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JR., here is your new thread for books read this year and the sample format. Happy reading

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

You jumped right in! Two little nits....when there is no author photo, please put (no photo) after the author link. And don't forget to put July in bold caps above your first post of the month. It is not necessary to repeat the month until it changes. Thanks, JR.

No problem. How should I account for all the books I've read since January until now? Thanks for the help!

See my pm to you.

Oh, and use little "d" for Finish date.

JANUARY

1. by Alison Games (no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Atlantic and Transregional History
Rating: A
Review: The Web of Empire is about England before it became an empire. How this book makes us think differently is in line with other arguments that have been emerging in the past couple decades; England did not intentionally seek a world empire, in a way it happened accidentally.

The central argument put forth by Games is that the English used “cosmopolitan� qualities to learn, adapt, and survive in foreign environments, and they had to do this because they were operating from a position of weakness, not strength. Put another way, merchants, traders, explorers, travelers, and diplomats had to adapt to foreign environments (North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, et cetera) to effectively blend in, assume local customs, and learn from those around them to survive and be successful. They did this because at the time (sixteenth � seventeenth century) England was not the global power it would become. Nevertheless, by assuming cosmopolitan qualities and being successful at it, in time, the English created a web that spanned the globe. Soldiers from Asia brought skills to North America, traders in North Africa utilized effective techniques in India, and so on. Eventually, this web would facilitate the rise of the British Empire.

Looking good, JR......don't forget to put January in bold caps. Thanks.

2. byRobert W. Harms(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Atlantic History
Rating: A
Review: The Diligent is a micro-history of the Atlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century, seen through the eyes of First Lieutenant Robert Durand on his voyage aboard a slave ship from Europe to West Africa to the Caribbean and back. Relying on Durand’s journal as the essential primary source for this book, and by providing additional context at each stage of the slave ship’s journey, Harms is able to demonstrate the international nature of the slave trade from a local perspective. What is also noteworthy about Harms� book is that it illustrates how slavery in the eighteenth century Atlantic world was an established, common, and accepted part of society; Africans sold other Africans to European traders, freed slaves in the Caribbean went on to own slaves themselves, slave sales were a business and slaves were treated like commodities in every sense of the term, and for some involved in the trade, morality was never a consideration. For a granular narrative of the slave trade that exposes the reader to the sights, sounds, smells, and grotesque horrors of the slave trade, The Diligent is an excellent resource.

3. by
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Western Adventure Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: I really enjoy MacLean’s books, and Breakheart Pass is another gritty adventure story. Set in the American West aboard a train, it has a cast of characters that you think John Wayne would be among. It’s relatively short, but just a fun read.

4. byJohn Robert McNeill(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Atlantic History
Rating: A
Review: When people talk about the imperial wars between England, France, and Spain in the Caribbean during the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, deadly diseases are mentioned, but usually as an aside. The number of people lost to malaria and yellow fever in a campaign are typically a footnote. But, in Mosquito Empires, McNeill thrusts the issue front and center. He effectively argues that yellow fever and malaria, which were spread by mosquitos, proved to be ecological variables that devastated armies and frustrated the ambitions of kings and queens. He does not go so far as to argue that these diseases were the ultimate variables that decided who lost or won a campaign, but the evidence he provides undeniably shows how the effects of the diseases on European armies could be devastating.

5. byStephanie E. Smallwood(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Slavery
Rating: B
Review: In this book, Smallwood challenges us to re-think the idea of the “middle passage.� The term “passage� suggests that people and things could move both ways; however, for Africans sold as slaves and transported to the Americas, it was a one-way trip. Approaching this issue from a macro perspective, Smallwood illustrates how African slaves transformed from human beings into commodities. It was a form of social death, because even though the slaves came from the same continent, the only thing most would have in common was that they were prisoners on a slave ship together. They spoke different languages, had different backgrounds, came from different parts of Africa, et cetera. This, in turn, raises questions about a shared identity that African slaves brought to the Americas.

6. byHolger H. Herwig(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Military History WWI
Rating: A-
Review: Herwig makes the argument that the first Battle of the Marne was the most significant battle of the twentieth century, possibly since Waterloo. Germany and France mobilized on extraordinary scales, and the industrial weapons of war allowed for unprecedented levels of killing. Herwig asserts that the conduct and outcome of this battle resulted in four more years of slaughter, and set the conditions for the rise of Hitler, emergence of the Soviet Union, and the possibility of WWII. What is also interesting about this book is how it illustrates what the Schlieffen Plan was intended to do, and how it actually played out on the field of battle. It is a gripping narrative supported by extensive research, and a must read for anyone interested in the origins and early days of WWI.

Don't forget to rate your books, numbers #3-6.

I have not read the Marne book above but will look for it. The Schlieffen Plan has always fascinated me and how von Moltke the Younger,modified it as the war progressed.

by Holger H. Herwig(no photo).

Herwig does a good job describing how "Moltke the Younger" modified the plan and the results of said modifications. The book illustrates quite well how no battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy.

7. byEdward E. Baptist(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Slavery
Rating: A
Review: This book fundamentally challenges long-held and widespread supposed truths about the institution of slavery in relation to capitalism, and makes an uncomfortable argument about how the United States rose in power on the backs of African slaves. The book contends that slavery was not an unprofitable, inefficient, and outmoded economic system that “belonged to an earlier time.� Instead, Baptist demonstrates that the institution of slavery � along with the white southerners who propelled and expanded it � was not only an efficient, flexible, and highly effective economic system, but that it was deeply intertwined and compatible with capitalism and that it propelled the US� economic rise, wealth, and status in the world. This thesis is both fresh and provocative because it contradicts most prior scholarship that asserts slavery was a backward system that inhibited modern economic methods, and because it forces Americans to come to grips with how the United States became a world power and beacon of democracy that so much of its creationist lore rests upon. What also makes this book exceptional is that it is suitable for popular as well as academic audiences. Rather than filling his pages with footnotes and academic terminology, which can sometimes dissuade general readership, Baptist makes his case with a narrative that is gripping, engrossing, and approachable for audiences that simply want to read an interesting book about slavery and US economic history. This does not detract from his academic rigor, either, because a simple look at the endnotes and sources validates the critical historical analysis contained within the preceding pages. This book will likely spark vibrant debates as it is digested throughout the field of slavery, Civil War, and emancipation.

Good review, add it to my TBR list.

8. byCasey Prescott(no photo)
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: Spy Thriller
Rating: B-
Review: I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. It was entertaining, and clearly a product of the 1980s when it was written. There was a prevalent and casual use of narcotics that does not appear in contemporary or older spy thrillers. That said, it had all the hallmarks of a good spy thriller; ambiguity, double crosses, and special operations-like activity.

FEBRUARY
9. by
Finish date: February 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Another excellent Sharpe story. You always know what you’re going to get with a book from the Sharpe series; gritty characters, good action, a glimpse of humanity, all set in the Napoleonic era. Bernard Cornwell is a master.

10. byStanley C. Harrold(no photo)
Finish date: February 2015
Genre: Slavery/Civil War History
Rating: A-
Review: Border War demonstrates slavery was the ultimate cause of the American Civil War, argues state’s rights were an issue for both northern and southern states, and illustrates that the conditions for violence between the north and south had been festering for decades prior to the shots fired at Fort Sumter in 1861. By looking at violent and non-violent confrontations in the border region (Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois) Harrold traces a simmering conflict that goes all the way back to the 1790s. These clashes were over escaped slaves, incursions by slave holders into northern states, raids by abolitionists into southern states, and between other people protecting their homes and families, but not necessarily on either side of the slave debate. Interestingly, even though the border region is where most of the violence between northerners and southerners took place before 1861, many of the border states did not secede from the Union. They viewed the federal government as the best means for the preservation of state’s rights. This book causes readers to see the battle over slavery, the coming of the Civil War, and emancipation as a longue dureé rather than just a single, monumental event that occurred between 1861 and 1865.

Great progress JR