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Six books were reviewed in the course of this most enjoyable meeting, which was attended by eleven people.
All reviewers recommended the books they reviewed. All told, this was a very interesting meeting. Report
prepared by Roger Zabkie
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Wayne Luney went first,
reviewing Mirage: Napoleon’s Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt,
by Nina Burleigh (2007, Harper Collins, 286 pages, ISBN:
978-0-06-059768-9). It is an engaging account of how the Europeans moved
in on the Ottoman Empire, learning about ancient Egypt along the way.
Next was Anna Andrews’
Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier, by Joanna L. Stratton
(1982, Touchstone Books, 320 pages, ISBN: 978-0-6714474-8-9). This book is
an authentic telling of the effect women had on the settling of the Kansas
Territory in the first half of the 19th century, complete with a list of
family names at the end of the book.
Carl Seratt then gave a
report on Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and
Modern Life, by Adam Gopnik (2009, Knopf, 224 pages, ISBN:
978-03072707-8-8). The book compares the lives and impact of Abraham
Lincoln and Charles Darwin, who were born on exactly the same day. This
was timely, considering that their two-hundredth birthday was last year.
Bill Potts presented
reviews of two novels—the only fiction of the evening. They were
Kaleidoscope, by Paul Gehrman (2009, New Intellectual Press, 600
pages, ISBN 978-0-9823664-0-0) and Death in Holy Orders, by P.D.
James (2001, Random House, 640 pages, ISBN: 0375431179). Bill recommended
both of them very enthusiastically, moving Anna Andrews to borrow the
latter.
Finally,
Brian Jones reviewed Freedom at Midnight: The Epic Drama of India’s
Struggle for Independence, by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
(1976, Avon, 563 pages, LOC Cat. Card no. 75-1623), a work about India’s
emancipation from Britain and subsequent partition. 