The strength of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibanez
lies in tiny details, like a farmer swerving his plow around mounds that indicate buried corpses.
Archive for the ‘Historical’ Category
War’s Horror Is in the Details
Posted in 1919 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Propaganda, Psychological novel, War, tagged France, Germany, Vicente Blasco Ibanez, World War I on October 7, 2009 | Comments Off
Peder VictoriouSuffers Fractures
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, Historical, tagged American History, Dakota territory, frontier, Norwegians in America, O. E. Rolvaag, pioneers on August 19, 2009 | 2 Comments »
In Peder Victorious, O. E. Rolvaag looks at the second generation of Norwegian pioneers who broke the Dakota prairies to the plow.
Peder Victorious Holm and his siblings think of themselves as Americans. Their mother, Beret Holm, still regards herself as Norwegian. She wishes her children to speak, read, think in Norwegian; have only Norwegian friends; [...]
The Nazarene Is Bizarre
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Religious, tagged Catholics, crucifixion, first century AD, Nicodemus, Scholem Asch, Warsaw on July 1, 2009 | Comments Off
Sholem Asch’s The Nazarene is a bizarre retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth by two first century characters whose souls are transmigrated to 1930s Warsaw.
A novel that moves slower than Congress
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Historical, tagged American History, American Revolution, democracy, Elizabeth Page, politics, Thomas Jefferson, Tidewater, Virginia on June 24, 2009 | Comments Off
In The Tree of Liberty, Elizabeth Page uses the family of Matthew Howard as a lens through which to view American history from 1754 through 1806.
Dull Edge to Cutlass Empire
Posted in 1949 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Romance, tagged 1600s, Caribbean, England, F. Van Wyck Mason, France, Jamaica, New World, Panama, privateer, Spain on April 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Based on the true story of a privateer who became Governor of Jamaica, F. Van Wyck Mason’s novel Cutlass Empire is a swashbuckler whose swash has long since buckled.
Forgotten history in forgettable novel
Posted in 1949 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Romance, tagged colonial America, French colonies, French-Canadian, Montreal, New Orleans, Spanish colonies, Thomas B. Costain on April 22, 2009 | 1 Comment »
High Towers is a bodice-ripping historical novel about a lovely lass who becomes one of the early settlers of New Orleans. Thomas B. Costain takes his plot and characters straight from the shelf with nary a variation on the standard pot-boiler romance. The only novelty here is the historical setting.
Dangle in 1948 files for Big Fisherman
Posted in 1948 Bestselling Novels, 1949 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Religious on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off
The #2 bestseller for 1949, The Big Fisherman, was #1 in1948.
For read my review of the historical-religious novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, use the drop down menu links at the right. You will find the review under these categories:
1948 novels
religious novels
historical novels
The Dear and Glorious Physician is Luke Warm
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Religious on February 11, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Dear and Glorious Physician is worth reading for the setting and scenery. Look elsewhere for entertainment or better understanding of people.
Ugly American Is Alive and Well
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Propaganda, tagged Asia, Eugene Burdick, foreign service, US foreign policy, William J. Lederer on February 4, 2009 | Comments Off
The great—and horrific—thing about The Ugly American is that it still feels real today. You have only to see newscasts of President George W. Bush shrugging off the Iraqi shoe-thrower to see that Americans still have no appreciation of the cultures in which they have troops stationed. And post 9/11,we’ve seen how effective Mao’s embedded insurgents can be.
