Urban Histories
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Alexandria: A History and a Guide by E.M. Forster, 1922-The ancient and mysterious city in northern Egypt comes to life in Forster’s account. Founded by and named after Alexander the Great, the city was important in Jewish, Hellenistic, and early Christian culture, and was restored to importance in the nineteenth century by the viceroy Muhammed Ali.
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Barcelona by Robert Hughes, 1992-Hughes is an enthusiastic chronicler of this independent-minded city in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia. Discover its long and lively history from Roman times to the creation of the fanciful, undulating buildings of the modern architect Gaudi and beyond.
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Empire City: New York Though the Centuries edited by Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar, 2002 –New York is a cacophony of voices. This is not a conventional history book, but an anthology of writings about the city starting in the early seventeenth century and going right through the fateful year of 2001.
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London: A History by A.N. Wilson, 2004-The author, also a novelist and biographer, traces 2000 years of London’s history, encompassing royal intrigues, plague, extraordinary literary productions, brave resistance to the Nazis, and the contemporary scene.
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New Orleans: A Culture History by Louise McKinney, 2006 – For much of its history, the Big Easy, home of wild Fat Tuesday celebrations, jazz, and beautiful architecture has seemed exotic and alluring to the rest of America. Its reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina is perfect time to learn more about its remarkable melting-pot history that both sets it apart from other cities, and makes it distinctively American.
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Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne, 2002 – This is a delightful narrative of a delightful city that has nurtured culture, philosophy, high art, and the arts of living for centuries—though its history has been tumultuous at times. The Calvinist Henry IV became Catholic for the city, calling it “well worth a Mass.” Horne describes the conquerors, dreamers, and remakers of the city over the course of “seven ages.”
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The World of Venice by Jan Morris, 1960 – Past and present in the city of great artist and craftsmen, commerce and theater, and streets made of water come to life in this charming book. Morris shares her profound appreciation of the city’s dazzling history and is unique way of life.
Vietnam War Nonfiction
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The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam, 1972-A masterful and thorough account of the foreign policy decisions and other factors that led to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
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Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic, 1976-A gung-ho, patriotic soldier becomes an anti-war activist after combat injuries leave him paralyzed from the chest down.
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A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan, 1988-Pulitzer Prize winning, warts, and, all biography of the highly controversial, larger-than-life Vann, an army field advisor who dared to speak openly to the press about U.S. military setbacks in Vietnam.
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Chickenhawk by Robert Mason, 1983-Powerful memoir by an army helicopter pilot who flew more than 1,000 missions in Vietnam between 1964 and 1968.
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Dispatches by Michael Herr, 1977-Herr’s electrifying, mind-bending prose plunges you headlong into the insanity of the Vietnam War.
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Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by Frances Fitzgerald, 1972-Fitzgerald examines the war from a sociologic perspective in this study of two cultures on a deadly collision course. Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
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We Were Soldiers Once…And Young: Ia Drang- The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam by Lt. General H.G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, 1992-A compelling story of uncommon valor and self-sacrifice in the first major battle between the United States and the North Vietnamese.
Writers’ Guides
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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Annie Lamott, 1994-A funny, Wise, and practical book on overcoming writer’s block and other challenges to experience the joy of writing for its own sake.
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The Elephants of Style by Dill Walsh, 2004-The author, a witty and alert copy editor for the Washington Post, shares his well-reasoned, up-to-date views on some of the nuts and bolts of using the English language.
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On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, 1983-An uncompromising look at what it takes to write serious fiction, as well as the benefits and dangers of workshops, how to deal with editors and the frustration of rejections, and even how to prepare for a good writing session by using self-hypnosis.
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On Writing by Stephen King, 2000-The hugely successful horror writer discusses how his wife salvaged an early draft of Carrie from the trash, the importance of wide-ranging reading, how to revise, and the elements of a good story.
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One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty, 1984-Not a writer’s guide per se, but an utterly beguiling and inspiring memoir that offers aspiring writers’ invaluable lessons on honing and refining their craft. Culled from a series of lectures that Welty gave at Harvard University in 1983, One writer’s beginnings stresses the importance of writers developing their voices through listening and observation.
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Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers by Jacques Barzun, 1975-Another advocate of straightforward writing, Barzun shows how “simple” does not mean dull or imprecise. In this view, careful attention to words’ sounds and meanings is the path to a truly expressive style.
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Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik, 2005-While no book is likely to topple Strunk and White’s Elements of Style from the literary pantheon, Spunk and Bite is an exhilaratingly different approach to writing. Using excerpts from masters of vivid prose to illustrate his points, Plotnik reminds of the value of invention, rule-breaking, and even wildness in literature.
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