A Journey Through History

BARD annotation The gunfighters: how Texas made the West wild DB129769 Author: Burrough, Bryan Reading Time: 12 hours, 53 minutes Read by: Fred Sanders Subjects: U.S. History, True Crime, Social Sciences “The “Wild West” gunfighter is such a stock figure in our popular culture that some dismiss it all as a corny myth, more a product of dime novels and B movies than a genuinely important American history. In fact, as Bryan Burrough shows us in his dazzling and fast-paced new book, there’s much more below the surface. For three decades at the end of the 1800s, a big swath of the American West was a crucible of change, with the highest murder rate per capita in American history. The reasons behind this boil down to one word: Texas. Texas was born in violence, on two fronts, with Mexico to the south and the Comanche to the north. The Colt revolver first caught on with the Texas Rangers. Southern dueling culture transformed into something wilder and less organized in the Lone Star State. The collapse of the Confederacy and the presence of a thin veneer of Northern occupiers turned the heat up further. And the explosion in the cattle business after the war took that violence and pumped it out from Texas across the whole of the West. The stampede of longhorn cattle brought with it an assortment of rustlers, hustlers, gamblers, and freelance lawmen who carried a trigger-happy honor culture into a widening gyre, a veritable blood meridian. When the first newspapermen and audiences discovered what good copy this all was, the flywheel of mythmaking started spinning. It’s never stopped. The Gunfighters brilliantly sifts the lies from the truth, giving both elements their due. And the truth is sufficiently wild for any but the most unhinged tastes. All the legendary figures are here, and their escapades are told with great flair-good, bad, and ugly. Like all great stories, this one has a rousing end-as the railroads and the settlers close off the open spaces for good, the last of the breed, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, really do get on a boat for South America, ending their era in a blaze of glory. Burrough knits these histories together into something much deeper and more provocative than simply the sum of its parts. To understand the truth of the Wild West is to understand a crucial dimension of the American story.”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. New York : Penguin Random House, 2025. Bookshare This book can be found on Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6582209?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmd1bmZpZ2h0ZXJzJTI1M0ElMkJob3clMkJUZXhhcyUyQm1hZGUlMkJ0aGUlMkJXZXN0JTJCd2lsZCUyQg  

BARD annotation The Harvey girls DB132858 Author: Fay, Juliette Reading Time: 11 hours, 51 minutes Read by: Cassandra Campbell Subjects: Historical Fiction, General Fiction “1926: Charlotte Crowninshield was born into one of the finest Boston society families. Now she’s on the run from a brutal husband, desperate to disappear into the wilds of the Southwest. Billie MacTavish is the oldest of nine children born to Scottish immigrants in Nebraska. She quit school in the sixth grade to help with her mother’s washing and mending business, but even that isn’t enough to keep the family afloat. Desperate, both women join the ranks of the Harvey Girls, waitresses who serve in America’s first hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. Hired on the same day, they share three things: a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other … and each has a secret that will certainly get them fired. Through twelve-hour days of training in Topeka, Kansas, they learn the fine art of service, perfecting their skills despite bouts of homesickness, fear of being discovered, and a run-in with the KKK. When they’re sent to work at the luxurious El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon, the challenges only grow, as Billie struggles to hide her young age from would-be suitors, and Charlotte discovers the little-known dark side of the national park’s history.” — From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. New York : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. Bookshare This book can be found on Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6859904?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPXRoZSUyQmhhcnZleSUyQmdpcmxz  

Join us on July 2, 2024, first Tuesday, to review another blockbuster and best seller by Robert Woodward , Fear: Trump in the White House DB91876 Duration: 12 hours 20 minutes. NLS Annotation Fear: Trump in the White House DB91876 Woodward, Bob Reading time: 12 hours, 22 minutes. Robert Petkoff A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. Biography Government and Politics Bestsellers U.S. History Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist details the decision-making process for both foreign and domestic policy within the Trump administration. Draws on interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, diaries, files, and documents. Strong language. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2018. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/2686300?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUZlYXIlMjUzQSUyQlRydW1w  

NLS Annotation Mercury rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the new battleground of the Cold War DB110864 Shesol, Jeff Reading time: 11 hours, 40 minutes. James Frangione Biography History, Juvenile “A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War–a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival–and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the “hour of maximum danger.”” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/4597347?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPU1lcmN1cnklMkJSaXNpbmc  

On May 7th, JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY introduces best-selling author, poet and teacher, Clint Smith, who brings his Harvard sociology training on his visits (with recorder) to Civil War and Reconstruction Era Monuments from New Orleans to New York and Virginia to Texas in his book How the word is passed: a reckoning with the history of slavery across America DB103908. As noted on Blinkist.com: “ Through immersive visits to historical sites, Smith examines how slavery is remembered and how it continues to shape the country today.” The Journey through History Zoom meeting link follows. Be aware that all Accessible World Zoom meetings are set to automatically record and the Zoom Client on both your computer and your smart device presents a message announcing the recording when you first enter a meeting using these clients. You must tab or swipe to the Got it or OK button and execute it to acknowledge your awareness of the recording or you will be unable to unmute your device and speak in the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/177809772?pwd=dSt5ZjBzK3hYL3doRE5NVy96M3JVUT09 Please join us on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 8:00 PM Eastern to discuss the following: HOW THE WORD PASSED: A RECKONING WITH THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA. DB103908  

By her own design DB110548 Huguley, Piper Reading time: 12 hours, 48 minutes. Tracey Conyer Lee Historical Fiction Historical Romance Fiction Romance “1953, New York City. Less than a week before the society wedding of the year where Jacqueline Bouvier will marry John F. Kennedy, a pipe bursts at Ann Lowe’s dress shop and ruins eleven dresses, including the expensive wedding dress, a dress that will be judged by thousands. A Black designer who has fought every step of the way, Ann knows this is only one struggle after a lifetime of them. She and her seamstresses will find the way to re-create the dresses. It may take all day and all night for the next week to accomplish the task, but they will do it. 1918, Tampa. Raised in Jim Crow Alabama, Ann learned the art of sewing from her mother and her grandmother, a former slave, who are the most talented seamstresses in the state. After Ann elopes at twelve with an older man who soon proves himself to be an abusive alcoholic, her dreams of becoming a celebrated designer seem to be put on hold. But then a wealthy Tampa socialite sees Ann’s talent and offers her an amazing opportunity–the chance to sew and design clothing for Florida’s society elite. Taking her young son in the middle of the night, Ann escapes her husband and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Based on the true story of one of the most famous designers of the twenties through the sixties who has since been unjustly forgotten, By Her Own Design is an unforgettable novel of determination despite countless obstacles and a triumph celebrated by the world.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Download By her own design DB110548 Here is the Bookshare link to this title: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/4583204?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPWJ5JTJCaGVyJTJCb3duJTJCZGVzaWdu

Please join us on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 8:00 PM Eastern to discuss America’s first daughter DB88020 by Stephanie Dray. NLS Annotation America’s first daughter DB88020 Dray, Stephanie Reading time: 21 hours, 53 minutes. Pilar Witherspoon A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. Historical Fiction Patsy Jefferson, eldest daughter of Thomas, grows up during the tumult of the American Revolution. When her mother dies, she joins her father in France and is torn between love and filial duty when courted by an abolitionist. This conflict of desires follows her through life. Some violence. 2016. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/1887909?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPWFtZXJpY2ElMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJmaXJzdCUyQmRhdWdodGVy  

Tuesday night a stalwart group of History Buffs read and reviewed the first half of American Prometheus which is a product of over twenty-five years of painstaking research by its two prize winning authors. The first half or “TRIUMPH” portion of the book focuses on how he resolved his social problems which many financially privileged prodigies experience to demonstrate the leadership skills to successfully direct the massive and famous World War Two Atomic Bomb Project. After the “triumph” comes the “TRAGEDY “the how and why of his fall from national fame plus his plans for nuclear control. The list of literati attending his two funerals demonstrated the extent of his fame which surpassed the impact of loss of Security Clearence the during the McCarthy era. We know how it ended and hope to find out the why and how of the fall and its ultimate impact on the world under the nuclear umbrella. So read on and tell us your thoughts next February sixth. American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer DB61087 Bird, Kai; Sherwin, Martin J. Read Chapter 23 to end. On February 6 Here’s the Bookshare link for this title: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5599711?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUthaSUyQkJpcmQlMkI Don Queen

Our next month’s book to discuss is the best seller “American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” DB61087 by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, 699 pages. Because of its length, we will cover the growing up and transformation of the brilliant Oppenheimer and ultimate triumph in Chapters 1 through 23In our January 2nd meeting and the remainder of the book covering the outcome of his loss of security in our February 6th meeting. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. the first full-scale biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome fire of the sun for his country in time of war. Here’s the NLS annotation: American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer DB61087 Bird, Kai; Sherwin, Martin J Reading time: 27 hours, 34 minutes. Steven Carpenter A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. Science and Technology Biography Biography of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)–“the father of the atomic bomb.” Chronicles his New York City upbringing, marriage to Kitty Puening, work on the Manhattan Project, and life after the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearings which denied Oppenheimer his security clearance for questioning the ethics of nuclear weapons. Pulitzer Prize winner 2006. 2005. Here’s the Bookshare link for this title: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5599711?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPUthaSUyQkJpcmQlMkI

Hello Journey through History book group fans, Our book for 12/5/23 in A Journey through History is Lady Tan’s Circle of Women DB 115160 by Lisa Se. David Faucheux will be leading our discussion and has provided the below email received from the author Lisa See in the email history with some links regarding the book. Hope to see you at the meeting. Here is the NLS annotation: Lady Tan’s circle of women DB115160 See, Lisa Reading time: 13 hours, 6 minutes. Jennifer Lim Historical Fiction Women Bestsellers “According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.” — Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. From: David F Below is the bit from Lisa See’s email reply to me that I wanted to share with the group. I love to join book clubs on Zoom. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join you on that date, because that’s my husband’s birthday. Since I can’t join you, I hope you’ll take a look at my web site, particularly the Step Inside the World of Lady Tan section, where I have a lot of photos, videos, etc. Here’s the link: https://lisasee.com/step-inside/lady-tans-circle-of-women/#guide Two more things. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women was Target’s Book Pick for August. I signed all the copies that people can order online. Plus the edition comes with a special essay written by me. I think it’s discounted too. I know they still have copies. Here’s the link in case your participants want to take advantage of this: https://www.target.com/p/lady-tan-39-s-circle-of-women-a-novel-target-exclusive-edition-by-lisa-see-hardcover/-/A-89091344#lnk=sametab Second, I’m not sure if you’ll be interested in this either, but Linda Louie, the owner of Bana Tea, has created a tea package for book clubs that has the teas that are in the novel. The reason they’re in the novel is because they’re two of my favorite teas! Writers get to do things like that. Here’s the link: https://www.banateacompany.com/pages/Lisa-See-Tasting-Kit-2023.html

A Journey through History will be discussing The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder DB 113965 when we next meet on 11/7/23. When we met on 10/3/23, our November book was announced as Peril by Bob Woodward but on further review, we discovered we had already discussed this book at our 2/1/22 meeting. NLS annotation: The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder DB 113965 Grann, David. Reading time 8 hours, 32 minutes. Read by David Grann A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress. On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then … six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller Instead, We have a highly rated best seller .

Autobiography by William Thomas Hamilton one of the legendary Mountain Men who explored and settled the Louisiana Purchase which he published in 1905. He began his exploits in 1842as a fur trapper and later Army Scout assisted by his extraordinary skills in Indian sign language. Here’s the NLS annotation: My sixty years on the plains: trapping, trading, and Indian fighting DB20468 Hamilton, W. T, (William Thomas); Sieber, E. T. Reading time: 4 hours, 44 minutes. Read by Art Metzler. U.S. History Straightforward account of the author’s experiences as a mountaineer. First published in 1905. Classics of the Old West.

Miss Del Rio novel DB111757 by Barbara Louise Mujica 13 hours and 9 minutes long It is a largely true book selected by David Faucheux, our Historic fiction editor. It is the dramatic and vividly described life as told by her best friend including their life and flight from revolutionary Mexico in 1910 and Miss Del Rio’s rise to movie stardom. She pulls no punches as to the class and racial discrimination which sadly still exists today.

Our August book was written by two prominent Historians, One Russian and the other American, who took advantage of the demise of the Soviet Union and thaw in the Cold War to access KGB AND OTHER Soviet and American files in 1990 to find out what truly happened. While it cleared up a number of issues some were rather frightening such as how close we came to a nuclear war. Also, it revealed JFK’s repeated private attempts to reach a détente with Khrushchev before the Missile Crisis.. TITLE: One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958to 1964 AUTHOR: Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali DB46210 Bookshare link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/1562841?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPW9uZSUyQmhlbGwlMkJvZiUyQmElMkJnYW1ibGU

The first and only successful slave revolution in the Americas began in 1791 when thousands of brutally exploited slaves rose up against their masters on one of the most profitable colonies in the Atlantic world. Their success was devastating not only to their former masters but to colonial powers including the United States. We’ll discuss this in the next meeting of A Journey through History on 6/6/23 with the book Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution DB60295. The NLS annotation follows: Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution DB60295 Dubois, Laurent Reading time: 14 hours, 45 minutes. Anne Flosnik A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. World History and Affairs Professor analyzes the 1791-1803 revolution in the French Caribbean country of Haiti. Traces the history of Hispaniola and describes how slaves from Africa under Toussaint Louverture defeated France, Britain, and Spain and achieved emancipation at great economic and human cost. Violence. 2004.

We will review Captain James Cook by Richard Hough (DB41944). It chronicles the life of James Cook, born 1728, who began working with his father as a day laborer at age eight, rose from lowest rank in the merchant marine, then to the Royal Navy to become the most celebrated explorer of his time. His three final trips mapping one third of the world and discovery of the cause of scurvy were the foundation of the British Empire.

On April 4, David Faucheux will present his historic fiction, Switchboard Soldiers, a novel, by Jennifer Chiaverini (DB109619) NLS ANOTATION: In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American Forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls and speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire and be utterly discreet since the calls often conveyed classified information. At the time, nearly all well-trained American operators were women. But women were not permitted to enlist or even to vote in those days. Nevertheless, the US Army Signal Corp promptly began recruiting them. More than seven thousand six hundred responded. Their story has never been the focus of a novel until now. For those interested in a nonfiction account of this unique aspect of World War I, you may also wish to check out The Hello Girls: America’s first women soldiers DBC06268.

The Face Maker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris, DB108939. Approximate reading Time: 8 hours, 20 minutes Armed with a Cambridge diploma and compassionate manner, Dr. Harold Gillies from New Zealand, opened the first hospital specializing in facial reconstruction of previously shunned, disfigured soldiers. The author describes the many challenges encountered such as the absence of text books or specialists.

This is a Memoir with a happy ending. how a ten year old Chinese peasant boy living at a starvation level in a Mao Commune became a international Ballet star after recruitment into and undergoing rigorous training at Mao’s wife’s National Ballet school. While visiting Houston Texas he defected from China after finding “my first love” angering Chinese officials resulting in His imprisonment in the Chinese consulate in Houston Texas. He was released after the intervention by vice-president and Mrs. Bush. Read the book for a happy but realistic ending. Mao’s Last Dancer Li Con Xin Db 60921 Fifteen hours and twenty minutes Read by Gordon Gould

During the busy Winter Holidays don’t forget our book to review on January 3.. It is shorter than some.. If you can’t finish it suggest reading Chapters 9 through 11. 10, Our reading suggestion for January (FALLING IDOLS: TWELVE STATUES THAT MADE HISTORY is a short 9 hour 10 minutes. The Author states that this book is “about how we make history “. selecting Statues which have been in the news yet preserves our \ “memories in stone .” The author selects historically significant personages from the last 350 years spending considerable time on the controversial statues of personages such as Robert E. Lee and Jeff Davis related to The Civil War and reconstruction.

David Faucheux will be presenting the following book on December sixth The storyteller of Casablanca DB107192 NLS ANNOTATION: Morocco 1941, Twelve year-old Josie and her family fled Nazi occupied France for Casablanca where they awaited safe passage to America. Seventy years later, Zoey is a wife and mother living as an ex-pat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers Josie’s diary from the 1940’s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie. 2021

Brad Snyder and Alan Lemly co-hosted the October session discussing the book ISAAC STORM by Erik Larson. Everyone seemed to like it. There were no challengers with the Erik Larson Best Sellers we had reviewed. On Tuesday, November 1st we will leave the familiar Trumpian, Anglo-American literary venue for Hitler’s Germany and some incredibly courageous dissidents. Defying Hitler: the Germans who resisted Nazi rule DB94884 Thomas, Gordon; Lewis, Greg NLS ANNOTATION: An account of the many Germans who actively resisted Hitler. Describes and profiles individuals who passed industrial secrets to Allied spies, forged passports for escaping Jews, denounced Nazi law, distributed anti-Nazi fliers, spied on the SS, and more. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

On October 4 we will be reviewing Isaac Storm: a Man, a Time, and the deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson(db48811). This was published more than a hundred years after the Galveston Flood and was this author six best selling books four of which we have discussed. Name them if you can. NLS ANNOTATION Galveston Texas, September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane approaches the city. Isaac Kline, head of the Weather Bureau’s Galveston Station fails to receive advance warning due to bureaucratic blundering and scientific snobbery. No evacuation is ordered and more than eight thousand citizens are subsequently lost including Kline’s wife. Best Seller 1999.

On September 6 we will review our second World War Two Churchill book, The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, covering WWII from May 1940 to May 1941. It focuses on how Winston Churchill and his Family coped with the Blitz which killed over forty-thousand Londoners and led England to foil Hitler and his plans to conquer all of Europe. Similar to Lincoln and Napoleon, there are already many books on Churchill. The author’s access to the detailed diary of Churchill’s youngest daughter, Mary Churchill, gave the author a unique view of the family during the Blitz.

As usual, we will skip July and meet on August 2 when David Faucheux present his historic fiction but is a realistic history of the 1937 NAZI invasion of the Ukraine. A real page-turner with realistic character description. The title is The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, db107522. Again, except for July, Journey Through History meets on the first Tuesday of the month at eight P.M. Eastern Time.

On Tuesday, June 7, your History Group will discuss the consequences of WWII after Yalta and the expanded roles of the privileged daughters of the three powerful leaders. Here’s the NLS annotation: The daughters of Yalta: the Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans : a story of love and war DB102417 Katz, Catherine Grace Reading time: 14 hours, 57 minutes. Christine Rendel Biography World History and Affairs An account of the “daughter diplomacy” of Anna Roosevelt, Sarah Churchill, and Kathleen Harriman, who accompanied their powerful fathers to the Yalta Conference with Joseph Stalin in the final days of World War II. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020. Don Queen

the Journey Through History Group will review The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial settlers , Tribal Nations and the kidnap that shaped America by Matthew Pearl( Db106571). Reading time: six hours fifty seconds. Synopsis from Bookshare.org. The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl “A rousing tale of frontier daring and ingenuity, better than legend on every front.” — Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stacy SchiffA Goodreads Most Anticipated Book In his first work of narrative nonfiction, Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of acclaimed novel The Dante Club, explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone’s daughter and the dramatic aftermath that rippled across the nation. On a quiet midsummer day in 1776, weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thirteen-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends Betsy and Fanny Callaway disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air. A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party has taken the girls as the latest salvo in the blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers who have decimated native lands and resources. Hanging Maw, the raiders’ leader, recognizes one of the captives as Jemima Boone, daughter of Kentucky’s most influential pioneers, and realizes she could be a valuable pawn in the battle to drive the colonists out of the contested Kentucky territory for good. With Daniel Boone and his posse in pursuit, Hanging Maw devises a plan that could ultimately bring greater peace both to the tribes and the colonists. But after the girls find clever ways to create a trail of clues, the raiding party is ambushed by Boone and the rescuers in a battle with reverberations that nobody could predict. As Matthew Pearl reveals, the exciting story of Jemima Boone’s kidnapping vividly illuminates the early days of America’s westward expansion, and the violent and tragic clashes across cultural lines that ensue. In this enthralling narrative in the tradition of Candice Millard and David Grann, Matthew Pearl unearths a forgotten and dramatic series of events from early in the Revolutionary War that opens a window into America’s transition from colony to nation, with the heavy moral costs incurred amid shocking new alliances and betrayals. Copyright: 2021 ISBN: 9780062937810

The Engineers Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow. Emily Warren Roebling refuses to live conventionally—she knows who she is and what she wants, and she’s determined to make change. But then her husband Wash asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible. Emily’s fight for women’s suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when Wash, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash’s vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily’s direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building—hers, or her husband’s. As the monument rises, Emily’s marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it? Based on the true story of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Engineer’s Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan’s elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. It’s the story of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts—even at the risk of losing each other. by Tracey Enerson Wood

In March, (finally after fifty years) the real people behind Roe V. Wade are revealed. Families were afflicted by alcohol and drugs. There was never an abortion. The opposition to Roe V. Wade is rising and faces a conservative Supreme court. FROM BOOKSHARE.ORG A masterpiece of reporting on the Supreme Court’s most divisive case, Roe v. Wade, and the unknown lives at its heart. Despite her famous pseudonym, “Jane Roe,” no one knows the truth about Norma McCorvey (1947–2017), whose unwanted pregnancy in 1969 opened a great fracture in American life. Journalist Joshua Prager spent hundreds of hours with Norma, discovered her personal papers—a previously unseen trove—and witnessed her final moments. The Family Roe presents her life in full. Propelled by the crosscurrents of sex and religion, gender and class, it is a life that tells the story of abortion in America. Prager begins that story on the banks of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River where Norma was born, and where unplanned pregnancies upended generations of her forebears. A pregnancy then upended Norma’s life too, and the Dallas waitress became Jane Roe. Drawing on a decade of research, Prager reveals the woman behind the pseudonym, writing in novelistic detail of her unknown life from her time as a sex worker in Dallas, to her private thoughts on family and abortion, to her dealings with feminist and Christian leaders, to the three daughters she placed for adoption. Prager found those women, including the youngest—Baby Roe—now fifty years old. She shares her story in The Family Roe for the first time, from her tortured interactions with her birth mother, to her emotional first meeting with her sisters, to the burden that was uniquely hers from conception. The Family Roe abounds in such revelations—not only about Norma and her children but about the broader “family” connected to the case. Prager tells the stories of activists and bystanders alike whose lives intertwined with Roe. In particular, he introduces three figures as important as they are unknown: feminist lawyer Linda Coffee, who filed the original Texas lawsuit yet now lives in obscurity; Curtis Boyd, a former fundamentalist Christian, today a leading provider of third-trimester abortions; and Mildred Jefferson, the first black female Harvard Medical School graduate, who became a pro-life leader with great secrets. An epic work spanning fifty years of American history, The Family Roe will change the way you think about our enduring American divide: the right to choose or the right to life.

Our next month’s title ‘PERIL’ by Bob Woodward. Was there really a “PERIL”? Last March 5, 1919, we reviewed Fields of Blood: Violence in congress and the road to Civil War by Jane Freeman where Congressmen from slave states carried and used clubs and guns to intimidate beat and even kill (at least one) fellow Congressman to prevent their submission of anti-slavery petitions. While the January 6 insurrection lasted only one day it cost several lives and nearly brought the American Democracy to a standstill. Also, it nearly upset Nuclear China enough to making a preventative first strike. Author Bob Woodward says we may have to repeat this peril again in four years. We will review the new bestseller “Peril DB 104817” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, 13 hours thirty-six minutes.

The doctors Blackwell: how two pioneering sisters brought medicine to women and women to medicine DB 104506 Nimura, Janice P. Reading time 11 hours, 27 minutes. Read by Laural Merlington. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress. Subjects: Biography; Health and Medicine Description: Biography of Doctor Elizabeth Blackwell, the first licensed female physician in the United States, and her sister, Doctor Emily Blackwell. Discusses their early years, their founding of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, and the challenges they faced in their chosen profession. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

In December we move from the grim tenements of Belfast to the glittering mansions of the 1900’s New York rich and powerful although living alongside the despised minorities. THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN IS WRITTEN BY Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray who are both attorneys as well as successful writers. NLS ANNOTATION: The personal librarian DB103929 Benedict, Marie; Murray, Victoria Christopher Reading time: 12 hours, 25 minutes. Robin Miles Historical Fiction In 1906, Belle da Costa Greene was hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society, but she is African American passing as white. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

We will review a fourteen hour true crime story, its history and long-term consequences. Was it war or just plain murder? It occurs in the slums of Belfast Northern Ireland during the Troubles (1968-1998). It delves into the lives of the participants at all levels providing insight of the causes and consequences. The book title is SAY NOTHING: A TRUE STORY OF MURDER AND MEMORY IN NORTHERN IRELAND by Patrick Raddin Keefe 14 hours and 40 minutes. db9439. WARNING: For those using BOOKSHARE, there is also a book with the same name “Say NOTHING” dealing with the same facts I almost read the wrong book.

In October we return to more familiar ground with a biography by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.Edison DB 96904 Morris, Edmund. Reading time 25 hours, 7 minutes. Read by Arthur Morey. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress. Subjects: Science and Technology ; Biography Description: A Pulitzer Prize-winning author provides an account of the life and work of the near-deaf Thomas Alva Edison, best known for his invention of the first practical incandescent lamp and advances in sound recording technology. Draws on original documents from Edison’s lab, family papers, and more. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

We will review The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership and the Fate of the Empire, DB78621. Join us for some historic analysis of the causes of England’s longest war. BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory. In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire. Copyright: 2013

SYNOPSIS In Julia Kelly’s The Light over London, we enter two timelines: one during World War II and the other in the present. A diary and photograph send antiques dealer Cara Hargraves on a journey to discover the identity of the smiling woman in uniform. Louise Keene leaves her Cornish village and puts her mathematical abilities to work by becoming a gunner girl. Romance is in the cards for at least one of these heroines. Join us on Tuesday, August 3 for Kelly_ Julia the light over London DB93702 Don Queen

On June 1, 2021 we will read a book by MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization DB102486 8 hours 5 minutes Read by author. BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful? The year was 1947. The Soviet Union had moved from being America’s uneasy ally in the Second World War to its most feared enemy. With Joseph Stalin’s ambitions pushing westward, Turkey was pressured from the east while communist revolutionaries overran Greece. The British Empire was battered from its war with Hitler and suddenly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. Only America could afford to defend freedom in the West, and the effort was spearheaded by a president who hadn’t even been elected to that office. But Truman would wage a domestic political battle that carried with it the highest of stakes.

ON May 4, 2021 we will discuss Dreams from my father, db43877. BOOKSHARE SYNOPSIS: Dreams from my father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama Before Barack Obama became a politician he was, among other things, a writer. Dreams from My Father is a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking the big questions about identity and belonging. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama describes his search for meaning in his life as a black American and recounts an emotional odyssey. First to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii; then to his childhood home in Indonesia; finally, to Kenya, where he confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Copyright: 2008

ANNOUNCEMENT: David Faucheux will Co Host and present his quarterly non-fiction history selection on April 6, 2021. Last Tuesday, Sherry Wells selection for March was read and liked by most participants. Two members objected to war subject matter. Some members complained about wordiness or detail in a book written by this professional editor. NLS ANNATATION for April’s book The night watchman Erdrich, Louise. Reading time: 13 hours, 34 minutes. Read by Louise Erdrich. Historical Fiction Bestsellers 1953. Chippewa Council member Thomas Wazhashk tries to balance the demands of his job as a night watchman at the new jewel bearing plant outside the Turtle Mountain reservation and monitoring the consequences of the bill purporting emancipation for Native American tribes wending its way through Congress. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2020. Don Queen

In recognition of Presidents Day, we return to flamboyant Teddy Roosevelt whose famous charge up Kettle Hill set America’s course towards imperialism and role as colonial master and nation builder. How did we do? Who was the worst screw-up in the invasion of Cuba according to the author?   The crowded hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the dawn of the American century DB96418 Account of the famous American regiment led by Theodore CA Roosevelt whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the twentieth century. Explores the daily lives and struggles of the future president and his Rough Riders using diaries, letters, and memoirs. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.  

On February 2 we go North across the Canadian Border in the year 1917. NLS ANNOTATION: The great Halifax explosion: a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism DB94498 Bacon, John U. Reading time: 10 hours, 40 minutes. Read by Johnny Heller. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. World History and Affairs An account of the world’s largest man-made explosion prior to the creation of the atomic bomb, which took place in 1917 when a freighter carrying thousands of tons of explosives caught fire. Examines the recklessness that led to the tragedy, the ensuing rescue efforts, and the extent of the damage. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017. Don Queen

Last Tuesday, on December 1, David Faucheux prepared the recorded portion of the program and facilitated the discussion on the book Neffertiti. It was agreed that any story about the lives of persons who lived over three thousand years ago had to be fictional, although it read like a novel it was informative. On January 5, 2021 at 8:00pm The group will review a book written by the Pulitzer prize winning granddaughter of participants of the Great Migration of six and a half million Afro-Americans to the North.   NLS ANNOTATION: The warmth of other suns: the epic story of America’s great migration DB71929 Wilkerson, Isabel. Reading time: 19 hours, 57 minutes. Read by Erin Jones. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. U.S. History Bestsellers Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist chronicles the migration of African Americans from the South during 1915-1970. Recounts experiences of sharecropper’s wife Ida Mae Gladney in 1937, citrus picker George Starling in 1945, and physician Pershing Foster in 1953. Asserts that institutionalized racism spurred millions to uproot themselves. Some violence. Bestseller. 2010. Journey THROUGH HISTORY meets monthly on the first Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET.

Last night’s discussion of Author in Chief: the untold story of our “presidents, their books and the shaping of American history “was ably led by guest host, Michele Bernstein. On Tuesday, December First Cohost David Faucheux will lead us in the discussion of Nefertiti, our quarterly Historical Fiction book. See a list of discussion questions taken from a Nefertiti study guide at heading level 1 at the end of this newswire. Be aware that some of the questions may contain spoilers.   NLS ANNOTATION: Nefertiti DB64454 Moran, Michelle. Reading time: 15 hours, 50 minutes. Read by Cassandra Campbell. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. Historical Fiction Egypt, 1351 B.C.E. When seventeen-year-old prince Akhenaton inherits the throne of Egypt, his mother marries him to her fifteen-year-old niece, Nefertiti. Nefertiti’s younger sister Monojet witnesses the ruin of her country as the royal couple spends recklessly and alienates the priests. Commercial audiobook. 2007.Books on Tape

Author in chief: the untold story of our presidents, their books, and the shaping of American history Author: Fehrman, Craig Book Number: DB98626

The History group met Tuesday night and unanimously applauded the biography of Virginia Hall, world’s most successful but unrecognized spy.

Book to be discussed: A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win WWII DB95178 NLS ANNOTATION: A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win WWII DB95178

On August 4th we will be discussing the historic fiction book presented by Cohost David Faucheux, Pompeii a Novel. NOTES FROM NLS Title Pompeii a novel Names Harris, Robert. Book Number DB057646

The History Group almost unanimously liked Lincoln’s Spies by Douglas Waller except for the repetitious battle scenes.

Last night Co HOST, David Faucheux presented His quarterly program on Historical fiction with the book and author interview ‘The shores of Tripoli: Lieutenant Putman and the Barbary Pirates’, db86275.

ANNOUNCEMENT:A Journey Through History will meet on Tuesday, April 7, 2020 to discuss THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI_ LIEUTENANT PUTNAM AND THE BARBARY PIRATES BY HALEY_ JAMES D. B86275.Read by James Bamer Aproximate reading time: 15 hours; 45 minutes.