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Post by TWD Zone Site Admin & Owner on Sept 17, 2015 15:30:55 GMT -5
Best way to revisit my history lessons.
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Post by Ripley on Sept 17, 2015 22:56:11 GMT -5
Mine too,although I (personally) include writers such as James Michener, Tom Clancy and James Clavell in this genre.
From Shogun to Taipan to Gai-Jin ending with Whirlwind, Clavell covered covered 18th-20th century Asia. His premature death was tragic because his books made reader understand the cultures. Whirlwind was the first novel I read that helped me understand the Iranian Revolution, the downfall of Shah Palavhi, rise of the Alitollahs and how the U.S. and other nations' interest and control of the oil industry led to the OPEC tactics in the 1970s. Even the opening up of the Aberdeen oil fields in Scotland and the push to develop North Sea oil. The student rebels, the lives of regular citizens of all classes, the Cold War and spying by the US and Soviet Union, all covered in interesting ways with compelling characters.
Tom Clancy won my heart for telling me more about technology and military tactics than I ever wanted to know. Love all of his novels, characters and tying in historical fact with fictions. Cardinal in the Kremlin, The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Rainbow-6 are just a few of my favorites.
James Michener: Hawaii- which seems a bit dated now (ends in 1950s), Tales of the South Pacific (source for musical South Pacific), Centennial, Texas!, and many more.
Colleen McCullough- wonderful writer whose Men of Rome series covers the Roman Republic into the Empire with Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, the Caesars,Pompeys, Crassus families and many famous characters including the woman of the time. Anyone who watched HBO's Rome will recognize and feel familiar with this series although beware, there are lots of maps, famous battles described by those who were there.
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Post by TWD Zone Site Admin & Owner on Sept 18, 2015 1:07:51 GMT -5
I agree with your comments Ripley. A few more that dovetail with your list IMO:
Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove
Alex Haley - Roots
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Colleen McCullough - Thorn Birds
****
James Michener - I read Centennial first then tackled Hawaii and moved on to Shogun. I agree some of his works are a bit dated - have not read Whirlwind but I need to.
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Post by TWD Zone Site Admin & Owner on Nov 21, 2015 1:48:28 GMT -5
I just finished Orphan Train by Cristina Baker Kline Really did not know about this book until I noticed it a Reading Together selection at my local library. Picked it up and devoured it in a short period of time. I did not know about this movement to transport orphans from the East Coast to the Midwest. Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck or chance. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
orphantraindepot.org/national-orphan-train-complex-store/new-orphan-train-books/
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