Let’s be honest here, you loved National Treasure. Even with every joke made about Nicholas Cage’s receding hairline and bug-eyed acting skills, you’ve got to admit that one part of the movie was actually really interesting. It involved the depth of national history imbedded between every scene of Mr. Cage’s brooding stares. Lately, films like Lincoln, shows such as Downton Abbey, and bestsellers Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln all have been unified by the fact that we are all fascinated by what came before us. We have all dozed off in history class before, but don’t make the mistake of skipping these books out of fear of boredom.
Revolutionary Summer:
Joseph J. Ellis
A fast-paced read about a time that the summer sun beat down on a war for independence, instead of your own war against boredom.
The pivotal months of May-September of 1776 were crucial to the American army in their fight against the destructive and advanced British powerhouse. Following the miracle that was the beginning of victory for the Americans, Ellis writes with passion about the leaders and soldiers that were the revolutionaries whom changed the scope of the new nation. The novel follows two groups fighting for the same rights, but in different ways: The troops on the battlefield using their firearms to convey the message, and the Continental Congress using words to do the same. It is a story of how a nation came together in the harshest times, to stand for what they believed were their natural rights. “And while today American government is more divided than the people it represents, the government of the former United Colonies grew more united than the people they represented, many of whom still harbored doubts...” says Pittsburgh Post Gazette Editor David Shribman. As we approach revolutionary issues facing our courts, lawmakers, and citizens today, Ellis remarkably outlines in just over 200 pages the spirit of the American people to face the times that define them.
Blood and Beauty: the Borgias:
Sarah Dunant
If American history isn’t your forte, rewind another 250 years to the lives of Pope Alexander VI, or Rodrigo Borgia, and his family. Fans of the Showtime Series The Borgias can continue their affair with the family in Dunant’s expose of the true atrocities committed by the family, and the truth behind the rumors they carry with them 500 years later. The allure of this papal family becomes even more magnetized throughout Dunant’s novel, for the real players in their power game are the women, in particular Rodrigo’s daughter Lucrezia. Used as a pawn for her father and brother’s political ambitions, her intelligence is a burden to her happiness. “You will always be a Borgia first and someone’s wife second,” she is told. Family loyalty is strewn throughout the pages of history, but never has it been as ruthless as the Borgias.
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
For an unorthodox take on historical fiction, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief follows Death as it describes the atrocities during the Nazi Party’s control of Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Death then tells the story as it follows the protagonist Liesel’s writing from the years of Nazi occupation from years earlier. As Zusak chronicles one young girl’s life, he also shows how the coarseness of society at that time shapes her relationships, behaviors, and attitude. As life with her adopted family gets tangled with the Gestapo and hidden Jews, her love of books remains a solace in the darkness. "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right," she says. And when Death finally visits Liesel late in her life for the last time, it reveals it has carried her little black book, The Book Thief, for all her life.
