On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On Tyranny is a very short, highly readable book showing how democracies were vulnerable to totalitarianism in the the twentieth century, and why we should be worried about our democracy today. The author is a professor of history at Yale, and he knows how communism, fascism and Nazism took down European democracies in he 1920s, 30s and 40s.

The twenty lessons run from very short to somewhat lengthy, but never a chore to read. The author writes very clearly and to the point. I also found the Epilogue to be well worth the time to read. I highly recommend this book.

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maus is the story of the author’s father, Vladek Spiegelman, and his mother Anja, who survived the Holocaust. It’s also the story of the author as he tries to come to terms with his father and his story of survival.

It is an amazing story and it is made more powerful by being in the form of a graphic novel. This volume is the first part of the story, where we meet Vladek and see him meet and marry Anja. They had a fairly prosperous life in pre-war Poland, which changed in September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded and defeated Poland. As Jews, they were forced to live in a ghetto with little food provided. Vladek had managed to hide jewelry and other goods, so he could trade with Poles for additional food and other things.

As the ghetto was being liquidated, Vladek and other members of his family went into hiding. Sometimes Poles would help, but other times they would not. Every time the hiding place had to be changed, there was always the question of trust – would the people helping them inform the German authorities?

I’m skipping a lot of the details, for fear of spoilers, but Vladek and Anja are eventually betrayed, and they are sent to Auschwitz. This is where this volume of Vladek’s story ends.

Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four Princes is the story of four rulers of the early 16th century: Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor and Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. The book is a biography of the four princes and also a history of this time period. The author does a great job of interweaving the stories of all four men and fitting them into the historical narrative.

All four were born between 1491 and 1500, and when they became rulers, their mutual interactions shaped much European history during this era. Henry, Francis and Charles had all met each other at least once. Suleiman is the outlier; he never met any of the other princes but he did have quite friendly relations with Francis, because of their common opponent Charles.

There are other actors in this story as well: the various popes, and the reformers like Martin Luther. So it is a complex and interesting tale of religion and international politics. We meet all six of Henry’s wives for example, as well as the struggle between Charles and Suleiman in Hungary and the first Ottoman attempt to capture Vienna in 1529.

I really enjoyed this book – it is a great overview of European history in the first half of the 16th century. If you’re interested in this period of history or any of the four princes, I think you will enjoy this book too.

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Own Words is a collection of the writings and speeches of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993, and she remained on the court until her death in 2020. The writings are in a more or less chronological order, and begin during her school years and continue through the 2015-2016 term of the Supreme Court. While the words are Ginsburg’s own, context and biographical information are provided by her co-authors Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, who are her authorized biographers.

I highly recommend this book. Justice Ginsburg writes very well, had a great sense of humor, and cared deeply about the law and how it affected people. The section on gender equality is well worth reading; Ginsburg was one of the lawyers who brought this issue to the forefront in the 1970s. I also enjoyed the behind the scenes look at life in the Supreme Court.

Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Powers and Thrones is a history of the Middle Ages, and in my opinion, is one of the best single-volume histories of this period. I think it must be a difficult task to write a history of the Middle Ages, mainly because so much happens in this 900 to 1000 years that you can’t possible include everything of interest. So there is always the tradeoff between general information and specific events. And I think the author has done an excellent job of maintaining the balance between the “big picture” and events and people which are familiar to most readers.

The focus is on Europe from the fall of the western Roman Empire until the Reformation. The author has organized the book around topics, while maintaining a more or less chronological order. Each chapter covers a topic, for example the Black Death or the Byzantines, and the topics are cross-referenced as needed.

I liked that the author really developed the story of the Arabs; often they are only discussed in terms of the Crusades. And I enjoyed the chapter on the Mongols. I think I really learned something about them.

If you’re interested in this period of history, I strongly recommend this book.

Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wessex Tales is Thomas Hardy’s first collection of short stories, all set in his fictional Wessex. There are seven stories, and most of them are inspired by legends, superstitions or tales handed down over the years. Most of the inspirations for the stories are events that took place before Hardy was born.

Wessex Tales was published in 1888, and falls between the publication of The Woodlanders and Tess of the d’Urbervilles, so it comes relatively late in his career. Hardy published three collections of short stories. In many ways, Hardy’s short stories are much more accessible than his novels.

I can’t really say much about any of the stories for fear of spoilers, but they are all good reads. I liked all of the stories, but I especially enjoyed “The Three Strangers” and “The Withered Arm” as well as “The Distracted Preacher.”

Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past by Kevin M. Kruse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Myth America is a collection of 20 essays by historians on a variety of topics in American History which are often misrepresented or lied about. Some of the topics are relatively recent, but some are as old as the Constitution. And because the authors are all historians, everything is footnoted.

There are a lot of good essays in this book. I learned quite a bit, and there are some things that surprised me too; for example the essay on the Founding Myths. Most of us think of James Madison as being the “Father of the Constitution” but the reality is somewhat different. I also found the essays on the “failures” of the New Deal and the Great Society to be very interesting as well. And the essay on Voter Fraud (and voter suppression) is definitely worth reading as well, given that it has been in the news almost continuously since the 2020 election.

One thing to note is that there is nothing about slavery in the book – the editors discuss this in the introduction. The reason is that there are simply too many myths about slavery to fit into this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. There are definitely some surprises and I learned some new things.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens most famous works, the other one would be A Christmas Carol. I had to read it many years ago in my 9th grade English class, and it is a great story, even though I suspect we read an abridged version of the novel.

Briefly and hopefully without spoilers, the two cities are London and Paris. The story begins in London as we meet Mr Lorry who works for a British bank which also has an office in Paris. It is before the French Revolution, and Mr Lorry travels to Paris to meet Dr Manette, who had been a prisoner in the Bastille. Dr Manette has a daughter Lucie, who is living in London. In Paris, we meet M Defarge, who had been a servant of Dr Manette and his wife, Mme Defarge. Also through Mr Lorry, we meet Charles Darnay, a son of a French aristocrat, who is on trial in London for being a spy for France and/or the United States, and Sydney Carton who helps defend Darnay at his trial.

With the focus on this core group of characters, we watch as revolution comes to France and the aristocratic class either flees or is made to suffer for the oppression of the lower classes. And this is about as far as I can go without any major spoilers.

It is a very compelling story; perhaps it is the best story Dickens has written. But, having read it again after so many years, there are a few things that kind of bother me. First, the plot is dependent on coincidences. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but there are really a lot of coincidences in this story.

Another thing is that the only sympathetic French people in the story are the ones who relocated to London before the revolution: Dr Manette, Lucie and Darnay. There is no sympathetic member of the aristocracy or the revolutionaries, with the possible exception of M Defarge. Mme Defarge is depicted as being particularly bloodthirsty, but when we learn her backstory, her attitude should be somewhat understandable. I tend to think that this is just Dickens writing for his primary audience: the British middle classes. There are places in some of his other novels where this is apparent, but it really stands out here.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. It is a great story and definitely worth reading, but I think that this novel is not Dickens best one.