Fatal Pursuit, Walker - B +

                                               In the latest novel featuring Bruno Courreges, Chief of Police in fictional St. Denis, the backstory is about cars, specifically the Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic. Only four of the cars were ever manufactured at the Bugatti factory in Alsace in the 30's. The whereabouts of three are well known. Ralph Lauren owns one that has been so spectacularly restored that it is estimated to be worth $40M. A famous British race driver who was in the SOE during the war is believed to have driven the car out of occupied France into Vichy-ruled territory. The whereabouts of the car remain a mystery seventy-five years later.  Since the author is an accomplished historian, that was enough to build a modern murder mystery. Add in Bruno's varied and constructive civic responsibilities, and once again, you have a delightful book.

The Hapsburg Empire: A New History, Judson - C +

                                                 The author states that the historiography of the empire has changed significantly in the last thirty years. Instead of focusing on the national divisions within the empire, there is a new appreciation of the institutions of empire. This book "investigates how shared imperial institutions, administrative practices, and cultural programs helped to shape local society in every region of the empire, from the late eighteenth century until the first decades of the twentieth century."
                                                 In the mid-1700's, the Empress Maria Theresa realized that a state needed to be forged from the Hapsburg lands that had been haphazardly accumulated over the preceding five hundred years. She initiated and implemented a massive reformation of society with a focus on the peasants, reducing their feudal obligations and mandating public education. She centralized the state, established a standing army, reigned in the R.C. church, established a system of taxation and created a sense of nationhood and citizenship that she bequeathed in 1780 to her son, Joseph II.  This led to "a radical transformation of the individual...to a citizen whose legal relationship to the state was the sole determinant of his legal position..."  Reform culminated in the 1804 declaration by Francis I of the Austrian Empire and the 1811 laws that transformed all of the empire's subjects into equal citizens before the law.  The empire survived the quarter-century of war caused by the French Revolution; however the Emperor, Francis I, and his principal advisor, Count Metternich, ruled conservatively,  in fear of revolution erupting on their watch. Instead, "Austrian society itself took up the challenges of creating social and economic change.." In essence, the body politic replaced the cautious, frugal state as the prime agent of change. The revolutions that swept Europe in 1848 were manifestly different in the various parts of the empire.  The Hungarian nobility wished to further separate themselves from the German-speaking Austrians. Elsewhere, civic elites sought a greater voice in their own governance, peasants desired to throw off the last vestiges of feudal obligations, and disposing of Metternich was foremost on many minds. The Emperor Ferdinand capitulated to Hungarian demands for self-governance within the empire, the royal family ran Metternich out-of-town and a new constitution was promised.  How the state would move forward from the tumultuous year would be left to the new Emperor, the eighteen-year-old Franz-Joseph I. He propelled a liberal agenda forward by centralized and autocratic means. Eventually, the weight of foreign policy failures, highlighted by an expensive mobilization during the Crimean War, and defeat at the hands of France and then Prussia, put an end to his dreams. After losing the war with Prussia, the Emperor acceded to the dual monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The dichotomy between the Austrians and Hungarians would dominate the dialogue of managing increasing social mobilization and conflict in the last half-century of the empire. Also, language as the defining concept of nationhood took center stage. Nationalists used it to promote their goals of independence; the empire used it to point out the advantages of diversity in one empire.  The state modernized throughout the last decades of the century.  Infrastructure projects, railroads, universal military service, education, hospitals and other avenues of progress were all implemented by the centralized state. Universal manhood suffrage finally came in 1907. On the eve of war, only the conservative elites despaired for the empire's future, and, when war broke out, they envisioned it as an opportunity to turn back the clock. However, the empire failed in it's responsibilities to its people. Militarily, the empire suffered astronomical casualties. And on the home front, it could not sustain and feed its people. "The war was not the proverbial final straw that broke a failing empire's back. It did not accelerate an inevitable collapse. It did, however, create heretofore unimaginable new conditions in Austria-Hungary that in a few years time made collapse not only possible but also likely. A state that could not ameliorate its people's intense and dramatic suffering imperiled its popular legitimacy."  "With its resources strained to the extreme after four long years, the empire's capacity to inspire hope for a different future - let alone guarantee physical survival in the present - finally collapsed."
                                                  The 18th century reformers (Maria Theresa, Joseph II and Leopold II) were very progressive rulers. They appear to have taken up the ideas of the Enlightenment with more enthusiasm than anyone  else in Europe. However, the costs of fighting the French hamstrung the empire for decades, and fear of revolution burgeoning at home meant that the 19th century ruler's turned their back on 'enlightened' governance. Whether or not a progressive approach to all the challenges of nationalism the empire faced would have kept the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire in some semblance of cohesion in the face of war is a matter of conjecture.
                                                 Whether or not the author achieves his stated goals is beyond my skill level. I thought I had a reasonably good understanding of the era. However, after completing this very informative, but incredibly detailed narrative,  I do not feel particularly enlightened.

The Run Of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, Toobin - B

                                             I decided to give this twenty-year-old book a whirl because of the recent, extraordinary ESPN documentary.  Jeffrey Toobin is a journalist, a lawyer and a helluva writer. There is no doubt that O.J. was flat out guilty from moment one, but his lawyers managed to obtain his shocking acquittal because the defense team turned the trial into a referendum on the LAPD. Race was the only issue, as almost all of black LA (if not black America) thought O.J. innocent and all the whites were confident of his guilt. The defense's first lead lawyer, Bob Shapiro, decided to play the race card and LA's best known black lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, played it masterfully. The DA's office represented by Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden were cocky, arrogant and close to incompetent. The judge did not control his courtroom and thus, a year-long three-ring circus played out around the world on Court TV. The sequestered jury, the majority of whom were black woman, freed the 'Juice' on its first day of deliberation. As well-written as this book is, it's hard to get too excited because the story is a demoralizing travesty.

Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and their Friends, McAuliffe - B

                                              This is the history of Paris' recovery from the devastation of the Franco-Prussian War (1870), when the city was bombarded by the Germans, and then wrecked by the anarchy of the Commune and its violent suppression. Napoleon III had fled to England, the Empire was over, and the French were burdened with a 5 million franc indemnity to the Germans, who continued their occupation until they were paid in 1874. Although the Republic was established, there was still a battle royal between the forces of liberty and progress and the monarchist reaction led by the church and the military.  Building the Sacre Coeur on Montmarte was a victory for the right. It was built on the grounds where the Commune had begun. However, in the 1879 elections, the Republicans succeeded, reinstated 'La Marseillaise' as the national anthem, and moved the government from Versailles to Paris.  They secularized hospitals and schools, banished religious from the classrooms and dissolved the Jesuits. A year later, July 14 was reinstated as a national holiday and the Communards were granted amnesty. The forces of liberty, equality and fraternity had momentarily triumphed.                                                                                                                                  
                                             The 1880's  saw the construction of two of the most famous edifices in modern history. Liberty Enlightening the World was built in the middle of the city and presented to the US Ambassador in 1884. Lady Liberty was disassembled, packed and shipped off to New York, where she would be dedicated on Nov.1, 1886, while a million people cheered the fireworks celebration.  And in anticipation of the centenary of the Revolution, Eiffel constructed his iconic tower on the Champs de Mars.
                                             The last decade of the century was dominated by the scandal surrounding the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company. The de Lesseps were sentenced to jail and Eiffel's reputation was completely besmirched. The political fallout cost Clemenceau his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Next followed the Dreyfus affair that sent the innocent Jewish artillery officer to Devil's Island. The rift between the right and the left in French society was deep and each side continued their virulent, bitter campaign against the other. That the wrong man was convicted in a bout of anti-Semitic misbehavior is and has long been beyond refute. The men who finally turned the affair around, and are the heroes of the story, are Emile Zola and Georges Clemenceau. Zola wrote the pamphlet that summed up the complex case and the army's duplicity and Clemenceau came up with the title that resounds through history - 'J'accuse'. Three hundred thousand copies of what was an open letter to the government were distributed in Paris.  Immediately, Zola was prosecuted for libeling the army and convicted. Later in the year, the officer who had forged the letter behind the entire affair confessed and committed suicide. Notwithstanding that, Dreyfus, after his appeal succeeded, was convicted a second time. The army continued to manufacture evidence and the church supported them. Dreyfus was pardoned after over four years on Devils Island.  The book closes with the Impressionists finally receiving their due, Dreyfus and Zola honored, and Clemenceau headed for higher office.
                                             I found this book while looking for 'Twilight of the Belle Epoque', which my brother recommended. So, thanks for a twofer. What is interesting about this book for me is information on the physical transformation of  the city, the blossoming of the artistic and musical culture of the day, and the intense conflict between the left and the right. To characterize the conflict as intense does not do it justice.  Zola's 'J'accuse' led to violent outbursts, riots and the murder of Jews in the countryside.There was a real possibility of an army coup. The country could've been torn apart. It seems a wonder that the 3rd Republic survived. My knowledge of French history is limited and this has been an eye opener.

Black Widow, Silva - B -

                                               Eerily, Allon's antagonist here is ISIS and an imaginary operations chief nicknamed Saladin. Although Gabriel is one day removed from taking over the Office, he is called back into the field when the French request his help in avenging an attack in Paris. His op is based on recruiting a French-Israeli doctor, who  speaks perfect Arabic, as an undercover infiltrator. She is trained by Allon and his team and placed in a clinic in a banlieue in Paris, where an ISIS recruiter signs her up.  On an excursion to Syria, she is called in to save Saladin's life after he is caught in an air attack. She is then recruited and sent to Washington, DC to be part of an attack intended to incur American wrath. ISIS pretty much blows up half of Washington, the Israelis get out of town after exacting a degree of revenge and finally, finally, Gabriel is ensconced in the top job at King Saul Boulevard.
                                               Through sixteen books, the chronicler  of the mythical Allon takes appropriately pro-Israeli positions,\ that I've always been comfortable with.  In this one, though, he articulates some very strong anti-Administration opinions, trashes the Iranian nuclear deal, belittles our foreign policy in general and wishes we were back in the Middle East with boots on the ground. I found it a bit unsettling.

I'm Traveling Alone, Bjork - B +

                                                Thanks to Wendell Erwin for this one. It's a fast-paced Norwegian mystery with most of the usual Nordic noir characters. There is a serial killer taunting the police, a religious cult, a police woman so over the edge that she takes this case on in lieu of doing herself in, a worn-out under-appreciated supervisor, a newbie tech magician and the usual boss who makes it harder to solve the case. The killer is very, very good at disguises and technology. She also has a deeply felt personal grudge against one of the key policewoman. The book has a dramatic tension-filled end and is, quite simply, a fun read.

The Revenant, Funke - B +

                                                This is one of those infrequent novels with a sub-title: A Novel Of Revenge. Before Hugh Glass tries to find his tormentor, John Fitzgerald, he must first recover from the bear attack. The bear tore him apart and it's pretty hard to believe anyone could survive. In a historical note at the end of  the book, Funke points out that this is essentially a true story; that Glass was badly mauled and left to die by his two colleagues. The first half of the book is the story of his crawl/walk back to a fort on the Grand River.  Although remarkably adept as an outdoorsman, it is a band of Sioux, impressed with his scars and wounds, that helps him back to a small outpost, where he is re-armed, clothed and supplied for his journey to find Fitzgerald and Bridger. When Glass catches up with his old outfit, he decides to let Bridger off the hook because of his age. He is sent to Ft. Atkinson in Nebraska to deliver a message to the fur company in St. Louis. He is the only survivor of a band of four who lose their horses to Indians and whose buffalo boats capsize in rapids. He finds Fitgerald has enlisted in the army and Glass' accusations of theft and abandonment necessitate a court martial. A modest measure of justice is extracted and Glass moves on. The historical note states that Hugh Glass was killed by Indians at the junction of the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers a decade later. This book is one helluva short, fun read.

Spain In Our Hearts: Americans In The Spanish Civil War, Hochschild - B +

                                                The author states that this is not a history of the war or an account of the involvement of the approximately 2,800 Americans who fought for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Rather, it is the story of a handful of those men. Almost all were communists at a time when that ideology was still a beacon of hope.
                                                In February, 1936, the Popular Front, a coalition of liberals, Socialists and Communists won an election in Spain, a country where 2% of the population owned 2/3rds of the land. The Army's right-wing leaders quickly formulated plans for a coup, but were faced with a significant challenge. Most of the Army was stationed in Morocco and there was no way to transport the men to Spain, because the navy refused to participate. To the rescue of Gen. Francisco Franco came Hitler and Goebbels. Germany provided air transport. With a viciousness that shocked the world, the Nationalists quickly took over about one-third of the nation. The Republic was rebuffed by the western democracies when it tried to purchase arms and turned to the USSR. There were reigns of terror on both sides that saw some of the most vicious, brutal slaughters imaginable. Volunteers poured in from around the world to help the Republicans.  The prototypical American volunteer was "a New Yorker, a communist, an immigrant or the son of an immigrant, a trade unionist and a member of a group that has almost vanished from the US today, a working-class Jew."  The amateur Republicans held off the Nationalists into 1937, by which time both sides were overwhelmed by their backers. Thousands of German and Italians fought with Franco. The Germans provided meaningful air support and weapons, including the 88mm artillery pieces that would later dominate WW2.  The Soviets started purging and eliminating those on the Republican side who didn't fit their Stalinist ideological standards. The war continued through 1937 with the Nationalists prevailing. They held most of the country's industrial and agricultural wealth in the west and north. The Republicans held Madrid and Barcelona, but the noose was tightening. Although each side received material support from its allies,  Franco received more, and at the end of the day, Franco had a trained army fighting a band of militias. In March, 1938, Franco's penultimate push began and the Republicans were routed. They fled behind the Ebro River and flooded into Barcelona. In July, the Republicans took the offensive for the final time. The Battle of the Ebro raged for months.  As the west appeased Hitler, neither Britain nor France were willing to sell arms to the Republicans.  Stalin lost interest and withdrew most of the Soviets in Spain.  In October, the government withdrew the internationalists and thus the last 2,500 volunteers left Spain. Only a few hundred American were left.  Franco launched his final push and by March 1939, the civil war was over.  Franco executed tens of thousands and imprisoned hundreds of thousands. Franco's dictatorship lasted another 36 years. In 1996, the Spanish Parliament granted citizenship to all living members of the International Brigades.                                                        
                                                 A history that tells the tale of fascists allied with the Roman Catholic Church on one side and Reds on the other is wearying. On the Republican side though, we do have the international volunteers, and although badly served by their Communist leaders, they and the newsmen and women who followed them and told their story to the world are some of the finest, bravest people of character one comes across in any history. Some, like Ernest Hemingway and a young George Orwell, an English foot soldier, are well-known. Most, like Bob Merriman, an American officer, and Lois Orr and Milly Bennett, young writers, are footnotes to history. They all went to Spain to participate in what they believed was the first opportunity to stand-up to Fascism. I have learned a great deal about an important 20th-century event that heretofore I knew virtually nothing about.

The North Water, McGuire - B +

                                               One of the very favorable reviews of this novel suggests the author's style is a cross between Joseph Conrad and Cormac McCarthy - pretty heady stuff. The story is of a cursed mid-19th century English whaling voyage to the Arctic. The two primary antagonists are a disgraced opium-addicted surgeon, Sumner, and a murderous beast, Drax. The ship is intended to be scuttled in an insurance fraud and everything goes wrong after they lose the ship. Some open water whale-boating brings a dozen men to a Canadian island on Baffin Bay as the summer winds down. Drax escapes by murdering two Yaks and taking their sleigh. Sumner survives when some natives find him and bring him south to a mission. Both men make it back to England, where they face off for the last time.

The Butcher Bird, Sykes - B -

                                               In the second book, Oswald is again up against ignorance and fear as the locals think a bird carried off and killed an infant.  He also struggles with the fact that the King has passed a law forbidding the payment of wages higher than before the Plague, while his people are agitated, leaving for elsewhere, and believe they should be paid more for doing more work. A family intrigue takes him off to London, where the plot thickens and complicates matters back in Somershill. In the end, he and his sister, Clemence, settle into a peaceable accommodation and he concludes that he will violate the King's writ, and pay his people the wages needed to keep them.

Plague Land, Sykes - B

                                              This is a delightful little historical novel set in 14th century England in the aftermath of the Plague. Young Oswald deLacy returns from a Benedictine Abbey to take up responsibilities as Lord of Somershill upon the death of his father and two older brothers. He is met by two gruesome murders which the dim-witted priest of the community attributes to the devil manifested as a creature with a dogs head and an uncertain body. Furthermore, his older sister up and marries a neighboring lord of devious character.  The wheels of fortune turn in Oswald's favor as he secures his inheritance, discovers the shocking truth about his own paternity and establishes his role in the village.  This is probably a better mystery than it is historical fiction, but nonetheless, it is a pleasant diversion.

And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades In The Middle East, Engel - B +

                                               The author is the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News and he tells the story of his two-decade career that began in the mid-1990's in Cairo for the 'Middle Eastern Times'. He is unsparing in his criticism of American policy. Before he begins though, he points out in the prologue that Dante assigned both  Mohammed and Ali, the Shia patriarch, to the eighth circle of hell as "sowers of religious divisiveness." Engel's as tough as Dante.
                                                He reviews the basics, including the infamous post-WW1 European division of the Ottoman Empire that has been universally decried for a century. He arrived on the scene in time to see the big men of the Cold War era (Mubarak, Saddam Hussein, Ben Ali of Algeria, Gadafi and Assad) crumble under the weight of "their own poor management and the actions and inactions of two two-term US administrations: Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The combined impact of Bush's aggressive interventionism and Obama's timidity and inconsistency completely destroyed the status quo." He suggests that although we aren't responsible for the Middle East's woes, our actions and missteps unleashed the madness of the Iraq war, the Syrian bloodbath, Libya's anarchy and ISIS.
                                               Engel cites the Egyptian fundamentalist mid-90's attacks on tourists as the first steps toward the abyss. They were followed by Al-Quaeda bombing the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.  Hatred of the west was and continues to be a core tenet of the Islamist fundamentalists. He labels the extremists as Salafi and Wahabi jihadists. The jihadis who fought the Soviet infidels in Afghanistan were prosecuted and imprisoned upon their return home, and in Egypt, were often executed. They eventually became an army of exiles. In 2000, Engel's focus shifted to Israel, when he signed on with Agence France-Presse (AFP) as their Palestinian correspondent.  He feels that the Second Intifada was caused by Ariel Sharon who casually and provocatively walked through the Arab section of the Dome of the Rock/Wailing Wall complex.  Thus ended any possibility of the peace process succeeding. He was in Jerusalem on Sept. 11th and entered Iraq as a freelancer in early March, 2003.  ABC took him on when he was the only American reporter left in Bagdad and he witnessed "shock and awe" and its consequences. He refers to the Bush administration plans in Iraq as a "fantasy garden of democracy that he (Bush) wanted to plant in the Middle East."  Engel somehow spent years in Bagdad as it descended into total chaos, was moved to Beirut to become a  bureau chief for NBC, and eventually, to NYC.  The Arab Spring, Tahrir Square, the collapse of Libya, the endless Syrian civil war and ISIS followed.  From the author's perspective, the region is doomed to decades more of violence and failed states.
                                               I've always enjoyed books by journalists. After all, they usually write very well. This is both a personal memoir, as well as a brief history. He provides some interesting insights and has delivered a solid narrative.