Sugar in the Blood: A Family's Story of Slavery and Empire
by Andrea Stuart
Barbados History - Caribbean History (5/27/2015)
This is a family history from the viewpoint of a slave. Not pleasant much of the time; but an effort to show what life was really like for the planters and slaves on Barbados. Each of the Caribbean island countries has their own story; but this story is connected with slavery in the United States. George Washington spent time on Barbados; and several Carolinian planters patterned their slave work crews on those developed on Barbados. There is much to be learned about how the mixed race family structures manifested themselves.
Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm
by Monte Reel
Good book, bad title (5/7/2015)
This is a biography of an important but obscure explorer named Paul Du Chaillu. In the mid-nineteenth century, the era of Darwin, Livingstone and African exploration, Du Chaillu introduced the gorilla to British eyes and ears with his daring exploration of Gabon in western equatorial Africa. It reads like a novel, and covers his 2 African adventures; but not his later delving into Nordic countries and cultures. The biography is a vehicle to discuss the racial biases at the core of European values, the justifications for slavery; and how Darwin's theories were used to support those values.
Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble
by Marilyn Johnson
A new look at an old profession (5/4/2015)
The author investigates, interviews, evaluates and then speculates on her subject. Archaeologists have complex motives for their work, and she delves into those motives to explain the profession in a fresh way. Since I have always been interested in pre-history, and the truths we can find from our ancestors; this may not be a book for everyone, but it gave me valuable insights into an area of study I already loved.
Empire's Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day
by Carrie Gibson
Sunshine and slavery (4/28/2015)
This is an ambitious book, that could have easily been 3 volumes. It is an overview of this region's history, so it is appropriate to have it in one book. The writing is chronological, which makes sense; but it hops quickly to another island, another narrative. Read this book to appreciate the region's significance in "western" history; and to gain some understanding of these countries' present situations.
The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (Liberation Trilogy)
by Rick Atkinson
WWII in Western Europe details (1/26/2015)
Do you want to know how many Panzers were involved in such and such a thrust in the Battle of Bulge? Montgonery's opinions about everyone? Number of sorties on December 12th, 1944?
This is the book for you.
Atkinson makes is so real, that I have bad dreams about being cold, soaked through, out of ammunition, with the Germans on the attack.
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