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The day the Nazis came
What the Nazis did to Germany’s Jews – and others – is something we should never, ever forget, one of those lessons that history offers us and that we should take to heart. Paul O’Connor has found an unusual, and he, says, outstanding addition to the literature available about what happened during those terrible times.…
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When it all came tumbling down
Paul O’Connor takes a look at one of the top-ranked books of 2025 – the story of the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that resulted – and finds it’s well worth the investment of your reading time (pun intended) (sorry, Paul). Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor 1929: INSIDE THE GREATEST CRASH IN…
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The thrill of the crime, the thrill of the hunt
Paul O’Connor finds that this 2023 nonfiction book ranks right up there with the best of thrillers. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THERE WILL BE FIRE: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History. By Rory Carroll. G.P. Putnam & Sons. 416 pages. $30, hardcover. Also available from Penguin Audio, read by John…
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Telling the future who you were
This book particularly resonates with Paul O’Connor because it applies to a project he’s been involved in for quite a while, but, he says, this useful guide has a message for all of us. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE BOX OF LIFE: A GUIDE TO LIVING LIFE WITH PURPOSE AND PRESERVING WHAT MATTERS MOST.…
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A patriot’s story, well told
Paul O’Connor tells us of a new book about an old story, one we’ve probably heard many times before. But, as he discovered, there’s more to the story than the famous poem tells us. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE RIDE: PAUL REVERE AND THE NIGHT THAT SAVED AMERICA. By Kostya Kennedy. St. Martin’s Press…
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Politics, power and pillow talk
Kingmaker or gold digger? Paul O’Connor takes a look at a recent biography of the most famous seductress in the 20th century. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction and Intrigue. By Sonia Purnell. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Louise Brealey. 16 hours, 58 minutes. Also available in…
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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…
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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…
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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…