Books I Read January 3rd, 2025

Happy New Year. Between working in a kitchen and a lot of other stuff, 2024 was not really a banner year for reading, nor for keeping this blog updated. Hopefully 2025 will prove better. I know you're all out there just clamoring for my thoughts. In any event, the below make up the remnants of last year’s meager literary feast.

Pen, Sword, Camisole by Jorge Amado – The internecine machinations of a cadre of elderly liberal Brazilian academicians, celebrating the power of art (or at least, artists) to oppose fascism. Fun but slight.

Diary of a Man in Despair by Friedruch Reck – The wide-ranging journal of a principled conservative's existence beneath the Third Reich, Reck's bitter, brilliant lamentation for a nation and world gone mad remains as insightful as it was the last time Trump was elected. The sense of alienation and futility will resonate with any thoughtful reader, as will Reck's general critique of modernity, which only seems more prescient with the day. Everyone should pick this up.

Sourdough Culture: A History of Bread Making from Ancient to Modern Bakers Eric Pallant – A breezy history of the use of wild yeast in bread baking. Probably would have worked better as a long article.

Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin by Francis Spufford – The history of post-war British industry as told in a series of technological innovations emblematic of the (sometimes self-defeating) British genius. As in Red Plenty, I admire Spufford's ability to weave a vivid narrative out of obtuse subject matter.

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye – Manhattan's first detective investigates a mass grave of children, explores mid 19th-century New York.

The Silence of the Choir by Mohammad Mbougar Sarr – A small Sicilian town struggles to accommodate a group of African refugees. I found it overly neat.

From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe by John Connelly – A history of modern mitteleuropa, from Joseph II to Ceausescu. Obviously there's an enormous amount of material but Connelly does an excellent job of navigating several centuries of ethnic and political strife. A surprisingly readable 800 pages.

A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton – Vienna descends into modernity in Morton's exquisitely detailed, compellingly readable cultural history of a dying dual monarchy. An old favorite of mine, worth the re-read.

Bosworth Field and the Wars of the Roses by A.L. Rowse – A brisk record of internecine Anglo slaughter. As a rule I find medieval history somewhat interminable, but Rowse does a good job of detailing the cast of characters and keeping the action moving.

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama – I spent a fair bit of the holidays sitting beside a Christmas tree, drinking coffee and tearing through Schama's magisterial history of a nation tearing itself to pieces in spasms of madness. Schama has a rare gift for combining the larger sweep of human history with a keen eye for the diverse historical personalities populating his pages. Lots of fun.