T.E. Lawrence told his version of the Arab revolt, building the legend of Lawrence of Arabia and the intrigue of that time.
In Setting the Desert on Fire: T.E. Lawrence and Britain's Secret War in Arabia, 1916-1918 (W.W. Norton & Company, 352 pages, $27.95), James Barr tells a wider but no less fascinating tale of the revolt and the present-day consequences for the Middle East.
The Turks jumped into World War I on the side of Germany. Their leader declared jihad against the British and their allies. The Turks had controlled much of the Middle East and North Africa for 400 years and expected the Arabs to follow their lead.
Instead, Sharif Hussein, ruler of Mecca, used the moment as an opportunity to curry favor with the British. Hussein wanted more than good will, however, he had a list of demands that he presented to British commissioner Henry McMahon. McMahon in turn assured Hussein that in return for their aid, the British would make sure the Arabs were independent and grant them land stretching across much of the modern middle east.
In Setting the Desert on Fire, Barr shows it was a lie that brought disastrous effects that are still resonating today.
Stanford law professor Richard Thompson Ford takes on a hot-button topic during Black History Month. The press release in his new book, The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 388 pages, $26), poses the question: "What do Katrina victims waiting for federal disaster relief, millionaire rappers buying vintage champagne, Ivy League professors waiting for taxis, and ghetto hustlers trying to find steady work have in common? All have claimed to victims of racism."
Which president in history had the best hair? Certainly John F. Kennedy had good hair. Ronald Reagan and BIll Clinton, too. There are others throughout history, but who am I to judge what was in style from before I was born?
The aforementioned former presidents were all handsome as well, which does not always go hand-in-hand with good hair.
Why does any of this matter, you ask? It shouldn't matter, but appearance can make or break a candidate, and Ben Shapiro examines this subject in his book, Project President: Bad Hair & Botox on the Road to the White House (Thomas Nelson, 304 pages, $22.99).
Here's what Shapiro concludes about the father of our country: "Today's media would have savaged Washington. [He] would have faced scrutiny over his lavish spending habits, questionable military tactics, gold-digging and his cold austerity, though he would have gained points for keeping his hair."
Shapiro even got Tim Gunn, the fashion guru of Bravo's "Project Runway," to blurb the book: "I'm constantly citing the power of dress. It's semiology: our clothes send a message about how we want to be perceived, and where is this more powerful and evident than in elected offices. In Project President, Ben Shapiro captures presidential semiotics with a potent narrative and deft analysis. It's simultaneously fascinating and hilarious!"
Though Shapiro's book is already a little out of date — he scrutinizes some candidates that are no longer running for the presidential nomination — it's still fun reading.
In today's print edition of the Sun-Times, we dedicated all our Books space to the subject of Abraham Lincoln. You would think that all that could be written about our nation's 16th president has been written. Not so.
John Barron states in his review of President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman by William Lee Miller that "Lincoln always emerges as the year's freshest most appealing character. Any year." (Click here to read full review)
With that in mind we've seized upon the passion of many of the historians who've written about Honest Abe recently ...
Ah, Valentine's Day. The primping, the pressure, the proposals! Today we take a look back through history at some lovers' correspondence, specifically that which dealt in marriage proposals.
Will You Marry Me? Seven Centuries of Love (Touchstone Books, 112 pages, $14.95) was originally published in 1940. Perhaps this newly bound reissue will inspire Internet-age folks to take paper to pen and snail-mail a little romance to their loved ones.
Here's a smattering of smitten folks' marriage-minded missives...
What constitutes a good hero? Someone brave and loyal, sure, but how about folks who throw good parties? Author-historian Paul Johnson casts a wide net and includes both in his new book, Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and De Gaulle (HarperCollins, 284 pages, $25.95).
There are a couple chapters dedicated to female heroes in particular ("Feminist Fire and Slaughter," Tortured Heroism in a Man's World"), but I like the fact that Johnson includes women all over this book, not favoring either gender in other chapters, such as, "Exemplary Heroes."
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) follows up her bestselling book American Heroines with Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers (Harper, 365 pages, $25.95), another excellent collection of biographical portraits of women who've paved the way for the rest of us, in all walks of life...
Top chef turned food historian Michael Krondl traveled the world while sharing meals and swapping stories with farmers, sailors and foodies like himself all in the name of research for his latest book, The Taste of Conquest — The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice (Ballantine Books. 305 pages, $25.95)...
Think you know everything there is to know about the U.S. presidents? Think again. Author and History Channel documentarian Rick Beyer brings us The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From History to Astonish, Bewilder and Stupefy (Collins, 212 pages, $18.95)...
No less than three books have come out within the last month or so about the "space race" between the United States and the Soviet Union — a race that began 50 years ago. Unless you're a reader who's a space nut or who has a lot of time on your hands, I'm thinking you won't want to read all three, so here's a little synopsis of each to help you choose.
In A Ball, A Dog, and a Monkey: 1957 — The Space Race Begins (Simon & Schuster, 260 pages, $26)...
The more children's books I look through, the more I'm convinced there is a lot for adults to learn by paging through them.
Today's book of the day is Chicago History For Kids: Triumphs and Tragedies of the Windy City (Chicago Review Press, 173 pages, $14.95) by Owen Hurd...
Did you know that the Gettysburg Address was panned as "silly, flat and dish-watery" by the Chicago Times? How about the role of nuns on the battlefield? ("They were the only group of women experienced in both nursing and hospital management.") Or that the trousers-wearing feminist surgeon Mary Edwards Walker was rumored to be a spy?
You'll find out these Civil War tidbits and much more — such as the story of "Taps," the snowball battle of 1862 and all about Confederate postage stamps — in Strange But True Facts of the Civil War by Patrick M. Reynolds (Taylor Trade Publishing, 144 pages, $18.95).
These illustrated stories are a great way to learn something about history without reading a textbook. (Meaning, for all you parents out there who maybe didn't pay attention in history class, this will be a nice way to learn a few things while paging through with your kids.)
If you've ever had food poisoning, you probably feel as if you've looked Death in the face and survived. Many of our ancestors weren't so lucky.
Morton Satin's Death in the Pot (Prometheus Books, 248 pages, $24) takes the reader back through time and chronicles the effects of bad food on society.
Satin, a molecular biologist and director of technical and regulatory affairs at the Salt Institute...
