Briar Patch Books

Category: History

  • A runaway wife, intrigue and secrets in a Depression-era tale

    Paul O’Connor reviews the latest novel – the fifth –  by North Carolina author Charles Frazier.  He finds a lot to like. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE TRACKERS. By Charles Frazier. Harper Collins. 320 pages. $19.99, softcover. In 1937, a young artist has landed his dream job. Val Welch, with the help of a…

  • An Ivy League school confronts its history with slavery

    Paul O’Connor, longtime newspaper journalist, reviews a history of Yale University’s relationship with the institution of slavery, the result of an academic investigation. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor YALE AND SLAVERY: A History. By David Blight and the Yale and Slavery Research Project. Yale Press. 448 pages. $35, hardcover. Audiobook also from Yale Press, read…

  • A friendship forged in fire

    Paul O’Connor, intrepid journalist and discerning reader, reviews a new book about the long-lasting friendship between two very different American heroes. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE WINGMEN: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams. By Adam Lazarus. The Citadel Press. 232 pages. $29, hardcover. There’s no explaining friendships. Often, people…

  • Spies, love affairs, Nazis and history, told with a flair

    Paul O’Connor reviews a work of history that has Nazis, espionage, steamy love affairs and writing that rivals today’s best spy novels. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor SISTERS IN RESISTANCE: How a German Spy, a Banker’s Wife and Mussolini’s Daughter Outwitted the Nazis. By Tilar Mazzeo. Grand Central Publishing. 254 pages. $30, hardcover. If you…

  • Traveling the dangerous territory of family history

    Paul O’Connor, a veteran newspaper journalist, finds the account  Burkhard Bilger tells of his Nazi grandfather of great interest – and also finds much to like in Bilger’s dogged search for the truth. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor FATHERLAND: A Memoir of War, Conscience and Family Secrets. By Burkhard Bilger. Random House. 279 pages. $28.99,…

  • Looking for Mayberry? Try Roanoke Island

    I’m catching up on a few books that slipped through the cracks last year when the newspaper I’d been writing freelance reviews for no longer was able to pay for such things. It’s sad what’s happening to regional newspapers as they are bought by distant enterprises that strip them of staff and resources; it’s a…

  • The king, the duke, blood, toil and trouble

    Blimey! Paul O’Connor is angling for a new job. Read his review to find out what that would be. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor TRAITOR KING: THE SCANDALOUS EXILE OF THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR. By Andrew Lownie. Pegasus Books. 432 pages. $19.95, softcover. Also available as audiobook from Tantor Audio. 8 hours, 27…

  • Popular history that deserves the adjective

    Paul O’Connor starts the New Year off right with a review of a work of popular history that he says is as gripping as any fictional account. Maybe more…   Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor   PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison. By Ben…

  • Charlie Lovett’s new novel is a thriller, for sure

    Charlie Lovett turns his considerable talents to writing an international thriller, with results that measure up to his fans’ high expectations. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE ENIGMA AFFAIR.  By Charlie Lovett. Blackstone Publishing, 350 pages, $26.99, hardcover. Through four fine novels now, Charlie Lovett has proved that he is an imaginative, skilled, thoughtful, intelligent…

  • Life and love in spite of the horrors

    Bob Moyer likes mysteries, detective stories and other fiction, but he also has a more serious side.  In his nonfiction-reading mode, he’s often a student of the Holocaust. This book, he says, is very real – and, thank goodness, also a story of survival and even happiness. INTO THE FOREST. By Rebecca Frankel. St. Martin’s…