Well, I've not posted for over a month, but below are the books on my agenda - done w/ the first one and still reading the others - Dave
Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII (2011) - see first quote below; Chester Nez, one of the original Navajos who as Marines developed an unbreakable code using their native language.
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty (2021) by Anderson Cooper & Katherine Howe - Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt and a great etc. grandson of the Commodore writes selectively about the Vanderbilt family - reviews somewhat mixed but I'm enjoying (on the last few chapters) - my interest relates to the famous Biltmore House in Asheville, NC (just a 2 1/2 drive for us and a place we have visited often).
Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution (2022) by Eric Jay Dolin - brief synopsis third quote below - over the decades I've read numerous books on American wars, especially the Revolution and the Civil War, but the finding of the American Navy and the Revolutionary War exploits is often not well covered - just starting but excellent so far.
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile (2022) by Candice Millard - finding the headwaters of the White Nile - synopsis in the last quote. About a third into the book - the only hardcover in the bunch, the rest Kindle purchases. Dave
Code Talker - during World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific. (Source)
Vanderbilt - a dramatic tale expertly told of rapacious ambition, decadent excess, and covert and overt tyranny and trauma. . . . With resplendent detail, the authors capture the gasp-eliciting extravagance of the Vanderbilt Gilded Age mansions. . . . With its intrinsic empathy and in-depth profiles of women, this is a distinctly intimate, insightful, and engrossing chronicle of an archetypal, self-consuming American dynasty. . . . Irresistible. (Source)
Rebels at Sea - the heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America’s first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation’s character—above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. (Source)
Rivers of the Gods - for millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark. (Source)
