Books Read in January, Part 2

As I said before, I read three nonfiction books during January, all very good. They were a military history, a somewhat biography, and a literary biography.

“The Inklings”, by Humphrey Carpenter: This was a literary biography about the group of men who gathered weekly around C.S. Lewis in his Oxford rooms to read each their work to each other, and discuss a variety of topics, including religion and literature. They also met usually on Tuesday mornings in a local pub for the same thing, but it was the Thursday evening meetings that the author concentrated his book around. There was quite a bit of discussion of Lewis, his return to religion, as well as his relationships with Tolkien, his brother Warnie Lewis, and Mrs. Moore, a mother-like figure who Lewis lived with for decades. The book also highlighted Charles Williams and his writing and relationship with the group as well. It was an enjoyable book much to my surprise.

“Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brulee”, by Thomas J. Cranghaell: This was about Jefferson’s time in France 1775-1789, as representative of America in its early days of formation. It’s the story of how Jefferson tried to learn everything French, especially cuisine and wine. He brought along his slave James Hemings, older brother of Sally Hemings, to learn French cooking. Jefferson told James if he learned to cook in the French style and then taught another Jefferson’s slaves, then Jefferson would free James. And after a few delays, Jefferson did. It’s also about Jefferson collecting wine and learning to grow other crops. All in all, a very good short book.

“1776”, by David McCullough: Another great history book for a very good author. He does an excellent job covering the first real year of the revolution. He covers both the political as well as the military goings-on, though the emphasis is definitely on the latter. He does a very good job of describing many of the major historical figures of the time, on both sides. It is obvious that the key player in this book, as it should be, is Washington. Throughout the story, McCullough describes Washington showing both his strengths as well as his shortcomings. The coverage of the Battle of New York done particularly well, especially since the maps in the book are almost useless (probably the only thing wrong with the book).

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