Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

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by Trevor Noah, 2016, Kindle Version, One World (an imprint of Random House), New York 3.5 stars

This book is an autobiography of Trevor Noah who grew up as a mixed-race boy in South Africa shortly after the fall of apartheid.

Despite the fact that apartheid was abolished when Trevor was very young, the aftermath was almost as difficult as it was living under apartheid, especially for a young boy whose mother was black and a father who was white. When Trevor was born it was a crime to have a relationship between individuals of those two races.

Despite being exceptionally bright and having a mother who provided many opportunities for Trevor, this is a story of extreme poverty and crime. It is actually hard to read in places because of the circumstances and events that he had to endure. What makes it even more difficult is the fact that Trevor, himself, wasn’t a very nice person during those days. He seems to have eventually succeeded, however, in spite of the situations he found himself in.

The bad language used in the book is not appealing, but probably necessary as it helps to reveal the author’s background.

The book is well worth reading, although I wish I could have liked the stories and Trevor a lot more.

The Rose Code

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by Kate Quinn, 2021, Audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, Harper Audio 3.5 stars

We listened to this audiobook on our way from Rhode Island to Florida this year. It is an interesting story about three young women who were recruited during WWII to work at Blechley Hall in England as code analysts. They deciphered the interecepted German and Italian code which was then fed into the Enigma and Bombe machines to do the final decoding.

The book brought the story of Blechley Hall to my attention and the role it played in defeating the Axis. The story in the book includes many historical facts but I was left wondering how much of the intrigue actually occurred and how much was fiction. I will probably never know, but I am a bit curious.

The book does contain a bit of “fluff”, especially in the earlier chapters, but it became much more suspenseful as it unfolded. The narrator did an excellent job portraying the various characters and their emotions.

The Tragedy of Patton, A Soldier’s Date with Destiny: Could World War II’s Greatest General Have Stopped the Cold War?

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by Robert Orlando, 2021, Kindle Edition, Humanix Books 1.5 stars

I was asked to present this book for our men’s book club and, unfortunately, I didn’t like it much. Rather than a history book, it seems to be more of a long opinion piece. There is no new information gleaned from any in-depth research, but the author frequently offers a description of a particular campaign or event with no underlying facts or supporting detail.

Orlando also relies on quotes from other authors to support his case. One of the authors he quotes quite a bit is Victor Davis Hanson whom he quotes so often that I felt I may as well read the book by that author (although Hanson is far from my favorite author).

The one bit of information that I gleaned from the book that I thought had some value was Orlando’s opinion that Patton’s death was not a conspiracy and the reason why. This information, however, was related on one page and did not, in my opinion, redeem the entire book.

As to whether or not Patton could have stopped the Cold War, the argument seems to be that if Patton had been allowed to get to Berlin before the Russians, we would have been able to stop the Russians from controlling Eastern Europe and we would have avoided the ensuing Cold War. In addition to this being pure speculation, this argument ignores the prior agreements that we had negotiated with the Russians (whether good or bad), and the counter argument is that, if we had kept the Russians out of Berlin, we might have precipitated either a continuation of WWII (with a new enemy), or we would have started a new “hot” war. There are so many what-ifs involved in this scenario that I believe it is not particularly meaningful to speculate as to what would have happened if Patton had had his way.

The Maidens

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by Alex Michalides, 2021, Kindle Edition, Caladon Books 4.0 stars

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Like his previous book, The Silent Patient, Michaelides kept me guessing throughout the book, and, in the end I guessed wrong. He really does know how to throw a curve ball at his readers.

I did figure out that the most likely villain was not the murderer, but I went for one of the other characters. Maybe if he writes another novel, I will get it right.

The book was a nice break from all the history I have been reading. I guess I will have to bid farewell to fiction now as our book club is really in to biographies this year and I have a couple more to read. Sigh!

Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook

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by Martin Dugard, Kindle edition, 2001, Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 3.0 stars 

The book is interesting but it’s not a true biography as the author makes up scenarios that are likely but not necessarily valid. He surmises what Cook may have been thinking in a given circumstance and those thoughts are probably close to Cook’s, but, nevertheless, they are created by the author rather than actually related by Captain Cook. While this approach embellishes the story, it isn’t consistent with what I consider a true biography. Dugard doesn’t go so far as to create conversations as I have seen in some supposed biographies, but it does cross a line between fiction and non-fiction.

There is also a great deal of repetitiveness throughout the book. Cook’s various character traits are definitely worth mentioning, but not over and over again. Also, some of the book seems a bit rushed, particularly toward the end of the book when Cook seems to go off the rails on his last voyage.

I missed having maps of the voyages in this book. Maybe the printed copy has them, but my Kindle edition did not. I have a sense of where Cook travelled, but some maps would have been helpful.

I learned a great deal about Cook and his explorations from this book, but it seemed to be missing something.

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution

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by Mike Duncan, 2021, Audiobook narrated by the author, PublicAffairs 3.5 stars

This is a pretty good biography about an amazing individual. Lafayette was a person whose life story is almost unbelievable. He was present in the American Revolution at almost every important event and played a significant role. But that wasn’t the end of the story as he was also a prominent figure in French history from the French Revolution of 1789 and for over forty years after. At just about every critical event during this period you will find him playing a role.

Lafayette’s life is remarkable in that he didn’t change his views, regardless of the circumstances. He was a moderate in times when it was fashionable to be either a rabid royalist or left-wing anarchist. Because of this, he was frequently attacked from both the right and the left.

I was not aware of Lafayette’s abolitionist beliefs. He frequently advised George Washington to abolish slavery and emancipate his slaves. Washington ignored these entreaties, but that did not deter Lafayette from continuing his efforts.

The book is well-written, although Duncan occasionally dives a bit too deeply into the details, particularly regarding French politics during the period. The book could have been a bit shorter with a little more editing.

One disappointment is that the CD version of the audiobook I borrowed from the library seemed to be missing some tracks on the 13th and final CD. Because of that, I missed the final few years of Lafayette’s life as well as his passing. Having listened to all of the story up to that point, I didn’t get final closure on Lafayette’s life.

Robert E. Lee: A Life

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by Allen C. Guelzo, 2021, Kindle Edition, Alfred A.Knopf, New York 3.5 stars 

This is a balanced, well-researched, and well-written biography of Robert E. Lee. The author delves into the aspects of Lee’s life that made him the person he was. He also offers some thoughts on the place in history that Lee occupies and some perspective on the movement to reconsider his role in the Civil War.

The only criticism that I would mention of the book is that it sometimes provided more detail than necessary, particularly when the information provided by that detail had already been revealed. This made reading the book a bit of a chore at times

The book did offer some ideas as to how we view citizenship in this country and how Lee viewed it in his lifetime. He obviously put his citizenship of the state of Virginia above his citizenship in the United States when he made his decision to resign from the U.S. Army and fight for the Confederacy.

Cry, The Beloved Country

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Cry, The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, 1946, Audiobook narrated by Michael York, 2012, Blackstone Audio, Inc. 4.0 stars

This book, first published in 1948, is about a Black priest in a rural area of South Africa who suffers greatly under the oppression imposed by the minority white rule. His son and sister have to leave their rural village to find work in Johannesburg where they find nothing but trouble. The priest travels to Johannesburg in 1946 to find them and bring them home, but what he finds is that their lives have met with disaster.

The formal system of apartheid was imposed starting in 1948 but the effects of racial discrimination were present much earlier than when the many legal restrictions of apartheid were enacted. Paton does a masterful job of capturing the impacts of poverty in South Africa and the relationships between individuals of the Black and White races. He highlights that, while the majority of white South Africans subscribed to the tenants of white superiority, there were white individuals who did not support these views and worked to improve the lives of the Blacks.

The book is a bit slow, particularly in the beginning, but the author’s rendering of the characters and the times is memorable. It is definitely a book that should be read by anyone with an interest in the hisotry and culture of South Africa.

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela  

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by Nelson Mandela, 2008, Kindle Version, Little, Brown and Company 4.0 stars 

I read most of this book while on a trip to South Africa. It provided me with an understanding of what the country had gone through under apartheid and helped me appreciate what I was seeing so much more than if I hadn’t read it, especially the attempt of South Africa to be a multi-racial country.

Mandela’s writing is brutally honest. He acknowledges his missteps and failures, is honest in his assessments of other individuals and accepts satisfaction for his accomplishments. I also found that he had a real appreciation of his role and place in history without any self-promotion on his part. He shows no bitterness regarding his 27-year imprisonment and treatment. I found him to be an amazing individual, almost in the same category as Abraham Lincoln.

The only downside of this book is that I have no knowledge of the many individuals who are named in the book and had only a slight knowledge of the events that took place in South Africa during and before his time. Mandela provides a great introduction to these individuals and events up until his inauguration as president, but I am still not very knowledgeable regarding South Africa’s current affairs. I know that he has written another book about his presidential years which would be a natural sequel to Long Walk to Freedom.

The book is 627 pages long and requires a bit of fortitude to read it all, but it is extremely well-written and organized. I am so glad I read it!

Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Excape, and the Making of Winston Churchill

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by Candice Millard, 2017, Anchor Books4.0 stars

This is the story of Winston Churchill’s escape after he was captured when he was a war correspondent as a young man.

The book is well-written, and the author provides a great deal of context to the events that occurred as well as to Churchill’s character. She finishes the book with an epilogue that provides a nice conclusion to the book.

Because I didn’t know much about South Africa and am leaving on a trip to visit there tomorrow, the book gave me a great deal of information about the country I am travelling to. This book was recommended to me by one of my college classmates and I am glad I read it.