Book Reviews from 2022

Author not to be confused with D. H. Lawrence, naturally.

Braudel is unimpeachable as always: the detail-obsessed, big-picture-grasping polyglot that every historian should strive to be.

An engaging and informative dual biography of Anthony and Francis Bacon.

Reasonably good account of the US Exploring Expedition. Fine subject matter, and Fredrick's writing is by no means bad, but in the large his authorial voice has a certain monotony. Each chapter felt almost the same; incredibly, I began to say "ho-hum, another adventure?" even as the feats managed by Wilkes' crew at the southernmost parts of the world grew more and more fascinating.

Catlin was a portrait painter who spent about 7 years living among the Indians of the Louisiana Purchase territories. His paintings, reproduced here as full-page color prints, are a treasure trove for anthropology. His writings are also a fitting riposte for anyone who claims that all historical Americans were racists, or otherwise intolerant of natives. His attitude is even more positive than that of Meriwether Lewis (who I recently read about in Undaunted Courage.)

On a linguistic level, Lolita is crafted as masterfully as one would expect from Nabokov. But I must say that this didn't capture me the way Pale Fire did. I'll have to return and tackle it again, finishing it this time; I am certain that the fault lies with me and not with the author.

Out-fucking-standing.

Fernand Braudel shows that economic historians don't have to be boring -- but they often are, and Erlichman is.