Looking back on the summer of 2024 from mid-August, I realized I'd read (or listened to) a series of history books. Here's a quick list.
Bomber Mafia, by Malcolm Gladwell. About the invention of bomber planes and how to use them, 1930s, 1940s. Many technological and social and character-driven surprises. (Includes a chapter on the invention of napalm.)
Those Angry Years (1938-1941), by Lynn Olson FDR versus Lindbergh; a dramatic and crazy era in politics that we often overlook. We forget, for example, that 30% of the country thought FDR was the worst president in history. Or that a now-forgotten pro-fascist book by Ann Lindbergh was a best seller.
Those Infernal Machines, by Steven Johnson. Steven Johnson is a prolific and beloved author of books about society and technology. Here, the society focuses on Anarchists and other forgotten political movements of the 1890s and early 1900s and the technology is...dynamite. Thousands of explosions and numerous assassinations. Vividly told.
Medieval Horizons, by Ian Mortimer. How much changed in life from 1000-1400 (society, war, religion, commerce, etc) and how it laid the foundation for the modern era 1500-forward.
###
And honorable mention to -
1932; Hoover and FDR. Scott Martelle. 1932 as a presidential election year. Hoover's doomed death-march across the summer to defeat.
1932: FDR and Hitler. by David Pietrusza. The story of the year from the US perspective and the German perspective, with the two leaders both on their ascent. How each did it.
1923: The Crisis of Democracy. Mark William Jones. A pivotal and active year in German history. Note there is also a book, "Germany 1923" (Hyperinflatioin and Hitler) which is by Volker Ullrich. And a book, "Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power" by Timothy Ryback.
