Recent Reads – April 2019

April has been a pretty slow reading month for me. As much as I enjoy reading, I tend to go through lulls where I can’t really get into a book or I’m not really motivated to read. But I did manage to finish the last book in one of my Instagram book stacks.

Washington’s General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution – Terry Golway

Another biography on my favorite American Revolution general. This was a pretty easy and comprehensive read on Nathanael Greene’s life. Life most biographies on him, the focus is on his service during the Revolution. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Elizabeth: Struggle for the Throne – David Starkey

This book was a struggle for me to read. It’s well-written, and I liked the formatting of highlighting the main events and issues in Elizabeth’s life in a general chronological timeline. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t really sink my teeth into it. I would only read a chapter or two at a time.

A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America – Peter Firstbrook

This biography looks at the life and legend of John Smith. It compares his own stories of his exploits and adventures to the known historical record. One of the more intriguing chapters of John Smith’s life has to be his service during the wars in eastern Europe against the Ottoman Turks. If you like early American history, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

The Tudors, a Dark History – Judith John

I grabbed this book in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble a few years ago. It’s formatted as a coffee table book with lots of graphic spreads and textboxes. If you’re a Tudor fan, I would skip this. The general content is fine, but it’s very poorly edited. There are lots of mistakes (like messing up dates and numbers of the monarchs).

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