Best WWI Biographies

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. " Radium Girls spares us nothing of their suffering; though at times the foreshadowing reads more like a true-crime story, Moore is intent on making the reader viscerally understand the pain in which these young women were living, and through which they had to fight in order to get their problems recognized...The story of real women at the mercy of businesses who see them only as a potential risk to the bottom line is haunting precisely because of how little has changed; the glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." "This timely book celebrates the strength of a group of women, whose determination to fight improved both labor laws and scientific knowledge of radium poisoning. Written in a highly readable, narrative style, Moore's chronicle of these inspirational women's lives is sure to provoke discussion-and outrage-in book groups." "Moore's well-researched narrative is written with clarity and a sympathetic voice that brings these figures and their struggles to life...a must-read for anyone interested in American and women's history, as well as topics of law, health, and industrial safety." "Like Da a Sobel's The Glass Universe and Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, Kate Moore's The Radium Girls tells the story of a cohort of women who made history by entering the workforce at the dawn of a new scientific era. Moore sheds new light on a dark chapter in American labor history; the " Radium Girls ," martyrs to an unholy alliance of commerce and science, live again in her telling" - Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In The Radium Girls Kate Moore tells the story of these young women, seemingly so fortunate, who were poisoned by the jobs they felt so lucky to have. After some of the women died and more became ill the companies making large profits on radium rushed to dismiss any hint that the work was unsafe. Eventually publicity stemming from lawsuits filed by some of the victims (using their own scanty resources) focused enough attention on the problem that governments felt compelled to set safety standards and regulations. The safety regulations and restrictions which were finally put into place hardly seem adequate, and the Epilogue and Postscript giving details of the women's later lives, as well as an account of another industry that made careless use of radium as late as the 1970s, are especially harrowing."
"This is one these books that will stay with you long after you finished reading it."
"One of the best books I have read in a long time!"
"This moving but infuriating story about the Radium Girls is one I highly recommend you read."
"What this book offers is an opportunity to learn about these women personally, how they were not only dismissed and medically abused by so many, but treated contemptuously and lied to again and again."
"I learned so much from this book."
"Amazing women who were exploited by their employers."
"This was such a heartfelt story bringing to life the stories of such brave women and their suffering."

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. "Kate Moore's new book will move, shock and anger you" -- The Big Issue Kate Moore is a Sunday Times bestselling writer with more than a decade's experience in writing across varying genres, including memoir and biography and history.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In The Radium Girls Kate Moore tells the story of these young women, seemingly so fortunate, who were poisoned by the jobs they felt so lucky to have. After some of the women died and more became ill the companies making large profits on radium rushed to dismiss any hint that the work was unsafe. Eventually publicity stemming from lawsuits filed by some of the victims (using their own scanty resources) focused enough attention on the problem that governments felt compelled to set safety standards and regulations. The safety regulations and restrictions which were finally put into place hardly seem adequate, and the Epilogue and Postscript giving details of the women's later lives, as well as an account of another industry that made careless use of radium as late as the 1970s, are especially harrowing."
"This is one these books that will stay with you long after you finished reading it."
"One of the best books I have read in a long time!"
"I learned so much from this book."
"This was such a heartfelt story bringing to life the stories of such brave women and their suffering."
"This a book that should be read by people of all ages and occupation."
"Awesome book could not stop thinking about it for weeks such a long fight these woman had n some did not make it sadly."
"I have not read many of these types of books about real life stories about history and I found this fascinating."

That October Vladimir Lenin, communist revolutionary and advocate for class war and “dictatorship of the proletariat,” would overthrow Russia’s earlier democratic revolution that had toppled the all-power Czar, all in the name of liberating humanity—and instead would set up the most repressive totalitarian regime in history, the Soviet Union. In his gripping account of the pivotal year 1917 – as seen through the world-changing decisions of its two crucial protagonists VI Lenin and Woodrow Wilson – Herman shows how Total War descended on Mankind, how ideology trumped the old European kingly concepts of Realpolitik, and how competing beliefs about dictatorship and democracy would lead to an even bloodier conflict only two decades later.” (Professor Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War). As the author makes clear, both millenarian politicians are determined to rule their revolutions, and to bend the existing social order to their abstract, even utopian, ideals.” (Lewis Lehrman, author of Churchill, Roosevelt, & Company: Studies in Character and Statecraft and Money, Gold, and History ).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Today we still live in the shadow of (and, in some cases, the rubble from) the events they set in motion that year, and the legacy they both left as they launched the world into a state of perpetual disorder and upheaval—the world we still live with today.’’. Herman follows this method - of putting Lenin and Wilson side-by-side throughout. “In April, Wilson thrust the United States into the greatest war in history up to that time, the First World War. Together, these two events changed history in ways that make the world as it existed before 1917 seem strange and alien, and the world afterward very much our world and age, the modern age. Like Marx, Lenin had spent his life believing that the existing order, capitalism, was doomed by its own internal contradictions; the war that had dragged Russia to the brink of collapse was proof of capitalism’s historical as well as moral bankruptcy.’’. What about Wilson? It, too, sprang from an intellectual mentor—in his case, the German philosopher Georg W. F. Hegel (who, as it happens, was also Karl Marx’s)—but it was as well wrapped up in his vision of America as the symbol of and inspiration for the universal value of human freedom.’’. This connection to Hegel - by both Lenin and Wilson - is astounding. Lenin concluded “no one can grasp Marx without understanding Hegel.’’. This devotion (worship) of Hegel’s political state changed our world by . It was one Wilson and Lenin both accepted in 1917, with (one is forced to conclude) disastrous results for the entire world.’’. Chapter six: “In a strange way, he was doing exactly what another man, Lenin, was doing on the other side of the Atlantic at exactly the same time. Both men were struggling to transform events (the world war for Wilson, the Russian Revolution for Lenin) in ways that would make those events consistent with their larger vision, instead of contradicting or correcting that vision.’’. Another trenchant example of Herman’s ability to connect Wilson’s religio/philosophical thought with Lenin’s. Here, in April 1917, was where it would start with Lenin and Wilson. And whereas Lenin had Marx to encourage him in this conviction, Wilson had Hegel and his own belief in an omniscient providential God.’’. 1 : The German Note. 2 : Russia and America Confront a World War. 3 : Tommy and Volodya. 4 : Neutrality at Bay. 6 : President Wilson Goes to War; Lenin Goes to the Finland Station. 7 : Ruptures, Mutinies, and Convoys. 8 : Mr. Wilson’s War. 10 : American Leviathan. 11 : Russia on the Brink. 13 : 1918: War and Peace and War Again. 14 : 1919: Grand Illusions. Herman writes with a smooth, flowing pen."
"1917 was a seminal year in the history of modern mankind, mainly due to Lenin and Wilson- two leaders who shaped many events whose influence and results are still to be seen today. In their case, it was their personalities and willpower that managed and succeeded to change the fate of perhaps hundreds of millions of people in the world. Both men were visionaries, utopians, who wanted to change the world by sweeping away everything that seemed to root the present in a corrupt and irredeemable past."
Best History of Medicine

At a time when surgery couldn’t have been more hazardous, an unlikely figure stepped forward: a young, melancholy Quaker surgeon named Joseph Lister, who would solve the deadly riddle and change the course of history. Focusing on the tumultuous period from 1850 to 1875, she introduces us to Lister and his contemporaries―some of them brilliant, some outright criminal―and takes us through the grimy medical schools and dreary hospitals where they learned their art, the deadhouses where they studied anatomy, and the graveyards they occasionally ransacked for cadavers. Fitzharris documents her hero’s long struggle against naysayers and rivals, as well as the setbacks he faced in his personal and professional life, in an engaging journey into the past. “ The Butchering Art is an absorbing medical and social history that will leave you feeling both enlightened and thankful to benefit from the advances Lister (and his wife) popularized.” ―Sarah Harrison Smith, Omnivoracious. The story it tells is one of abiding fascination” ― Jennifer Senior, The New York Times. "The Butchering Art is a formidable achievement ―a rousing tale told with brio, featuring a real-life hero worthy of the ages and jolts of Victorian horror to rival the most lurid moments of Wilkie Collins" ―John J. Ross, The Wall Street Journal. "In The Butchering Art , Lindsey Fitzharris becomes our Dante, leading us through the macabre hell of nineteenth-century surgery to tell the story of Joseph Lister, the man who solved one of medicine's most daunting and lethal puzzles. With gusto, Dr. Fitzharris takes us into the operating theaters of yore as Lister awakens to the true nature of the killer that turned so many surgeries into little more than slow-moving executions. ― Erik Larson, bestselling author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City "With an eye for historical detail and an ear for vivid prose, Lindsey Fitzharris tells a spectacular story about one of the most important moments in the history of medicine: the rise of sterile surgery. It will make you forever grateful to Joseph Lister, the man who saved us from the horrors of pre-antiseptic surgery, and to Lindsey Fitzharris, who brings to life the harrowing and deadly sights, smells, and sounds of a nineteenth-century hospital." ―Caitlin Doughty, bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity " The Butchering Art is a brilliant and gripping account of the almost unimaginable horrors of surgery and postoperative infection before Joseph Lister transformed it all with his invention of antisepsis. It is the story of one of the truly great men of medicine and of the triumph of humane scientific method and dogged persistence over dogmatic ignorance." [Fitzharris] infuses her thoughtful and finely crafted examination of this [antiseptic] revolution with the same sense of wonder and compassion Lister himself brought to his patients, colleagues, and students . ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fitzharris knows how to engage readers in fascinating and shocking details about medical history .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The author's writing style makes the narrative flow and helps you feel immersed in the time (for better or worse depending on how squeamish you might be) while still conveying such a vital piece of history and not overindulging in the gruesome parts."
"Dr. Fitzharris has a talent for bringing gruesome and weird medical history to life and The Butchering Art is no exception."
"It is filled with interesting and thought provoking information."
"Enjoyable and informative read."
"Fantastic book for those interested in surgery in the Victorian era..."
"Looking through the hardback copy, there is an index in the back and around 30 pages of notes on where the research came from!"
"I've been in a decade-long reading slump, but received Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris' The Butchering Art in the mail earlier today and haven't been able to put it down!"
"It didn't take long for me to be sucked right into this book."
Best WWII Biographies

When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author— Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.” — People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.” —The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.” —The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.” —The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.” — Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . nothing less than a marvel.” — Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.” —Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010 : From Laura Hillenbrand, the bestselling author of Seabiscuit , comes Unbroken , the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I read it about 5 years ago, before the current movie was started & before Louis Zampirini died."
"I read this book over the course of a week and found it immensely pleasurable to read."
"I love Torrance and there is an interesting story about a letter being sent all around the world before it actually gets to Torrance from Japan. The book leaves littlle out when following Louis Zamperini as he grows up, goes to the Olympics then is in the military in WWII."
"I do not care for historical non-fiction books but Laura Hillenbrand brought this book into the most realistic and factual story about an American hero in WWII in the Pacific who's plane gets shot down, survives in a raft for 47 days in shark-infested waters, and captured by the brutal Japanese. I am so happy that they have made a movie and I only hope that it will truly reflect what the author was trying to convey in her story of Louie."
"Edward Herrmann's masterful narration of 'Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption' takes you through the lifelong journey of Louie Zamperini from a troubled youth, Olympic competitor, prisoner of war, and prisoner of his own mind. The best line to describe this story without spoiling the plot is to use a couple of lines from the book itself, "The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when they make their tormentors suffer [...] Louie had chained himself, once again, to his tyrant.""
Best Vietnam War Biographies

General Moore and Joseph Galloway, the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, have interviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the North Vietnamese commanders. This devastating account rises above the specific ordeal it chronicles to present a picture of men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have found unimaginable only a few hours earlier. “A GUT-WRENCHING ACCOUNT OF WHAT WAR IS REALLY ALL ABOUT, which should be ‘must’ reading for all Americans, especially those who have been led to believe that war is some kind of Nintendo game.”. –GENERAL H. NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found the book to be interesting."
"Excellent Book for those of you who enjoy military readings."
"After 40 plus years of vague thoughts built on scattered memories I can finally come to a conclusion on what I and everyone like myself experienced during this period of our country's involvement overseas."
"I felt obligated to read the follow up status paragraphs of the soldiers in Col. Moore's battalion at the end of the book even though it was written 20 years ago."
"Something about reading this excellent novel on a paper book that has dog-eared pages and worn cover, with yellowing paper makes it more, well more enjoyable, brings it more to life, it seems to get you closer to the soldiers in the book reading it the way they would."
"I've watched the movie, but the book explains the events in a slightly different way and along a different time line."
"Vivid account of America's first big engagement in Vietnam war."
"Excellent first hand account with lessons learned."
Best Afghan & Iraq War Biographies

The uplifting and unforgettable true story of a US Marine, the stray dog he met on an Afghan battlefield, and how they saved each other and now travel America together, "spreading the message of stubborn positivity." A poignant and inspiring tale of hope, resilience, and optimism, with a timeless message at its heart—"it is not what happens to us that matters, but how we respond to it"— Craig & Fred is a shining example of the power of love to transform our hearts and our lives. Fred not only stole Craig’s heart; he won over the RECON fighters, who helped Craig smuggle the dog into heavily fort-ified Camp Leatherneck.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Another great read, this marine had a lot to worry about yet he made time for the dog."
"I had looked at it at a big named bookstore but, I ordered it from Amazon and saved $12."
"What a great book."
"loved the book and the story I know several ex military that have PTSD and for them it is hard to let anyone know happy to see how Craig was able to cope because of the love he had for Fred."
"Highly, highly recommend."
"Bought this as a gift for my father, he's not a huge dog liver but i figured the story was one he'd enjoy."
"A lovely story about a man and a dog in a very scary place."
"A well written book giving insight into the life of a Marine, on the battlefield and off, and the sustenance the Marine (Craig) found in an Afghan street dog (Fred)."