The Drillmaster of Valley Forge:
The Baron De Steuben and the Making of the American Army

I’m about halfway through. VERY good stuff.

We Are Soldiers Still

By Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway

If you read We Were Soldiers Once, And Young, then this is a must read. Follow-up to the account of one of the bloodiest battles of the Viet Nam war – 1^st Cav almost over-run and wiped out by N. Vietnamese regulars. Marred by Gen. Moore’s attack in the final chapter on President Bush, but still a great read.

The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871

It’s amazing how little we know about what happened in Europe in the 1800s. Completing my own education.

We the People
The Story of the Constitution

By Lynne Cheney

Just came in today. Looks very good. I’ll be reviewing it for Greenleaf later.

Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out

Created by 108 Renowned Authors and Illustrators

Also came in today. Also looks very good

The Lodger Shakespeare:
His Life on Silver Street

By Charles Nicholl

Fascinating – if you’re interested in Shakespeare. If you’re not, this will seem much ado about very little

Mysteries of the Middle Ages:
And the Beginning of the Modern World

By Thomas Cahill

A great disappointment – How the Irish Saved Civilization is brilliant. This seems contrived and self-indulgent.

The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher: A Novel

By Rob Stennett

Brilliant. Outrageously funny. Provocative. What if a realtor joined a church in order to market himself to Christians – knowing that he, himself, is NOT a Christian – and wound up planting his own mega-church?

The Professor and the Madman:
A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

By Simon Winchester

The OED story is fascinating, in and of itself. Mix in a mysterious retired American military officer who has contributed 1,000’s of quotations and you have a most intriguing story.

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945

By Max Hastings

We know the story of D-Day, so we think we know the story of how Germany was defeated. The year-long battle was harrowing, terrifying, and apocalyptic in the East. Frightening stories from soldiers & civilians describing what happened at ground level. Well-written

Triple Cross:
How bin Laden’s Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI–and Why Patrick Fitzgerald Failed to Stop Him

By Peter Lance

The title explains it all. Truly frightening and maddening story about how security in the US was compromised. Shows something of the caliber and planning of Al Qaeda. Well-documented and researched.

Islam At The Gates:
How Christendom Defeated the Ottoman Turks

By Diane Moczar

This has happened before.

Economics in One Lesson:
The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics

By Henry Hazlitt

Consider the consequences of policy for everyone – and long-term as well short-term.

With numerous examples of what goes wrong when you don’t!

Homeschool: An American History

By Milton Gaither

From colonial to modern times, with an emphasis on the modern movement – by a Professor of Education who is NOT a homeschooler, but not wholly unsympathetic to the movement. Pretty fair treatment of both secular and religious groups.

Why We’re Not Emergent:
By Two Guys Who Should Be

By Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

Cause the Emergent guys are squishy on the Bible, the creeds, and anything that might put them in that embarrassing “Christian” box.

I Was Vermeer:
The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century’s Greatest Forger

By Frank Wynne

Turns out he fooled lots of museums and collectors. And they don’t want to know or find out that their prize possession is a forgery. Scary.

What Hath God Wrought:
The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)

By Daniel Walker Howe

Serious history. VERY well-written, thorough and comprehensive. If you want to understand the transition from the founders to the Civil War era, there is no better book.

Climate Change
(DK Eyewitness Books)

By John Woodward

Opposition research.