This week I have visited Stoddard's Palm Garden, the blog created by co-worker and friend Bryce Rumbles. Bryce reads lots of interesting stuff, and this includes history and Historical Fiction. I noticed that he has included Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth on his blog this week. I am a great fan of Follett, a gifted writer who refuses to be pigeon-holed into one particular genre. Follett is as adept in writing Historical Fiction as he is with suspense, espionage, and thriller. Pillars of the Earth has multiple interest points including Medieval British History and social life, architecture, and family saga.
At this time, I am reading Dissident for Life: Alexander Ogorodnikov and the Struggle for Religious Freedom in Russia, by Koenraad De Wolf. Dissident is not merely a memoir of a pivotal and courageous non-violent Christian protester, but also a chronicle of Soviet repression against ALL people of faith in the former Soviet Union since 1917. The struggles of Armenians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Siberians, Jews and other groups are also included in this tremendous work by Belgian journalist De Wolf. It is also de facto one of the most readable accounts of the events leading directly to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1991. This account looks at the religious factors which contributed to that collapse along with the economic, social and political ones. This is an important book for anyone interested in these topics.
At the other end of the biographical spectrum is another new biography, Lady at the O.K. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Ann Kirschner. This book starts off in an interesting manner with a quote by Nora Ephron, and an excellent hook in the first chapter: "Did you know that Wyatt Earp was buried in a Jewish Cemetery?" And so begins the life story of a lady who would be Earp's partner for around 50 years until his death in 1929. This is a great twist on one of the great legends of the American West, and will probably be at least as popular as the novel Doc [in reference to Dr. John Holliday] by Mary Doria Russell. (Arguably the best novel ever written about the man.)
Monty-- I think you would really enjoy The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan. It's got a lot of crossover appeal covering both history and science along with the lives of the women who worked on the secret project to develop the atomic bomb. The tension of wartime, balanced with the happenings of every day life in the secret city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, make for a facsinating read. Another book you might like is Washed Away by Geoff Williams. It's about the great flood of 1913 that impacted the middle of the country from Nebraska to Pennsylvania, focusing in on Ohio and Indiana. The stories of people from every walk of life are covered, almost in a play by play manner, as the water rises and time runs out.
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