Recent reading

THE PIRATE COAST by Richard Zacks. This is an adventure story
commemorated in the line "the shores of Tripoli" in the US Marine
Corps hymn. William Eaton, deebly in debt and court-martialed
from the Army, is asked by President Thomas Jefferson in 1805
to rescue Marines captured by the Muslim ruler of Tripoli when the
USS Philadelphia accidentally ran aground in North Africa. The
adventure takes him to Egypt, where he recruits Bedouin
fighters and European mercenaries, and succeeds in his mission.

SKELETONS ON THE ZAHARA by Dean King. If you thought that
real-life adventures like the one recounted by Zacks only happen
once, think again. In 1815, twelve American sailors were shipwrecked
on the Moroccon coast, and taken as slaves by desert nomads.
Led by by shipwrecked brig's master, James Riley, 37, 6'1" and
240 lbs, the sailors survive starvation, dehydration, murder, and
hostile tribes that roam the Sahara on camelback, to safely
return home.

THE NORTHERN CRUSADES by Eric Christiansen. Inspired by
the Pope's call for a Holy War, Teutonic knights and Scandinavian
kings launch a Crusade against Orthodox Novgorod and pagan
Lithuania.

THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-1871 by Stephen Badsey.
An important war that is neglected by historians but whose
consequences are still everywhere around us, from the helmet of
the British bobby on the beat (copied from the Prussian Pichelhaube)
to the legacy of the Paris Commune (Lenin had his body wrapped
in a red flag from the Commune). Also, armies around the world
copied the successful Prussians, adopting their idea of the
General Staff. Young men around the world began to cut their hair
short in imitation of Prussian soldiers.

THE MITROKHIN ARCHIVE 1 AND 2 by Christopher Andrew and
Vasili Mitrokhin. The two parts of this massive work detail the
activities of the KGB around the world. It is based on the secret
KGB files smuggled out from the Soviet Union by Mitrokhin.
There are some surprising new facts. I learned, for example,
that the first Soviet spy sent on a mission abroad, Aleksei
Filippov, was sent to Finland in late 1917 to spy on General
Karl Mannerheim, and report on his dealings with the Germans.

THE SWORD OF LINCOLN by Feffry Wert. A new, very well written
history of the Army of the Potomac. Made me more interested in
the American Civil War than anything else I've read.

Wonderful reviews, Mark. Thanks for sharing. I'm not familiar
with any of the ones you mentioned, but you made them all
sound interesting.

I'm reading Alice in Wonderland and Weston's From Ritual to
Romance right now.

Michael