Historical Book Club

“Johnny Tremain” by Esther Forbes

Published in 1943, this timeless historical novel for young adults is imbued with the spirit of the times: balancing a...

“Outrun the Moon” by Stacey Lee

Reviewed by Ed Lengel

“Upstairs at the White House” by J.B. West with Mary Lynn Kotz

Provides a look into the lives and personalities from the Roosevelt's to the Nixon’s. Reviewed by Quentin Levin

“Presidents of War” by Michael Beschloss

An intricate history of presidential leadership during wars from 1812 to Vietnam. Reviewed by Quentin Levin

“The Ghosts of Eden Park” by Karen Abbott

Captures the excitement of an era as it unfolds with all the power of Greek tragedy. Reviewed by Ed Lengel

“Edison” by Edmund Morris

Thomas Edison’s brilliant life, told in reverse. Reviewed by Charles Trueheart for The Washington Post

Patriotic Pick for November 2019

Patriotic Picks The Winds of War: A Novel, The Joy Luck Club: A Novel and Watergate: A Novel

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here are three such titles for this...

Everything Else in the Universe by Tracy Holczer

A beautifully poignant novel, masterfully written and accurately capturing the historical time which it depicts. Reviewed by Ed Lengel

The Pioneers By David McCullough

With “The Pioneers,” Pulitzer Prize winning historian David McCullough presents a different angle on Western expansion.

Maiden Voyage: A Titanic Story by Sarah Jane

Three remarkable young lives intersect in this thrilling tale, set in April 1912 during the last days of the doomed...

An American Princess by Annejet van der Zijl

Dutch author Annejet van der Zijl’s lyrical biography tells an authentically human tale. Reviewed by Ed Lengel

The Widow Washington By Martha Saxton

It was Mary Ball Washington who instilled in the ﬁrst president a moral philosophy of industry, thrift and stoicism.