Neptune's Fortune

Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire by Julian Sancton

This book chronicles a shipwreck of a Spanish treasure galleon that was taking treasure from south America to Spain when it was pursued and sunk by a contingent of British ships. What was different about this ship sinking is that it sunk fairly intact, unlike other ships that sunk at this time was that they other ships were sunk mostly by storms, and their cargo was spread over a large area. The fact that this sunk intact meant that they treasure sure be in one place. This was a well known treasure ship for many years, but the general knowledge was that it was in a location where it was not.

The author also spends a lot of time putting the ship in context by providing a history of Spanish colonialism in central and south America. The ship was found within the legal waters of Colombia, but when it was found Spain tried to assert that it was their ship so their treasure. However, the fact that there is no longer a Spanish empire took precedent over Spain's claim. The author also goes into the history of treasure hunters and the international laws that govern this kind of treasure.

Family of Spies

Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor by Christine Kuehn (Celadon Books 2025)

This may be considered hidden history, or maybe hidden in plain site. Fascinating and unusual story of a German family in the 1930s and 40s who ended up spying for the Japanese before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Kuehn family was in Germany, having no luck getting into good positions with the up and coming Nazis. Except one daughter, Rose, who was having an affair with Goebbels. Rose was adopted and turned out to be half Jewish. When this was found out it was arranged that the family would relocate to Hawaii and spy on the US military there for the Japanese. The Japanese paid them very well and they used the income to live large and bought real estate and entertained lavishly. In particular entertaining members of the American military, in order to get intel to pass on to the Japanese. They traveled occasionally to Japan to meet with officials. This went on from the mid 1930s through the 1940s until some of the family was arrested and tried.

It is amazing how open Honolulu was for so long that the father could drive around Oahu and take photos of military installations to pass on to the Japanese. The book is written by the granddaughter of the main spy, whose father never talked of his childhood in Hawaii. She was only able to start to get info on the family activities after enough time passed and documents were made available in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the many fascinating things this book reveals is that because of this spy family the Germans knew that Pearl Harbor was going to be attacked right from the time it was being planned.

The Six Loves of James I

The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell

This is an interesting history of Scottish and English history in the late 1500s and early 1600s. This is a complicated history and this book is good at helping to decipher all the moving parts. Here is the basic lineage that this book deals with: Henry VIII had two daughters that lived to adulthood. He did have one son, Edward VI who lived to be 15. His Daughters, Elizabeth and Mary lived to adulthood. Mary became Mary I, queen of Scots, AKA bloody Mary. Elizabeth became the long reigning Elizabeth the first.

Mary had a son, James in Scotland who became James the VI of Scotland and when Elizabeth I died childless James VI of Scotland was the nearest heir so became James I of England. This was a complicated and violent time for the British isles. Witchcraft was actively prosecuted and execution for many crimes was common.

In this history, of the six loves of James, 5 of them were male. At the time they were known as the king's 'favorites' and acted as his personnel 'entourage'. Many went on to gain prominent places in the hierarchy of the titled and landed classes. During all of this there is the schism between Catholic and Protestant, and the rivalry and intermarriage of the Hapsburgs and Bourbon families. So it is all very complicated and filled with intrigue. One thing interesting and non conventional about James is that he was a pacifist and never went to war during his reign.

The Bounty

The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander

The story of the Bounty and Captain Bligh is fairly well known, several movies have been made of this and numerous books. This book offers very detailed information on the voyage and many of the members of the crew and their families. The original purpose of the Bounty voyage was to bring back Breadfruit plants that were to be brought to the Caribbean to be used as a cheap but viable food source. The Breadfruit is very nutritious and can be used as a single source of food. What was surprising to me was that after the mutiny and Bligh's amazing voyage back to England he made a second trip to get the Breadfruit. This time he was given a much bigger ship and an escort ship with a military force, that way there would not be a second mutiny. This second trip was successful and breadfruit is now a common food in the Caribbean.

Voices from the Kitchen

Voices from the Kitchen: Personal Narratives from New York's Immigrant Restaurant Workers (Beacon Press 2025) by Marc Meyer

This book contains the transcript of 27 interviews with people who work in restaurants in NY. All of them are immigrants, and they tell their stories of how they ended up where they are. It is mostly interesting, but does get a little repetitious as most of the stories are the same. But there are a few excpetional stories. Definately stories of our times.

The Twilight Forest

The Twilight Forest: An Elegy for Ponderosa in a Changing West (Island Press 2025) by Gary Ferguson

The author is a widely published nature writer. In this book he travels through New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and California documenting the decline of the ponderosa pine. He provides background on the evolution of the ponderosa, its place in the culture of the west and information about the different varieties of the ponderosa. Basically his premise is that the ponderosa is in decline and may disapear. Mostly this book is the story of the effects of climate change and how it is reshaping the landscape, in particular in the western US. Very good writing.

The Gardner Heist

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser

On March 18, 1990 the Isabel Stewart Gardner musuem, in Boston, was robbed of art works worth tens of millions of dollars. The case was never solved and the art works have never been recovered. The theft included 2 Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Monet and several Degas drawings. Since the theft was never solved, this proves a problem writing a book about the event since there is not really an ending to the story. So the author spends a lot of time talking about art theft in general, the state of art museums, famous art thefts and stories of the famous theives and there hauls. A theme throughout is the incompetence of many people who run these museums, and boards that aren't really qualified but made up of people with pestigious names.