This is his classic auto-biography and covers his life from early childhood, through College, the First World War and beyond.  Graves, who was a poet, critic, novelist, translator and author of more than 120 books of history, mythology and fiction, is perhaps best known for his historical novel and fantastic BBC series, “I Claudius”. 

During the Second World War, Grossman was an outstanding war correspondent for the Soviet Union and did his part to create the waves of patriotism which helped the Soviet Union defeat Germany.  After the war, Grossman became disillusioned with the system; his visits to the death camps in the Occupied Lands and the refusal of the official State organs to portray the millions of Jewish victims as having any special place in the memory of the war, plus the move towards anti-Semitism once the war was won helped to make him created his greatest novels.

This massive-almost nine hundred pages-book is an almost day by day, detailed record of her ten- and one-half years in office.  It is an amazing record of battles won and lost, almost impossible accomplishments set against her own country’s deep state, bureaucracy, entrenched interests and ossified political thinking.  Her record of successes on the foreign front is also detailed as she fought for the primary interests of her nation against European neighbors by  reducing uneven payments (in short, cutting welfare payments to France, Germany, etc.), a successful war with Argentina, leading the way in punishing Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait, etc.  Plain spoken, sure of her goals, she was, in my opinion, a pre-tweet version of Donald Trump.

A lengthy biography of General and President Ulysses S. Grant (given name, Hiram Ulysses Grant), Mr. Chernow is enamored with the General.  Yet, it is hard to dispute that in many ways, both as General and as President, earlier revisionist historians and biographers have done a great disservice to Grant.

Considered by many to be the founding father of the Panzer concept in pre-war Germany, Guderian was forceful, stubborn, opinionated and driven; all the virtues that would put him at odds with most traditional militaries around the world.  Fortunately for him, he caught the eye of Hitler and Guderian’s concepts represented exactly the type of bold thinking that Hitler sought to enable him to carry out his military goals. From that point, it was a love/hate relationship between the two, with Guderian being cast aside, brought back, ignored by Hitler, apologized to by Hitler and finally once again sent into the wilderness.

Starting in the late 1920’s the author began prowling the back streets and alleys of Paris, going where tourists dare not go and would not be welcome.  He mingled and took photos of the underside of Paris; the whores, pimps, cesspool cleaners, madams, opium dens, thieves, gays and gang leaders who lived in the dark alleys and byways of Paris at that time.  His was not an easy journey for those who he wished to talk too and photograph were often wanted by the police and they lived in a world where there was little honor and every outsider was view with suspicion and was also seen as an easy “mark”.

Over three hundred years ago, a Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire built a bridge at the small village of Visegrad in modern day Bosnia.  At the time, the Ottoman Empire was near its peak and the bridge was s symbol of the power of the Empire.  Ivo Andric, a Serbo-Croat, grew up in the area; he learned the tales and history of the bridge, how it was built, how it was a meeting place for not only the Ottomans, but also the Christians and Jewish leaders of the area.  He traces its history through a series of stories spanning the centuries, capturing the mindset, problems and changes over the three hundred years.

A massive (just over 700 pages) history of the naval battles between the United Kingdom and France during the time of Napoleon.  It is an adventure story which spans the world as sea battles from India to the English Channel impact Napoleon’s campaigns from Egypt to Moscow.

Histories of war are often told from the viewpoint of grand strategies, major military or political leaders or combat personnel.  Seldom do we get a view of the war from the ground level as experienced by non-combatants; we somehow seem to believe that their lives go on with a feel of normality, even in occupied territories.  In this book we find how a woman, living in an occupied land managed to not only lead a life, but to defy the occupiers and at great risk to herself, feed prisoners of war while at the same time hurting the occupiers war effort.

For years, Albert Seaton’s “Battle for Moscow” has been the gold standard for reviews of that famous and brutal battle. This work is a welcome addition to any library on the subject as it is lighter and raises several points which are worth examining. Michael Jones uses eyewitness accounts of actions to bring a personal touch which was missing from Seaton’s and thus the reader is drawn not so much by the technical aspect of the battle as by the personal.