ve never noticed that before…
eta…I’m a fucking idiot, hardcovers are $7 cheaper on the books I’m looking at
Started reading “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” by Richard Flanagan. It’s a novel about an Australian doctor’s experience as a POW during WWII working on the Thai-Burma Railway and the impact of that experience on his later life. Loosely inspired by the experiences of Flanagan’s father who was a POW and Weary Dunlop, a doctor at the notorious Changi Prison in Singapore and a national hero in Australia.
Really enjoying the book so far. Flanagan’s writing has an almost lyrical style to it and he does a great job weaving together the different timelines.
ETA - the book was adapted into a limited series on NetFlix with the same name. Highly recommend it.
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Amazon very aggressively underprices new books in general. But as a general rule, hardback is always more expensive. Then trade paperback (think airport bookstores: nice heavy paperbacks) then mass market paperback (think small and dense and cheap).
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It’s a great series.
3 or 4 hardbacks all being cheaper is what made me take notice. I know that’s not how things have been historically.
Amen and absolution. My only quibble was using Cieran Hinds instead of an Australian actor. But it’s Cieran Hinds.
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Knox runs a bookstore, fyi.
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