Best Reads for 2020 - History and Biography

I am finally getting to my annual blog posts about the best books I read in the past year.  Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a shut-down, reading time was still at a premium this year.  Pastoral ministry does not shut down in a pandemic.  Between that and having a preschooler (and for 2 months an additional toddler foster child) in the house, it has been a bit of a challenge to find time to read.  That said, here are the best books I read this year, starting with History/Biography books.

Vicksburg:  Grant’s Campaign that Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller.  I have read a lot of books on the American Civil War, but Miller’s book is one of the best I have read in a long time.  He traces the origins of Grant’s campaign all the way to his final victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

 The Second World Wars:  How the First Global Conflict was Fought and Won by Victor Davis Hanson.  Hanson is one of my favorite authors, in that he always seems to find a way to think out of the box.  This book, a top-down analysis of World War 2, is a prime example.  Organized thematically, Hanson does an amazing job of unfolding the what’s and why’s of these pivotal events.

 

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David Kertzer.  Kertzer’s expertise is the early modern Papacy.  He has a knack for bringing seemingly forgotten events that changed the world to new light.  In this book, he tells the tale of how the abduction of one Jewish boy played a part in the unification of Italy and the loss of the Papal States, the country the Pope governed in central Italy.

 

The Road Not Taken:  Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam

by Max Boot.  Edward Lansdale was a CIA operative who had great success bringing fair and peaceful elections to the Philippines.  The US government sent him to Vietnam to do the same, without giving him the tools to make his ideas a reality.  It is fascinating to speculate what could have happened had he been provided with more support during his time in the war-torn country.

 

JFK:  Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 by Fredrik Logevall.  I am not a JFK fan necessarily, but this is a spectacular biography of Kennedy’s early years.  Logevall analyzes Kennedy’s early life, unpacking the influence of his father, his continual health struggles and even his frequent moral failures.  This is not a hit piece – it is a balanced biography of a flawed man that inspired America with his leadership.

 

Tower of Skulls:  A History of the Asia-Pacific War, July 1937-May 1942 by

Richard B. Franks.  In this book, part 1 of a planned 3-part history, Franks examines the origins and beginnings of World War 2 in the Pacific.  Instead of starting with Pearl Harbor, he begins where the war actually started – with Japan’s invasion of China in 1937.  This volume ends with the fall of Corregidor and the Bataan Death March, the events that were probably the lowest point for the Allied side in the Pacific conflict.

 

The Anarchy:  The East India Company, Corporate Violence and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple.  Today entities like Google and Facebook have a powerful effect on our culture, economy and politics.  Dalrymple looks back in time to the approximately 50 years (about 1750-1800) when the East India Company, a private corporation, went from a small trading outpost to ruling the Indian subcontinent.

 

2^nd Tier books – Very good books, worth a read, just not as good as the one’s previously listed.

Normandy ’44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France by James Holland
Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West by H. W. Brands
Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final year of the American Civil War by S. C. Gwynne
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance during the Blitz by Erik Larson
Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage by Ken McGoogan
When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans who Fought for Ireland’s Freedom by Christopher Klein
Forgotten Victory: First Canadian Army and the Cruel Winter of 1944-45 by Mark Zuehlke
The Desert Generals by Correlli Barnett
The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950’s by William L. Hitchcock
Crusaders: An Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands by Dan Jones
The China Mission: George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-47 by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
Chiang Kai-Shek: China’s Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost by Jonathan Fenby
Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds
The Real Horse Soldiers: Benjamin Grierson’s Epic 1863 Civil War Raid Through Mississippi by Timothy B. Smith

Destination Casablanca: Exile, Espionage and the Battle for North Africa in World War 2 by Meredith Hindley

Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen who led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943 by James Holland
Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads and the Making of Modern America by Michael Hiltzik
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and their Battle for Speed and Glory at LeMans by A. J. Baime
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

3^rd Tier reads – not bad, but somewhat disappointing:

Countdown 1945:  The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days that Changed the World by Chris Wallace