Best Historical Middle Eastern Biographies
Remember Us is a look back at the lost world of the shtetl: a wise Zayde offering prophetic and profound words to his grandson, the rich experience of Shabbos, and the treasure of a loving family. “. [T]his terse immediate memoir of a Polish Jew is a gripping read, with the haunting personal detail of what Small witnessed and what he escaped....the narrative as a whole, based on talks to audiences across the country and to coauthor Shayne before Small’s recent death at age 91, is unforgettable, particularly the account of meeting with the American who saved Small in Mauthausen, when he weighed less than 70 pounds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It was a very captivating story."
"And daily, remember that it can, and will, happen again when we turn our faces away from the incipient signs of organised intolerance and prejudice of any kind...when we surround ourselves with the tissue paper comfort blanket of "but it could never happen here.""
"I have learned so much from reading book."
"This book is heartbreaking and uplifting."
"Thank God Mr. Small was able to rebuild his life."
"Considering world events the last couple years, it's imperative that we educate ourselves about how the Holocaust came to be, and what happened."
"While this book is not written like an epic novel it is a real life account by a survivor of the worse atrocities ever inflicted on human kind."
"Quite a tribute to perseverance."
In gripping, never-before-heard detail, President Bush brings readers inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq; and behind the Oval Office desk for his historic and controversial decisions on the financial crisis, Hurricane Katrina, Afghanistan, Iran, and other issues that have shaped the first decade of the 21st century. Cocky, defiant, and, at times (especially when speaking about his family), emotional, this is the George Bush who insists that “everybody” believed there were weapons of mass destruction, that much of the blame for the post-Katrina fiasco should be put on Louisiana’s local governments, and that Harriet Miers would have made a fine Supreme Court justice, given the chance. Those who have followed Bush and his presidency will find many of the personal stories here familiar (how he stopped drinking; his whirlwind romance with Laura), but there are some fascinating reveals as well, including his affection for Ted Kennedy, his sometimes-complicated relationship with Dick Cheney, and his read-between-the-lines digs at Colin Powell. .” Bush, smartly dividing the book into themes rather than telling the story chronologically, offers readers a genuine (and highly readable) look at his thought processes as he made huge decisions that will affect the nation and the world for decades.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's clever, funny, engaging, and so very informative while maintaining the honor and respect one would expect from the president."
"If you like the guy or not, you'll get to hear his perspective as he rolled from one bad situation to another during his time in office."
"Recommended for anyone who is a fan of George W. Bush or anyone who wants some inside perspective."
"I appreciated this book explaining his reasons for some of his decisions."
"I liked the book and the limited inside information W provides but would have preferred more detail on many of the more difficult decisions he faced."
"I never quite followed american politics until Obama became president but this book has given me great insight into American politics."
"I liked his honesty and candidness about his two terms."
"In Iraq we had a twoflold purpose, to find wmds and find a cruel dictator."
The Prime Ministers presents first-hand accounts of major historical events, including: Menachem Begin’s decision to bomb Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor; Yitzhak Rabin’s handling of the Entebbe rescue mission; the Egypt-Israel peace process; the shelling of the Irgun arms ship, the Altalena, and Deir Yessin. It offers keen observations of key personalities, and unforgettable descriptions of political rivalries, diplomatic blunders, White House and Buckingham Palace banquets and more, to bring Israel’s history to life in a way no book has done before. This often-fascinating insider’s account of the careers and personalities of these leaders is a semiautobiographical rendering of Avner’s own experiences during critical episodes in Israeli history, especially during the War of Independence. Overall, this book provides valuable insights into many of the key events and personalities in the history of Israel.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"While Avner worked for all the prime ministers mentioned above, he worked longest for Menachem Begin, and more than half the book is about Begin: from his early years working against the British to help Israel gain independence, his years living underground so as to keep the British from arresting him, his political fights with left-wing adversaries, and his seemingly come-from-behind political victory and years as prime minister. I was moved to learn much I did not know about Begin, in particular, his ability to put Jewish brotherhood above any personal or political end: while he could easily have held a grudge against Rabin, who ordered the Palmach to fire on the ship the Altalena, from which Begin was sailing with other Irgun fighters, Begin never withheld support while Rabin was prime minister during wartime."
"Mr. Avner, who served under four Israeli Prime Ministers - Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzchak Rabin, and Menachem Begin - through several wars, including the major 1967 Six Day War and 1973 Yom Kippur War - shares the innermost thoughts and emotions of these outstanding leaders of the small, precarious nation. Although no Shakespeare, with apologies to Mr. Avner (he "Shakespearized" speeches for Begin), the book is a very well written, fast read."
"The Prime Ministers is a warm, engaging, compelling, very well written, and highly human memoir of an author whose portrayal of people and events is so moving as to make you want to meet him as much as the interesting, significant, and critically important people that he writes about."
"Given the author, Yehuda Avner, worked for and with the four Prime Ministers on which the book focuses, the reader gets a first hand look at the surface history but more intriguing the background and depth of insight only someone deeply involved in the center of decision making during those years can deliver."
Best Historical European Biographies
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Read this book, read this book."
"Those that had developed purpose and meaning to the harsh conditions got out of bed every morning to face another unbearable day."
"Frankl is able to find meaning in a concentration camp."
"One of the best works you can take in."
"Life would have been easier if I had read this book sooner in life."
"A little twist of ideas as to why some people survive the worst and why others don't survive medium bad."
"If you're a student of any religion or ideology trying to figure out how to reach a point where you can take control of your own experience of life, and truly see the world from your internal perspective rather than from your external perspective this is an invaluable text for you to read through."
"The second part of the book is an analysis of logotherapy and a description of Frankl's studies on the subject."
Best Middle Eastern Literature
For after they learn that Selva is but one of their fellow citizens trapped in France, a handful of brave Turkish diplomats hatch a plan to spirit the Alfandaris and hundreds of innocents, many of whom are Jewish, to safety. Highly recommended.” – Historical Novel Review “Kulin, a bestselling Turkish author, has penned this brilliant novel using the techniques of historical fiction.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's great to read and learn about the WW II experience and actions of a country other than England, France, Germany, and the US. It's to be hoped that this book will inspire the country to remain true to its commitment to its citizens of all faiths -- something that can't be taken for granted today. As to the story, it's principally about 2 sisters who took different paths in life - one with a traditionally-accepted marriage with social prestige and the other who chose a Jewish man and was disowned by her family."
"In Turkey they were well received and there was (and is) no antisemitism, but it is not tolerated that a high society muslim girl should marry a Jewish man, even if he comes from such a special origin. The history describes the enormous efforts of the Turkish diplomats to organize this special train which during a very long and dangerous journey through several countries finally deposits the Turks safely in Istanbul."
"The suspense of the story was if or when this train car might depart France and then if it would arrive safely in France."
"The question of How is the Author's Writing is awkward, because I felt most of the problems in the writing were translation rather than original writer."
"The collaborating Vichy government of France were rounding up Jews for deportation but Turkey demanded that those 476 people were their citizens and therefore under their protection. The journey across Europe was dangerous and its successful completion depended upon the fact that Turkey stuck to its position that all its citizens, regardless of origin or religion, were equal and deserved protection."
Best Egyptian History
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (P.S.)
Lucette Lagnado's father, Leon, is a successful Egyptian businessman and boulevardier who, dressed in his signature white sharkskin suit, makes deals and trades at Shepherd's Hotel and at the dark bar of the Nile Hilton. Deprived of wealth, status, and any means of coping, Lagnados father fades, but he never loses his air of chivalry, manifested in a regular outflow of tiny checks to charitable causesorphanages, vocational schools, and dowry funds for poor girlsoverseas. Dashing man-about-town Leon Lagnado, who kept to his carousing ways even after marrying a beautiful women 22 years his junior, was enraptured at the age of 55 by the author, his fourth child; affectionately called Loulou, she became her father's companion, even at temple services and the Nile Hilton bar.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Excellent description of middle class class life in Cairo, Egypt, prior to, and after the revolution which ousted the King and replaced him with a Military Junta, that eventually turned on the middle class and especially the Jews."
"It is biographical, following the lives of the Lagnado family from the 1950's to present as they regressed from a privileged life in Egypt to poverty as immigrants in America."
"First we learn that the "man in the White Sharkskin suit" takes his Aleppo Syrian Jewish tradition to. cosmopolitan Cairo which he adopted as his dream town. Like the majority of immigrants with no help from already adapted families, the gentleman from Cairo sought refuge in a Jewish neighborhood where he could find the food he was used to, even the ground floor apartment and the temple needed according to his Aleppo Jewish version.Like many, he and his wife remained immigrants while his sons and worse his oldest daughter moved out."
"Such a struggle for young people to embrace both worlds: the new while maintaining traditions of the old."
"The family forced to immigrate was wealthy and lived a life of privilege in Egypt, but more importantly, the reader gets a glimpse of how it is to live with close family ties and ancient traditions as well."
"I learned a lot historically, never realizing that Egypt had a large Jewish population and that Cairo was such a vibrantly modern city. It was heartbreaking that the family had to leave their homeland as well off financially people and to come to America and struggle for the rest of their lives."
"She explained that she had been spoiled and privileged growing up but the air of entitlement took away a lot of sympathy for the family."
Best Historical Asian Biographies
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK The remarkable story of James Howard “Billy” Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world’s largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill. Billy Williams came to colonial Burma in 1920, fresh from service in World War I, to a job as a “forest man” for a British teak company. In a Hollywood-worthy climax, Elephant Company, cornered by the enemy, attempted a desperate escape: a risky trek over the mountainous border to India, with a bedraggled group of refugees in tow. Elephant Bill’s exploits would earn him top military honors and the praise of famed Field Marshal Sir William Slim. Blending biography, history, and wildlife biology, [Vicki Constantine] Croke’s story is an often moving account of [Billy] Williams, who earned the sobriquet ‘Elephant Bill,’ and his unusual bond with the largest land mammals on earth.” —The Boston Globe “Some of the biggest heroes of World War II were even bigger than you thought. Billy Williams is an extraordinary character, a real-life reverse Tarzan raised in civilization who finds wisdom and his true self living among jungle beasts. Vicki Constantine Croke delivers an exciting tale of this elephant whisperer–cum–war hero, while beautifully reminding us of the enduring bonds between animals and humans.” —Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time. But as soon as I began to read Elephant Company, I realized that not only was my heart safe, but that this book is about far more than just the war, or even elephants. Elephant Company is nothing less than a sweeping tale, masterfully written.” —Sara Gruen, The New York Times Book Review “Splendid . Blending biography, history, and wildlife biology, [Vicki Constantine] Croke’s story is an often moving account of [Billy] Williams, who earned the sobriquet ‘Elephant Bill,’ and his unusual bond with the largest land mammals on earth.” —The Boston Globe “Some of the biggest heroes of World War II were even bigger than you thought. “ Elephant Company is as powerful and big-hearted as the animals of its title. Vicki Constantine Croke delivers an exciting tale of this elephant whisperer–cum–war hero, while beautifully reminding us of the enduring bonds between animals and humans.” —Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time “The true-life heroics of Elephant Company during World War II highlight how animals and humans together can achieve extraordinary things. This is a wonderful read.” —Elizabeth Letts, author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion “A spellbinding, true story of elephantine and human courage, set in one of the Earth’s most exotic jungles during the Second World War, Elephant Company is a triumph that will make you cheer!” —Sy Montgomery, author of The Good Good Pig and Journey of the Pink Dolphins.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The author certainly gives you a clear picture of the time and place."
"This book is a must if you have any interest in elephants, history, conflict and people."
"I love elephants, so I loved this book."
"I am just sick that poachers are killing elephants off in such large numbers thst they may soon be extinct."
"It is the story of animal-lover James Howard Williams, his wife, and also a remarkable bull elephant called Bandoola."
"This book does not have much information about WW II in Burma (actually the middle section of the book describing war strategy in some detail is probably the least interesting part)."
"This book takes the reader on a most unusual adventure and it is NON FICTION."
"I loved this book, the man, the elephants. I have heard an interview of the author of another book about elephants, claim to have discovered. all sort of things about elephants."
Best Historical African Biographies
Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Mandela began his autobiography during the course of his 27 years in prison.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book was probably the fastest/easiest read I have had because it was so easy to just keep on reading."
"This is an excellent read."
"Most of the time I picked that up through the name or context, but occasionally I read for several chapters before discovering that a trusted person was white. This book should be read slowly, over several months, in order to absorb a multitude of facts, and the growth of the man who wrote it."
"AThis is a stunning book."
"I think this a must read for those you need insight the importance of undertaking the struggle to gain freedom and independence for a deprived and discriminated majority."
"I am planning to visit south Africa it has been my dream for years , what a great man he was chosen by God I will always have respect for him."
"His personal freedom and rights were curtailed and he saw it happening to all his people."
"I knew the basics of Mandela's life--his exceptional intelligence, his fight against apartheid, his long incarceration, his Nobel Prize for Peace. He studied the philosophical underpinnings of all sorts of governments, particularly those of the National Party that ruled South Africa during his years of prison."
Best Historical Canadian Biographies
The historical record is unclear on whether Champlain was baptized Protestant or Catholic, but he fought in France's religious wars for the man who would become Henri IV, one of France's greatest kings, and like Henri, he was religiously tolerant in an age of murderous sectarianism. Sailing frequently between France and Canada, he maneuvered through court intrigue in Paris and negotiated among more than a dozen Indian nations in North America to establish New France. Throughout his three decades in North America, Champlain remained committed to a remarkable vision, a Grand Design for France's colony. Fischer, Pulitzer Prize–winner for Washington's Crossing , has produced the definitive biography of Samuel de Champlain (1567–1635): spy, explorer, courtier, soldier, sailor, ethnologist, mapmaker, and founder and governor of New France (today's Quebec), which he founded in 1608. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Throughout, the author maintains a professional interest in separating fact from fiction: "Because he is a rigorous historian, not a historical novelist, [Fischer] is always scrupulous about drawing a firm line between facts and inferences," claims the reviewer for the New York Times Book Review .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"By uncovering Champlain's life, Fischer teaches us a grand overview of an era of French history, the founding of Canada, and, most importantly, the contrast of Champlain's approach to the New World as compared that of the Spanish, Dutch and English. It caused me to ponder how different the history of the United States might have been had we had more people like Champlain among the founding fathers and framers of the Constitution."
"One of my favorite aspects of the paperback version is all the maps and images included in the text. I'm not sure if this is an Amazon problem or a publisher problem, but the maps need to be very high res for them to be useful to the reader."
"It must be pretty daunting for an author to sit down and start writing a biography of a man whose date of birth is unknown and whose image survives only in artists' and sculptors' imaginings, all of them likely a good deal off the mark."
Best Historical Latin American Biographies
In Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee , Michael Korda, the New York Times bestselling biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, and T. E. Lawrence, has written the first major biography of Lee in nearly twenty years, bringing to life one of America's greatest, most iconic heroes. One hundred and forty-four years after his death, Lee is still widely revered in both North and South for his tactical military brilliance and his personal qualities of courage, honor, and kindness. Korda, the former editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster and an acclaimed biographer, has no intention of knocking Lee off his pedestal in this excellent and generally laudatory biography. Korda stresses Lee’s accomplishments even before the Civil War as a brilliant, visionary engineer and an expert at military maneuvers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"He was a very highly educated man , with a great family and family ties to George Washington."
"Very informative."
"Very sympathetic portrayal of Lee."
"Superbly written."
"Excellent historical review of the life of Robert E Lee."
"Great book, well written."
"Well done book based upon life of Robert E. Lee and contemporaries."
Best Historical U.S. Biographies
“To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.” Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. Building on biographies by Richard Brookhiser and Willard Sterne Randall , Ron Chernows Alexander Hamilton provides what may be the most comprehensive modern examination of the often overlooked Founding Father. From the start, Chernow argues that Hamiltons premature death at age 49 left his record to be reinterpreted and even re-written by his more long-lived enemies, among them: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe. Chernow delves into the almost 22,000 pages of letters, manuscripts, and articles that make up Hamiltons legacy to reveal a man with a sophisticated intellect, a romantic spirit, and a late-blooming religiosity. Chernow argues that in contrast to Jefferson and Washingtons now outmoded agrarian idealism, Hamilton was "the prophet of the capitalist revolution" and the true forebear of modern America.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Jefferson and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Madison and Adams, are portrayed as deeply flawed individuals who happened to have a few good points. If one were to count the negatively loaded adjectives and verbs accorded to Hamilton’s three main opponents, they would vastly outnumber any positive linguistic connotations. Jefferson’s and Madison’s hypocrisy and the foibles of John Adam’s personality notwithstanding, the concerns expressed were often genuine ones at that time about what kind of country the United States would be and how the Constitution should be interpreted. The possibility that the Jeffersonians may have had a point gets lost in Chernow’s constant barrage of claims about duplicity, hypocrisy and malevolent intentions."
"Ron Chernow makes up for the lack of attention Alexander Hamilton has received in the past by offering us an epic and detailed account of his life and work. Chernow informs readers at the beginning that he has taken liberties to update some of the language and spelling in these primary sources. He was a prolific writer, drowning his enemies in a deluge of words – but on many occasions that meant writing when he should have kept silent. We could all learn much from Alexander Hamilton, in both his triumphs and his failures, and Chernow makes him marvelously accessible to us."
"Alexander Hamilton is an action packed historical adventure (800+ pages worth) retelling of an ambitious career with personal struggle, numerous political achievements, constitution building documents, love life, family history all extensively researched by author Ron Chernow."
"What a biography."
"The book was interesting, but I decided it was not exactly what I consider "light" reading."
"The author provides detailed information about Washington and Hamilton and the bond that grew between them, about their tenacity and determination to build a lasting foundation on which the US would develop, and about the stark differences in opinion between the two parties that existed from the very beginning."
Best Military & War Biographies
His business ventures had ended dismally, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. More important, he sought freedom and justice for black Americans, working to crush the Ku Klux Klan and earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass, who called him “the vigilant, firm, impartial, and wise protector of my race.” After his presidency, he was again brought low by a dashing young swindler on Wall Street, only to resuscitate his image by working with Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which are recognized as a masterpiece of the genre. “This is a good time for Ron Chernow’s fine biography of Ulysses S. Grant to appear… As history, it is remarkable, full of fascinating details sure to make it interesting both to those with the most cursory knowledge of Grant’s life and to those who have read his memoirs or any of several previous biographies… For all its scholarly and literary strengths, this book’s greatest service is to remind us of Grant’s significant achievements at the end of the war and after, which have too long been overlooked and are too important today to be left in the dark… As Americans continue the struggle to defend justice and equality in our tumultuous and divisive era, we need to know what Grant did when our country’s very existence hung in the balance. Just as he did with George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Chernow brings Ulysses S. Grant to life. Grant now lands in the middle, thanks to his extraordinarily progressive work on race relations….Ron Chernow’s 1,100-page biography may crown Grant’s restoration….Mr. Chernow argues persuasively that Grant has been badly misunderstood.”— The Economist “Chernow writes definitive biography of Ulysses S. Grant… [An] essential read… restores Grant to the pantheon of great Americans.”— Newsday “A landmark work….Chernow impressively examines Grant’s sensitivities and complexities and helps us to better understand an underappreciated man and underrated president who served his country extraordinarily well…. “Full of personal and professional insights into a president and military leader that readers will find simultaneously flawed, relatable, and inspiring.” — Money Magazine “Reading Ron Chernow's new biography, a truly mammoth examination of the life of Ulysses S. Grant, one is struck by the humanity - both the pitiful frailty and the incredible strength - of its subject.”— Philadelphia Inquirer. “Masterful and often poignant .… Chernow's gracefully written biography, which promises to be the definitive work on Grant for years to come, is fully equal to the man's remarkable story.”— Minneapolis Star Tribune “Reading this compelling book, it’s hard to imagine that we’ll continue to define Grant by these scandals rather than all he accomplished in winning the war and doing his best to make peace, on inclusive terms that would be fair to all.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Chernow’s biography is replete with fascinating details and insightful political analysis, a combination that brings Grant and his time to life….
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Chernow does away with rumor, gossip, mystery, and myth to give us Grant the boy, the youth, the young lieutenant, the general, the president, the seer, and finally the greatest American memoir writer of the 19th Century."
"Chernow reminds us of the personal connections of the generals of both the North and South- Grant attended West Point and fought in the Mexican War alongside William T. Sherman, Robert E Lee, and a veritable who's who of later Civil War leaders. While Lincoln is remembered in American history as the President who ended slavery, readers of Grant will see that President U.S. Grant should be remembered as a tireless proponent of civil rights and militant enemy of the Ku Klux Klan. Chernow doesn't turn away from Grant's failures in civilian life: his poverty before rejoining the army for the Civil War, his constant struggle with alcoholism, or Grant's repeated mistakes in trusting the wrong people in matters of finance- and occasionally in government."
"I have always been a history buff, having read most of Mr Chernow’s previous books and many more, but this book changed my mind on a number of issues and convinced me that I had not given Mr Grant the acclaim he is due. The appropriate analogy, I believe,is that if Mr Lincoln was the engineer driving the ship of state during the war, Mr Grant was certainly the train plugging through and getting the work done."