The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation

The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation by John Lancaster. This is the story of the 1919 air race across the US, this was a race that was simultaneously from San Francisco to New York, and from New York to San Francisco. So two sets of planes took off simultaneouly from each coach, and passed each other on the way to their destintations. That in itself is a whacky enough idea, but the organizer of the event, Billy Mitchell, at practically the last minute decided to make it a round trip race. He did this in order to not have pay for the pilots and their planes to get back home.

Mitchell was a WW1 flying veteran and a member of the military administration for a long period, very forward thinking but also a risk taker with other people's lives. Most of the planes in the race were WW1 surplus and many of the pilots were veterans of WW1. Many people died participating in the race, many planes crashed and many people's reputations were established by participating in the race.

This book along with Into the Silence and the Moth and the Mountain have an intersection that is interesting. While early flight and 1920s Himalyan mountain climbing might not appear to have a lot in common, the people involved in them do. So many of these men were WW1 vets at a time long before PTSD was diagnosed. For many it seems that the manic pace and high risk of their lives may have been their own reaction to the horrors of participating in 'the Great War'. That would be an interesting research project.

Into the Silence

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis. As the subtitle describes this is the story of attempted conquest of Everest in the early 1920s by three british expreditions, lead by Mallory and of course not successfull. The story that so many involved in these expeditions were veterans of WW1 is interesting and a major part of the story. The attempt to apply Alpine mountairing techniques to the climbing of the Himalayas is a natural progression for climbers who honed their skills in the Alps. But ultimately was not adequate for the very different conditions of the Himalayas and especially Everest. Technology was tried and started to be perfected, but was not trusted or utilized to its full capabilities. Added to this was the issue of going into countries where it was tough to get permissions, and to areas where Europeans had never been. This is a very thorough narrative and covers everything from travel issues to the class system in the UK at the time that really dictated who was going to be allowed to go on these expeditions.

Cuba: An American History

Cuba: An American History, by Ada Ferrer. A comprehensive history of Cuba, from Columbus to the present time. This very thorough history provides great information on how Cuba became the Cuba of today. Very long trials as a Spanish colony, long history of slavery that was very contentious. The main point the author is making is about the history of Cuba in relation to the US. The US wanted to take possession of Cuba right from the beginning, and this relationshiop shaped Cuba.

The Moth and the Mountain

The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar. We were in a book store a few weeks ago and i saw a book titled 'The Moth and the Mountain'. My first thought was I wonder if the moth is a Dehavalland moth. I picked up the book and it was about the plane! The plane of the title was a Gypsy Moth, and the mountain is Everest.

I 1933 this crazy englishman decided he would fly from England to Everest and climb the mountain solo. He did not know how to fly and was not a mountaineer.

But, he bought a used Gyspy Moth, took flying lessons for two months and the flew all the way to the border of Nepal. There he could not get permits to go further so he disguised himself as an Indian priest and walked the rest of the way to Everest. He actually got pretty far up the mountain, but on his second try he died of exposure. But it is a great story and so funny that Dehavalland biplane was a big part of it.

Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War

Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War by Jeff Shesol. This is the story of the US space program, basically from Sputnik to John Glenn's orbiting the earth. Lots of info on the 'space race' with the Soviets and the battle for funding for the US program. A lot of this book focuses on John Glen, his background and his family life. Covers much of the same period as the book and movie 'The Right Stuff' but without the dramatics, more of the nuts and bolts of the space program. For people already familiar with the history of the space program, the author does not spend time explaining things he knows his audience is already familiar with.

Travels With George

Travels With George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick. The author retraces the route that Washingto took at the beginning of his presidency to traverse the original 13 states, test the attitude of the country and promote his federalists ideas. Interesting travelogue and comparisons of Washington's time and now, seeing what is still the same, which is more than you would think, but of course what has changed.

The Car

The Car by Bryan Appleyard. This comprehensive book is a history of, well the car. The author takes us from the early 1800s when the horse was dominant, through the present day and the advent of the electric car. In many ways this is a rehash of stories that we have heard before if you followed the story of autos, Benz, Ford, Chevy, all the names we know. But the writing style is friendly and engaging. Every age has its issues, from the tons of horse manure that inundated cities before the car, to the environmental issues that are coming to light with the rise of the electric car. This book is best read while sitting in front of a computer so you can google the names of cars that the author brings up for different eras. Cars in culture, as status symbols, as liberating machines, in war, as style setters, cars in film, as changing the makeup of how we live and work. While there may be nothing new in this volume, it is comprehensive and weaves together a story that is ever changing and that we are in the middle of living.

No Ordinary Time

No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Supposedly about the US home front in WW2, this is really about Franklin and Eleanor during the war. Which is ok but it gets to be a bit much of them. Many stories of the amazing energy they had, in many ways astounding. It would been nice to have more of other peoples stories. An interesting companion to the books 'Citizens of London' and 'The Splendid and the Vile'.

Citizens of London

Citizens of London by Lynne Olson. This book covers the same time period as "The Splendid and the Vile", 1940 and 1941 London. But where Spendid focuses on Churchill and the British leadership and their set, Citizens focuses on the Americans who were in London for this period. Specifically Averill Harriman, Lend Lease coordinator, Gil Winant, American Ambassodor to Britain and Edward Murrow, war correspondent. Of course Churchill shows up in this book, since he was everywhere during the blitz. The author focuses on the different personalities of the main charecters, and the contrast between living in London with its deprevations and the American experience of the War on the home front, which were basically polar opposites.

The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham

The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham by Ron Shelton. This is the account of the making of the film by the screenwriter and director Shelton. It can be interesting at times, Shelton gives his background as a minor league baseball player when he was in his twenties, an experience that let him mine for the development of the script. There are lots of stories of the studio not supporting the film, which has gone on to become a classic. Shelton is very generous to the actors in the film. He does become bogged down at time with some of the details of the eperience, which feels like it might be a positive thing for him to get off his chest, but slows things down. I skipped over several parts, basically in the second half of the book.

A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger

A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger is a chronicle of the mayorship of Ed Rendell as mayor of Philadelphia in the 1990s, basically the Clinton years. As mayor he came into a city that was a mess, broke, losing jobs, crime ridden and he was able to turn a lot around, but this is a complicated story that is told in a way that you can take apart the pieces and get it. Also the story of the many people in his administration who did the foot work to make things happen.

In addition to the specifics of what was happening in Philadelphia, there is an analysis of the state of the American city, the flight to the suburbs and all the implications of the loss of manufacturing jobs and how that had vast implications for social conditions and the consequences that were involved. This is woven into the larger picture of the Clinton era and how this affected many people.

This is also told from the perspective of many people, not just the mayor, but average people, some who worked for the city, inner city residents of various socio-economic backgrounds, professions from lawyers to clergy to long shoremen.

The Palace Papers

The Palace Papers, by Tina Brown. As the cover image illustrates, this book is focused on the women of the royal family, but not exclusively. Everyone gets dished about equally. I did learn some new things about some of the royal family, much abour Meghan. But at a certain point I really did not want to spend more time with these people. A lot the writing about Prince Andrew I just skipped over. Ok the guy is an ass, I didn't need to know how his assiness manifests itself.

But Tina Brown is an excellent writer, and I was at times amazed by her vocabulary. This does not happen often with modern writers. In all I was really left with the 'what happens after she is gone', which is a major theme of the book.

In the Hurricane’s Eye

In the Hurricane’s Eye by Nathaniel Philbrick. Mostly about the sea battle commonly called the battle of the Chesapeake. This was pivotal battle leading up to Yorktown. Interesting that it was fought by the British and French navies, at the mouth of the Chesapeake to gain control of the estuary. It was a major revolutionary battle, and no American fought in it. Love getting a new piece of history.

There is a lot in the book about the relationship between the French and Americans. At least according to this author, without the French we never would have won the revolution, but mostly they fought since they were under orders, they really thought us a bunch of backwoods hicks. Which is probably not too far off.

It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lowery

It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lower Interesting history of early ACT UP development in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically a group of people called Gran Fury who were the graphic designers behind such initiatives as "Silence=Death" and other slogans. I found it an original approach to look at activists group through their design initiatives. Who knew that fonts could be so contentious. The first half of the book illustrates the early years and formative years of the group, which ultimately was not a large group. Mostly this is the story of a group of people and their stories and relationships, and many stories of people dying in the early days of no testing and very little treatment.

The second half bogs down as the story just starts to document who was fighting with whom and who was dating who and the story, as with the people, lose their edge. But all in all an original way to look at activists. There is some information about earlier activists movement like the civil rights movement and Vietnam war protesting, and movements that came later like Occupy Wall Street and Me Too.

Riverman by Ben McGrath

Riverman by Ben McGrath is the story of Dick Conant, an outsider character who disappeared attempting to canoe from Northern NY state to Florida along the east coast. He was an experienced river canoer who had completed several long distance canoe trips, and was very skilled at navigating water ways in the US. While it is an interesting story, the author had met Conant when he stopped by a neighbor’s house living on the Hudson. He apparently was a very sociable and charming man with great stories. When he disappeared, the author began a search for Conant, linking many stories from people he encountered. Unfortunately, the story bogs down in details, parts felt like the author was padding the story to add pages to the book. Another story of an adventurer who succumbed to the elements.

Ways and Means

Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War by Roger Lowenstein Interesting story of the financing of the civil war. Basically Lincoln and his treasury secretary Chase invented the modern US monetary system to finance the war. Before that all banking was decentralized in private banks in the states who issued their own money, they created the national banking system and a national currency.

Not having any knowledge of this subject, I found the first part of the book fascinating as it is described how Chase and Lincoln tried to figure out how to finance the growing civil war. The author does a great job of comparing the financing of the Union, with that of the Confederacy. This goes to the funamental differences of the Union being a centralized government of the states, and the confederacy being a collection of states with a weak central government. According to the author it was really the Civil War that created the country that is now the US, and solidified the national government as an entity that would influence all aspects of life.

One of the many aspects that is described is the liberation of the slaves and what their fate would be. The author anchors all aspects of this book with the impacts of the economics involved.

The book does get bogged down in some of the details of various aspects, as he tracks the entire path of the civil war. Railroads play prominently in this narrative and the expansion of the US. Lincoln's interest in the railroads goes back to his days as a lawyer, and he was instrumental in making sure the Union Pacific railroad was established to make the US a two ocean country. One sad aspect is the idea that Lincoln wanted to move to California after leaving the presidency.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson chronicles the first year that Winston Churchill was Prime Minister at the beginning of WW2. This was at a time that Hitler had overrun Europe and had turned his sites on defeating Britain in order to create a Nazi Europe. England was standing alone, as the US would not enter the war until the Japanese attached the US in December 1941.

This is a very thoroughly researched volume, the author had access to many diaries of major players on both sides of the conflict, so we recieve a very personal view of many major events of that year. The personal lives of the Churchills is provided in much detail, along wth the details of the Battle Britain and the massive bombing that GB had to endure.

Phantom Plague

Phantom Plague: HOW TUBERCULOSIS SHAPED HISTORY by Vidya Krishnan. This medical history is told in a very friendly way, without bogging down in medical terminilogy that is hard to understand. The author arges that TB is the deadliest disease in history and has been around for millenium. The first few chapters move quickly and are very interesting, with the history of medicine in the 1800s when attempts to reform doctors behaviour were met with lots of resistance. It is comical to our present time when trying to get people to wash their hands between performing procedures and seeing patience was laughed at. The development of germ theory and immunology is well told and provides a great overview of the medical field at that time.

The book bogs down as it moves into the history of individuals with TB and their attempts to get good treatment, and the details of the disease in India and.

Lost in the Valley of Death

Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad. This is the story of Justin Alexander Statler, climber and adventurer. This is another story of an American guy (they are always American and always guys) who pushed himself and the limits of mountaineering/exploring to the limit and was never heard from again. Referenced in this book is the story told in Into the Wild and I am also reminded of the story chronicled in the movie Alpanist. The people in these stories have a certain native talent, and acquired skills from their experiences in the environments that they are choosing. But is seems like the stories that make it into books and movies are always the stories about the ones who disapear never to be hear from again, or in the case of Into the Wild his body was found long after he had died.

From this I think of Ed Viesturs and Chris Bonington. Both people who in their 20s were captivated by mountain climbing, and who were able to develop this passion into a career as authors and speakers, so they could continue to be in the world of the mountains the loved, but could make a living and not have to contantly live broke and on the edge.

To be fair, Chris from Into the Wild was only 24 when he died and Marc in the Alpanist was 26, so maybe they did not live long enough to reach maturity. With many of these people there really should be considered issues of mental health. In Rustad's book he does touch, very briefly, on sexual abuse that happened to Justin when he was young, apparently twice. This aspect was not explored to try and define the underlying issues that drove Justin to taek risks and never be selted.

There is another book about a transforming journey, that is from another time and shows a different path. The book Dove by Robin Graham was published in 1972. This is the story of Graham sailing around the world in his boat the Dove, beginning in 1965 and finished the trip in 1970. This was a voyage of personal discovery and growth, and he came out of it being married and shortly after finishing the trip had a kid. Great story, many harrowing experiences but it was the story of growth and growing up, and at the end he transitioned to a settled, but not conventional life.