Like most of my friends, I found history in high school uninteresting, to say the least. Really, it was boring. As I remember it, no one liked our history class. But you had to take it to graduate.
Sometime towards the end of the last century, I purchased “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose. According to Amazon, this book is “the definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expedition in American history and one of the great adventure stories of all time.”
This book brought history alive for me. After reading it, I read more books by Ambrose — “Band of Brothers,” “Citizen Soldiers,” “The Wild Blue,” and “D-Day.” I read between 12 and 15 books a year. Over half of the books I read are history books, mostly on World War II.
I read, like most people, for enjoyment. With a history book, I have the satisfaction of knowing I have learned something. In Rick Atkinson’s book “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa,” I discovered that in the European Theater of Operations in World War II, the first Americans were killed in a battle with the French, not against the Germans or the Italians.
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during World War II. I also learned that Hitler’s Germany only occupied about half of France until after Operation Torch. The French agreed with the Nazis. Hitler would leave the southern part of France alone if the French would defend North Africa.
I never learned this in high school or college.
The famous author Tom Clancy said in an interview on Larry King Live, “The difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make sense.” Fiction also has to be believable.
Some of the survival stories I have read about are unbelievable, but they are true.
The Long Walk — In 1941, the author and six other fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp. They walked over thousands of miles by foot out of Siberia, through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India.
Lost in Shangri-La — A true story of survival, adventure, and the most incredible rescue mission of World War II
Unbroken — The story of Louis Zamperini’s survival as a prisoner of war in Japan
In Harm’s Way — The sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the extraordinary story of its survivors
The Boys In The Boat — About nine Americans and their quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
We Die Alone — This book chronicles Jan Baalsrud’s escape from Nazi-occupied Arctic Norway.
In the last two years, I have enjoyed Bill O’Reilly’s killing books: “Killing the Rising Sun,” “Killing Patton,” “Killing Reagan,” “Killing Jesus,” and “Killing Lincoln.” Even though I have read other books on these subjects, O’Reilly includes more details and tells a great story at the same time.
For instance, I never knew that Ronald Reagan was a playboy before he met his second wife, Nancy. I never knew how Patton died, let alone that there was a distinct possibility that he was murdered. I never knew that Kennedy had severe back problems and that he changed his suits three times a day.
Historical fiction books can be entertaining and informative. I would highly recommend Stephen King’s “11/22/63.” In this novel, a time traveler finds himself in 1963 and tries to change history by stopping Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating John F. Kennedy.
Other books I enjoy are biographies on famous Americans in history — John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, and more.
One of my favorite authors is Erik Larson. I’ve read most of his books. In “The Devil in the White City,” he intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World’s Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their deaths.
What I enjoy about Larson’s books is the length of his chapters. His chapters rarely last more than 10 pages, usually under six. This makes his books easy to read. Plus, you only need a few minutes of spare time to read a chapter.
I would love to hear from you about books you have enjoyed. Just e-mail me at dwarden@wardpub.com.
