Marvey Maggie's Nonfiction Reads

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Marvey Maggie's Nonfiction Reads

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1maggie1944
Mai 11, 2011, 10:25 am

Those of you who have read my other threads will remember how much I loved The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America.

I started the book because this huge fire was located right in the part of Idaho where my father's family lived. I believe he was actually born just after the fire.

The final chapter was a fine tribute to all who have worked to provide us and the future all of our national parks and forests. It also explained how this 1910 huge fire (millions of acres of trees, billions of 1910 dollars worth of timber) set up both the Forest Service and the entire country to spend decades trying, unsuccessfully, to totally prevent forest fires. The most recent approach is that of the setting aside of Wilderness Areas which are not easily invaded by people, and which can sustain the occasional, naturally created fire.

Timothy Egan is a fine writer, one who takes large events or trends in American history and populates it with individual, human, and specific stories. His books often read like a fine novel and he makes very real some of the amazing things that Americans have experienced while populating this part of the North American continent. This book is set at a time when the "end" was visible in that the continental U.S. had been established, and the interior was now being "exploited". The conservation movement begun by Roosevelt, Muir, Pinchot, and hundreds of Forest Rangers were fighting the powers of the Big Railroad, Big Developers and weak federal government. (Hill, Rockerfeller, Weyerhauser, and Taft). Egan does not omit explaining how the centers of power made, or did not make, decisions which directly affected the start and the fight against this Big Burn.

2maggie1944
Mai 11, 2011, 10:30 am

Another nonfiction book I've read this year is: The Zimmermann Telegram.

It is clearly a glimpse into a world quite different from ours, today. The German aristocracy which led Germany into WWI is cut from a cloth that we barely can recognize today. I've never actually met someone who so unabashedly considers themselves to be unquestionably superior to all others, as did the Germans of the leadership in WWI. Of course, the British had their share of arrogance also and both contributed to the horrors of that first "world war". The Zimmermann telegram is dropped into this environment when the United States of American was nearly completely convinced to stay clear of any entanglements in the European mess. This telegram which suggested that Germany would support Mexico's attack to the southern border of the USA turned public opinion around on a dime, and off to war we did go.

And Barbara Tuchman's reputation as an excellent writer of history is totally justified. If you have any interest in North American, European, and Mexican history - read this short, very well written, and fascinating book.

3qebo
Mai 11, 2011, 2:39 pm

So this is exactly why I've been wanting a non-fiction challenge group. In my ruthless zeal to keep my 75 books threads manageable, I completely missed these books and your intriguing reviews. OK, so I don't really need more books on the wishlist...

4maggie1944
Mai 11, 2011, 4:48 pm

Its just like peanuts: You can't just eat one.

5drneutron
Mai 11, 2011, 4:57 pm

I finally got around to starting Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August while on business travel Monday. If The Zimmerman Telegram is anything like her style here, it's going to go very high on my wishlist.

She's got the same point of view of the German (and really, the British and French) superiority in Guns of August, where she shares how this attitude of superiority didn't just get 'em into the war, but also led to the mistakes that turned what they thought would be a very short war into the horrific trench war that it became.

6AnnaClaire
Mai 11, 2011, 4:58 pm

>4 maggie1944:
I thought that was pistachios.

7maggie1944
Mai 11, 2011, 6:46 pm

I'm too poor for pistachios. LOL

Drnewt, the other thing which recommends the Zimmermann Telegram is that it is short and sweet. Her first book, I believe.

My next nonfiction read will be Unbroken: A World War II Story of survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (She wrote Seabiscuit which I loved.)

8maggie1944
Bearbeitet: Mai 12, 2011, 8:22 am

My third nonfiction book of the year: Finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. A relatively quick read accounting the tale of the woman who's cancer cells started the CeLa cell line which has been used for decades in medical research.

The author, as a young student, first hears that this cell line, which is so vital to medical research since the 1960s, began with a black woman seeking treatment for uterine cancer. As was the practice at the time she was not asked if she was willing to give some cells for the purpose of research and although the cells which continue to grow until today are often sold to research institutions neither she nor her family ever received appropriate acknowledgement or compensation.

The author begins what will become an decade long research project and attempts to contact Mrs. Lacks family running into the first of very many challenges and road blocks.

I found the book to be remarkable as the author worked very carefully to treat the family with respect and integrity, unlike some earlier journalists, and she also provided some very interesting glimpses into the world of medical research. The book does read like a novel part of the time and by the finish I felt the attachment to the characters I expect from fiction.

There are a couple of discussion threads in The Green Dragon Group. Check them out if you're interested in several points of view on the book. One: http://www.librarything.com/topic/114900

9antqueen
Mai 14, 2011, 4:40 pm

Mmm, pistachios... And since we're talking nonfiction here I'll add that I read Why We Eat What We Eat by Raymond Sokolov last year, which has a section on pistachios (and why they aren't pink anymore). An uneven but interesting book.

And another of Tuchman's books to go on my wishlist... I really need to grab one of them.

10maggie1944
Jun. 20, 2011, 3:00 pm

I completed my reading of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption yesterday as a part of a 75 Book Challenge Read-a-Thon. I find Read-A-Thons very helpful in reading a book which might be challenging, in one way or another.

Certainly this book was challenging. It follows one man, and many of his family and compatriots, through some harrowing experiences in the Pacific during World War II. The main character was a very interesting fellow in that he was an Olympic class runner before the war and had attended the 1936 Olympics as a very young man.

The challenging part of the book is best summarized by just stating up front that War is Hell, and this described several levels. It is not, in the end, a pessimistic or unhappy book. And I certainly do recommend it to all who enjoy a good historical story with heroes, and villains, and man-eating sharks, too!