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backontrack
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« on: May 05, 2009, 12:23:42 PM » |
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Hi all,
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and can start thinking about summer.
I would like to read at least one pleasure book, and would like suggestions for historical biographies.
The last three that I read and liked were (cannot recall exact titles):
account of John Wesley Powell's journey down the Colorado River
account of Magellan's attempt to sail around the world
David McCullough's "John Adams."
What did you enjoy and would suggest?
thanks,
bot
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marlborough
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« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2009, 11:55:09 PM » |
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I just finished Jon Meacham's American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House and enjoyed it. It just won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
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sibyl
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« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2009, 09:11:17 AM » |
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I have recently read and enjoyed Ron Chernow's big books, Titan, about John Rockefeller, and Alexander Hamilton. It's not a biography as such, but based on your recent readings, you might want to try Jon Kukla's book about the Louisiana Purchase, A Wilderness So Immense. You might also find some useful ideas in this thread. |
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"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
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backontrack
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« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2009, 11:14:56 PM » |
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thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.
bot
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reader
Just a Regular Run-of-the-Mill
Senior member
Posts: 314
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« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2009, 09:14:22 AM » |
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My quick thoughts:
William James by Robert D. Richardson
William Lee Miller's books on Lincoln.
The First American by H.W. Brands on Benjamin Franklin
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...out of the books of others we sift a book of our own, wherein we read the lessons we need to hear. -- John Updike
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cc_alan
is a wossname
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,242
Caution! Nekkid zamboni driver ahead.
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« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2009, 10:57:47 AM » |
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Madame Curie: A Biography by Eve Curie
Alan
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Excuse me... which aisle would I find the unicorns and rainbows? No, Alan is a man among men, striding the Earth like a Colossus with a really big bladder, wearing a tool belt.
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oujiqualm
New member
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« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2009, 02:31:24 AM » |
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I suggest Steels bio of Walter Lippmann
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hmaria1609
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« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2009, 11:06:35 AM » |
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Not too long ago I read Child of Terror by Susan Nagel, a biography of Marie-Therese, eldest daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Interesting read.
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fizmath
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« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2009, 01:33:40 PM » |
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I don't have a specific author in mind but anything about 19th century British spy Richard Burton makes for good reading.
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thundering_m
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« Reply #9 on: May 29, 2009, 02:19:29 PM » |
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Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln by Janis Cooke Newman (2007). Harvest Books.
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-TM
Thundering Marshmallow
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heybeerman
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« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2009, 07:16:59 AM » |
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Since David Herbert Donald's passing, I've picked up his biography of Lincoln for a second read - and it's been a welcome reunion. Readable prose, keen insights, and a balanced evaluation. Donald avoids the hagiography so common to Lincoln books.
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kedves
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« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2009, 03:23:02 PM » |
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I just finished an outstanding piece on Barbara Walters. The Title of the Book is URL removed-mods.
I'm going to tell Barbara Walters you called her memoir a historical biography. You better run, you better hide! |
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« Last Edit: June 19, 2009, 07:57:11 PM by moderator »
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spork
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« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2009, 05:05:37 AM » |
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Captain James Cook: A Biography by Richard Alexander Hough
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket
"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 23,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #13 on: August 15, 2009, 10:56:17 AM » |
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Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
George III, A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert
Any of Carolly Erickson's Tudor-era biogs (Great Harry, The First Elizabeth, &c)
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This place stinks like a pair of armoured trousers after the Hundred Years' War.
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mickeymantle
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« Reply #14 on: October 14, 2009, 04:08:26 PM » |
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Carl van Doren's 1938 biography of Benjamin Franklin may be a bit old-fashioned, but I really enjoyed reading it again a few weeks ago.
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