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.