historical books

Burkhard Bilger’s Discovery of a War Criminal in the Family in ‘Fatherland’

Lee Polevoi

Soon after the liberation of France, Karl Gönner (called “Karl” throughout the book) was charged with ordering the execution of a villager aligned with the Resistance. A series of investigations followed, leading—many years later—to Karl’s official exoneration (though even that label was later rescinded by a German investigative committee.

Disaster at Sea and Survival in David Grann’s ‘The Wager’

Lee Polevoi

The result is a sweeping, old-fashioned yarn about disaster at sea. The book’s subtitle (A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder) accurately describes what awaits the reader. And if The Wager falls short in places, it’s not due to a lack of drama inherent in mutiny and murder on a desolate, far-off island. A key question underpins this account—that is, when differing individuals offer differing accounts of what occurred, whom can we believe?

Leaders Rise and Fall in Ian Kershaw’s ‘Personality and Power’

Lee Polevoi

Counterfactual notions like this occur throughout the book, though they hold little value either as conjecture or informed speculation. Obviously, every aspect of history (and not just in Europe) might be radically different had such-and-such not gone the way it did. For the most part, however, Kershaw moves adroitly through decades of turmoil in Europe. He’s skilled at connecting 20th-century leaders with our current crop.

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