Tag: Biography

  • War, independence and family ties

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE LOYAL SON: The War in Ben Franklin’s House. By Daniel Mark Epstein. Random House Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 16 ½ hours; 13 CDs. $60. Also available in hardback from Ballantine Books. Most of us probably think we know the story of Benjamin Franklin, and certainly the story of…

  • What did the president know …

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson RICHARD NIXON: The Life. By John A. Farrell. Random House Audio. Read by Dan Woren. 29 hours; 23 CDs. $60. Also available in hardcover from Doubleday. There have been other biographies of Richard Nixon, the only American president to resign from office. From what I’ve read, this new one by…

  • A most misunderstood president

    Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor HERBERT HOOVER: A LIFE. By Glen Jeansonne. Berkley. 464 pages. $28. Also available from Penguin Audio, read by Mark Deakins. 16 hours, 28 minutes. $29.95. Head west across Interstate 80 from Chicago, and you’ll come across a National Park Service surprise in West Branch, Iowa: The Herbert Hoover National Historic…

  • Fighting Irish – a tale for our times

    Paul O’Connor reviews a new biography of a 19th-century immigrant who battled discrimination against himself even as he fought for freedom for those who were enslaved. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN. By Timothy Egan. Brilliance Audio. 14 hours, 9 minutes. Read by Gerard Doyle. $11.95 Audible Download. Also available in paperback. Mariner Books. 384…

  • The remarkable story of the second First Lady Adams

    Here’s an outstanding biography of an often-overlooked woman. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson LOUISA: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams. By Louisa Thomas. Books on Tape. Read by Kirsten Potter. 15 ½ hours; 13 CDs. Also available in hardcover from Penguin Press. Louisa Thomas has applied her skills as a journalist and an author ably…

  • A sense of duty, a desire to win

    Amid the sound and fury of the presidential campaign, Paul O’Connor finds that the new biography of George H.W. Bush presents a thought-provoking contrast. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor DESTINY AND POWER: THE AMERICAN ODYSSEY OF GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH.  By Jon Meacham. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Paul Michael. 25 hours. 20 CDs.…

  • Money and power

    Thank goodness Tom Dillon has wide-ranging tastes in books. He reads and reviews some fascinating ones we might otherwise overlook. Reviewed by Tom Dillon THE RICHEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED. By Greg Steinmetz. Simon and Schuster. 283 pages. $27.95 hardback. Augsburg in Bavaria, my home for much of the 1960s, is a middling-size German city…

  • The real Reagan

    Paul O’Connor has tackled an exhaustive (and exhausting?)  but worthwhile new biography of Ronald Reagan. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor  REAGAN: THE LIFE. By H.W. Brands. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Stephen Hoye. 32 hours. $60. Also available in hardcover from Doubleday. 737 pages. $60. My mother really liked Ronald Reagan. She considered him…

  • What do bison, prairie dogs, nuclear weapons and cable TV have in common?

    As I’ve said before, it’s a pleasure to receive a review from Tom Dillon, because he writes well, thinks clearly and reads interesting books. He’s also willing to try something different. Reviewed by Tom Dillon LAST STAND: Ted Turner’s Quest to Save a Troubled Planet. By Todd Wilkinson. Lyons Press. 378 pages. $18.95, paperback. Authorized…

  • Vermont Royster, one of the editorial greats

    Paul O’Connor is nothing if not brave. Here, he dares to review a book written by the senior associate dean with whom both of us work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication. And to think some people question the ability of journalists to be objective. I’m…