L. Baston, Borderlines: A history of Europe told from the edges (2024)
A. Berkeley, Malice Aforethought (1931)
J. Elledge, A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders (2024)
B. Ehrman, Heaven and Hell: A History of the afterlife (2020)
J. Haidt, The anxious generation (2025)
S. Harvey, The Western wind (2018)
A. Berkeley, Malice Aforethought (1931)
J. Elledge, A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders (2024)
B. Ehrman, Heaven and Hell: A History of the afterlife (2020)
J. Haidt, The anxious generation (2025)
S. Harvey, The Western wind (2018)
B. Malone, Country Music USA (5th edition, 2018)
N. Nicholson, Portrait of a marriage (1940)
N. Nicholson, Portrait of a marriage (1940)
B. Unsworth, The quality of mercy (2011)
J. Vinge, The snow queen (1980)
D. Wright, Breaking Bread (2025)
If I was just judging books on their first parts, then this would be a straight clash between Ehrman and Malone. I thought the early history of country music and the early (read: Jewish) history of the afterlife, was absolutely fascinating. They did not sustain their excellence, with Malone in particular really falling off and losing focus. I often find this with music history. By the 1970s, it just gets too fragmented. Several decent novels Iles (pen name for Anthony Berkeley), Morris, Vinge all very good. Morris the best, though I thought some part were naively done, especially about religion. It was powerful though (it's the story of the siege of Sarajevo). By a whisker though, I would put it ahead of Baston's book . I read that in a pair with Elledge, and it is by far the better book. My main dilemma is whether it's really history or travelogue, but I decided it was history, and a very good vignette-led history it is.
If I was just judging books on their first parts, then this would be a straight clash between Ehrman and Malone. I thought the early history of country music and the early (read: Jewish) history of the afterlife, was absolutely fascinating. They did not sustain their excellence, with Malone in particular really falling off and losing focus. I often find this with music history. By the 1970s, it just gets too fragmented. Several decent novels Iles (pen name for Anthony Berkeley), Morris, Vinge all very good. Morris the best, though I thought some part were naively done, especially about religion. It was powerful though (it's the story of the siege of Sarajevo). By a whisker though, I would put it ahead of Baston's book . I read that in a pair with Elledge, and it is by far the better book. My main dilemma is whether it's really history or travelogue, but I decided it was history, and a very good vignette-led history it is.
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