My Review (5 stars out of 5) Investigating coastal erosion, forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway and her team discover six bodies buried at the foot of a cliff. Tests on the bodies reveal that they have lain there since World War Two when Britain was threatened by invasion. Along with her cop pal Harry Nelson,…
Category: History
‘Warrior and Protector’ by Peter Gibbons
My Review (5 out of 5 stars) As Viking longboats head for the shores of England, Saxon Thegn Beornoth has little to look forward to – charged by the farmers of Knutsford to track down a bunch of masterless men, he must locate them and make them pay for their crimes: stealing, looting and killing.…
‘Follow Me Down’ by Shelby Foote
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) God-fearing farmer Luther Eustis gets himself into trouble when he runs off with a young woman. Following a few weeks of bliss, he decides to return to his family but knowing his paramour will chase him back home, he kills her. Like many readers I first became…
‘The Looming Tower’ by Lawrence Wright
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Covering more than five decades, The Looming Tower describes the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the communication and other failures within the CIA and other agencies that led to the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Lawrence Wright charts the lives and development of…
‘Little Lindy Is Kidnapped’ by Thomas Doherty
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) On March 1st, 1932, the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was taken from his bedroom in Hopewell, New Jersey. Given Lindbergh’s reputation as an aviator – having been the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic – the American public were appalled that…
‘Kitty Genovese’ by Catherine Pelonero
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Subtitled: A True Account of a Public Murder and its Private Consequences, this is the story of the horrific murder of Kitty Genovese on the street where she lived in Queens, New York in 1964. What proved more horrifying however, was the number of witnesses to her…
‘Once Upon a River’ by Diane Setterfield
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) On the longest night of the year at the Swan Inn on the banks of the Thames, the regulars entertain each other with stories. But the storytelling is interrupted when a stranger bursts in carrying what appears to be a dead child. Summoning the help of local…
‘Desperate Passage’ by Ethan Rarick
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In October 1846, as part of the last wagon train making the westward migration towards California, the group that became known as the Donner Party were forced to dig in at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Unable to make the arduous climb to finish their journey…
‘Manson’ by Jeff Guinn
My Review (5 stars out of 5) How did ex-con and delinquent Charles Manson entice young people to join his ‘family’ and persuade them to commit murder? In this well-researched biography, Jeff Guinn interviewed childhood friends, cellmates, Manson’s own sister and cousin and even members of the Manson Family. Placing Manson firmly in the context…
‘A Town Like Alice’ by Nevil Shute
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audio Book) Twenty-year-old Jean Paget is captured by the Japanese while working in Malaya during World War Two. Along with a group of women and children she is forced to march through the jungle while the enemy figures out what to do with their prisoners. Meeting some Australian…
Colin Garrow 