First Generations: Women in Colonial America – Carol Berkin
This is another book examining women’s history in early America. It breaks down women into white women in the northern colonies, the middle colonies, and the southern colonies; slave and African-American women; and Native American women. It was fairly well-written, but I had read most of the content in other books. If you’re looking for a first read about American women’s history, this is a good place to start.
A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England – Suzannah Lipscomb
You may recognize Suzannah Lipscomb if you’ve seen a bunch of documentaries on Tudor England. While working for the Royal Historic Palaces, she wrote this guidebook to main sites in Tudor England. She divided the country into geographic region then included extant / existing sites with a connection to the Tudor era and gives a comprehensive overview of the site. The final section does include visiting information and times if you want to see any of the sites in person. A good read for learning more about the places (and people) of Tudor England.
Angels Along the River: Retracing the Escape Route of Mary Draper Ingles – E.M. Lahr
I read a short history of the life, capture, and escape of Mary Draper Ingles a few months ago. When I bought this book, I thought it was another biography. It wasn’t. This book recaps the journey of the author who retraced Mary’s escape route. She broke down the trip into each day. It was really easy to read and fairly interesting.
George Washington’s Surprise Attack: A New Look at the Battle That Decided the Fate of America – Phillip Thomas Tucker
This book was an impulse grab in the bargain section at Barnes & Noble. It’s about the Battle of Trenton in 1776. While it seemed interesting, reading this book has been like eating the proverbial elephant. It’s almost 600 pages long, and it took about 200 pages just to get to the battle. The author also references Napoleon and his strategies a lot. Napoleon was seven years old when this battle occurred, so his future military successes weren’t overly relevant. Also, the book is poorly edited (Martha Custis Washington is called Martha Curtis). It’s not a must-read to me.
What have you been reading lately?
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