2012 Reading List

Better late than never, here is my reading list from 2012 with some comments.  I didn't read as many books because I read so many long books.

• Hitler: A Biography by Ian Kershaw
  I picked this up at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This was an interesting profile of a, shall we say, unique person.  Yeah, I didn't feel weird reading this paperback at the bus stop...
• Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas Blackmon
  This was an excellent book that everyone should read.  Totally mind-blowing and shocking to learn about forms of virtual slavery that existed into the 20th century.
• Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British America, 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson
  I really wanted to learn more about the French and Indian War but this was booooring.
• The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the Twelve Days that Shook the Union by John Lockwood
  This was written by a co-worker at the National Mall.  It's interesting to see the confusion and nervous anticipation that surrounded the first days of the Civil War.
• Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth - from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy Cordery
  I met the author in North Dakota and gave her a tour of the Maltese Cross Cabin before she introduced herself.  I read the well-written book and had a much greater appreciation of Alice.
• Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow
  This is considered to be the seminal history on the Vietnam War.
• Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis
  Interprets the American Revolution tidily and succinctly.
• Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Live Among the Pirates by David Cordingly
  Summary: it sucked to be a pirate.
• Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
  My favorite book of the year.
• Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose
  The research was groundbreaking but wasn't as solid as you would ideally have.  That may not actually be possible.
• The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker
  I found this book at the African Art Museum in D.C. and enjoyed it more than I expected.
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
  I read this as an emergency when I was stuck without anything else to read.  It was pretty funny, and it inspired me to watch the full run of 30 Rock again. I better understood where many of the jokes came from.  The best part of the book was the chapter about her ill-fated honeymoon cruise.
• What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe
  A fascinating look at a period of tremendous change in America.
• Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch
  This book was soooo long and was hard for me to follow because there were so many people it tried to cover.  But of course, that's the point.  The Civil Rights movement wasn't just about MLK, but his was the voice that bound all the disparate parts of the movement together, and his was the voice that white America could relate to.
• Monument Wars: Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape by Kirk Savage
  This book is fundamental to understanding the monumental landscape in Washington and how it has grown, changed, and developed over two centuries.

Veterans Day 2012

I've been having a very busy year, at the expense of timely posts to the blog.  Heck, I didn't even blog about any of the parks we've been to, or the fact that I was onstage with Ben Vereen on July 4.  Someday, I will catch up.

Veterans Day came again, and I was assigned to help out with the ceremonies at the World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials. 

It's interesting to be part of these kinds of things, and it's also interesting to me that I am getting so comfortable with it, and the people involved.

General Lee was there, who I met on a rainy day in the Korean War Memorial in 2011 when he said "Walk with me," and proceeded to quiz me about the memorial and the war, perhaps just to test me or to brush up for the mayor of Seoul, who he was there to meet.

At the most recent ceremony at Vietnam, I carried the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund official wreath with Gen. Barry McCaffrey, seen in the following video.  He was quite personable and chatted with me for a couple minutes while we were at the wall.

And Secretary Shinseki gave one of the better speeches I've seen at the many wreath layings I have attended.



Emancipation

A few weeks ago, I led a project to create a video about Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.  It proved to be a formidable challenge to write something that told the story in 5 minutes or less.  Here is the end result.

Enjoy!