Book recommendations.

[RManny]

Just finished "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders" by Vincent Bugliosi. Bugliosi was both the chief investigator on the case as well as the prosecutor. So it is very detailed. A long book - about 650 pages in paperback. I enjoyed it but it was kind of depressing. Manson and his family were some sick individuals.

https://www.amazon.com/Helter-Skelter-audiobook/dp/B005MM7F9A/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IOTVW5JX6F9E&dchild=1&keywords=helter+skelter+book&qid=1633442591&sprefix=Helter+sk%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-1

Next up is "Gentleman in Moscow."


c.d.

I had read this book years ago and I highly recommend it. This was one of the first books that I read that showed me that there can be folks who possessed such a dark and horrible mindset.

Richard

[c.d.]

An interesting side note on "Flags of Our Father." Three of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima are buried in Arlington National Cemetery and I have visited their graves. All of them were used by the military in an extended tour of the U.S. to promote the buying of war bonds. So many appearances and so much travel that the men were completely exhausted by it all. One of them died at a fairly young age and his widow requested he be buried at Arlington. Her request was denied. She went to see the individual who made the decision and said "here's the deal. My husband was a war hero and raised literally millions of dollars in war bonds. Either he gets buried at Arlington or I go to the newspapers and create a **** storm like you have never seen." They relented.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Herlock,

If you have any interest in World War II, "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley is excellent.

https://www.amazon.com/Flags-of-Our-Fathers-audiobook/dp/B000GPCNTU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ERZW0K3DSMN5&keywords=flags+of+our+fathers+book&qid=1646431736&sprefix=flags+of+%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1

c.d.

[c.d.]

Hampton Sides is very good. Very well researched and detailed. I really enjoyed both of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Ice-Terrible-Voyage-Jeannette/dp/0307946916/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1BCKHYRI3FMNC&keywords=hampton+sides&qid=1646430983&sprefix=hampton+sides%2Caps%2C439&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Soldiers-Account-Greatest-Mission/dp/038549565X/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1BCKHYRI3FMNC&keywords=hampton+sides&qid=1646431019&sprefix=hampton+sides%2Caps%2C439&sr=8-5

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks c.d. I’ll certainly add them to my list. I’ve seen Hampton Sides mentioned on here before. Maybe it was by you?

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock,

You seem to gravitate towards criminal cases so I will recommend:

"Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln's Killer" by James Swanson

"Hellhound on His Trail" by Hampton Sides (the search for the killer of Martin Luther King)(it was the largest manhunt in U.S. history)

Both excellent and both absolute page turners.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I just finished a book that I’m guessing that many on here would have already read, it’s called Yorkshire Ripper: The Secret Murders. I bought it after watching a tv documentary recently although I’d actually bought a copy a few years ago but never got around to reading it before I mistakenly gave it away to a charity shop. It’s well worth a read. It makes a really good case that Sutcliffe actually had around 35 victims plus some survivors of attacks and highlights some staggering incompetence and dishonesty by the police. It also goes into detail about the 3 innocent men all spent well over 20 years in prison for murders that they didn’t commit but that Sutcliffe might well have.

Im looking forward to my next book which arrived today. It’s called Suspect No.1: The Man Who Got Away (2020) by Lise Pearlman and is about the Lindbergh Kidnapping. I read one book on the case around 20 years ago so my knowledge of the case is very basic. This one has been well received to it should be a good one.

Review

"A myth-smashing book, beautifully written, powerfully argued."

Lloyd C. Gardner, Author of The Case That Never Dies


"Shocking...well-documented and highly plausible."

Dr. William M. Bass, Best-selling Author & Founder of "The Body Farm"


"This book addresses an enduring, troubling question: Was an innocent man convicted of

kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh's baby? Fascinating read with surprising conclusion."

Barry Scheck, Co-Director of The Innocence Project


"Astounding research, thorough and insightful analysis. Lise Pearlman is a great storyteller...

This will be one of the defi nitive books on the Lindbergh saga...a great and provocative new work."

D. Lowell Jensen, Retired Federal Judge, Former District Attorney

& Asst. Atty. General of the United States, Criminal Division

[Herlock Sholmes]

I have to say that I read today that another book on Seacole is due out by Helen Rappaport who is more pro-Seacole and gets mentioned in McDonald’s book.

[MrBarnett]

As we saw with The Five it’s amazing what can be achieved with an agenda, some lazy critics and and the promotion of an idea or a cause. Facts become surplus to requirements. Like most I’d heard the story of Mary Seacole, the black Crimean ‘nurse,’ who is cited as a pioneer of nursing and a heroine. Websites, books, blogs, plaques, statues. An uninterrupted wave of praise. Then I heard someone suggesting that almost none of this was actually true and I’d been meaning for a while to learn more.

I bought Mary Seacole: The Making Of A Myth by Lynn McDonald. She is a Canadian with an impressive cv as an academic and a member of the Canadian Parliament. She’s also Director of the 16-volume Collected Works Of Florence Nightingale; so an undoubted Nightingale expert. The book genuinely worried me because it exposed how such myths are created then perpetuated by supposedly respected institutions such as the BBC. There has been a concerted effort to displace Nightingale and replace her with Seacole as the pioneering figure in nursing when nothing could be further from the truth. So many lies have been told that I don’t have time to even begin to list them but I’ll mention a couple.

It’s claimed everywhere that Seacole was awarded medals/honours. She’s even photographed wearing some but there’s absolutely no record of her being awarded any. Supporters for instance claim that she was awarded The Legion D’Honneur but she wasn’t. The first time that she was ever seen wearing medals was at a bankruptcy hearing.

She wasn’t a nurse and never claimed to be one. A she definitely wasn’t refused by Nightingale because of her race. This is a complete invention. It looks like they only met once and for no more than 5 minutes. She was heading for Balaclava to meet a business partner and stopped off a Scutari and requested a bed from Nightingale who provided her with one. She spoke warmly of Nightingale.

She had a kind of hut/hotel at Crimea providing food and drink but only for officers. She did some amateur medical work but not on the battlefield as claimed.

All of McDonalds work is properly referenced and sourced. This isn’t a hatchet job on Seacole. Seacole was primarily a business woman who used herbal cures. She was a good person. She did some good. But I’m afraid that in terms of achievements she shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Nightingale.

Recommended.

Thanks for the recommendation, Mike. I’ll see if I can get hold of a copy of that.

[barnflatwyngarde]

As we saw with The Five it’s amazing what can be achieved with an agenda, some lazy critics and and the promotion of an idea or a cause. Facts become surplus to requirements. Like most I’d heard the story of Mary Seacole, the black Crimean ‘nurse,’ who is cited as a pioneer of nursing and a heroine. Websites, books, blogs, plaques, statues. An uninterrupted wave of praise. Then I heard someone suggesting that almost none of this was actually true and I’d been meaning for a while to learn more.

I bought Mary Seacole: The Making Of A Myth by Lynn McDonald. She is a Canadian with an impressive cv as an academic and a member of the Canadian Parliament. She’s also Director of the 16-volume Collected Works Of Florence Nightingale; so an undoubted Nightingale expert. The book genuinely worried me because it exposed how such myths are created then perpetuated by supposedly respected institutions such as the BBC. There hishas been a concerted effort to displace Nightingale and replace her with Seacole as the pioneering figure in nursing when nothing could be further from the truth. So many lies have been told that I don’t have time to even begin to list them but I’ll mention a couple.

It’s claimed everywhere that Seacole was awarded medals/honours. She’s even photographed wearing some but there’s absolutely no record of her being awarded any. Supporters for instance claim that she was awarded The Legion D’Honneur but she wasn’t. The first time that she was ever seen wearing medals was at a bankruptcy hearing.

She wasn’t a nurse and never claimed to be one. A she definitely wasn’t refused by Nightingale because of her race. This is a complete invention. It looks like they only met once and for no more than 5 minutes. She was heading for Balaclava to meet a business partner and stopped off a Scutari and requested a bed from Nightingale who provided her with one. She spoke warmly of Nightingale.

She had a kind of hut/hotel at Crimea providing food and drink but only for officers. She did some amateur medical work but not on the battlefield as claimed.

All of McDonalds work is properly referenced and sourced. This isn’t a hatchet job on Seacole. Seacole was primarily a business woman who used herbal cures. She was a good person. She did some good. But I’m afraid that in terms of achievements she shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Nightingale.

Recommended.

Very interesting Herlock.

It's always enlightening to read a properly researched and referenced book, especially if it corrects some well established notions.

At the moment I'm reading a wonderful book by Gore Vidal, "Palimpsest".
It's an autobiography that details his life up to the age of forty, and covers his encounters with JFK and Jackie, Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac etc, etrc.

What sets this autobiography apart from many others is the sheer quality of Vidal's writing, it is an absolute delight.

If you do dip into this wonderful book, be prepared to be chained to it until you hit the last wonderful page.

[Herlock Sholmes]

As we saw with The Five it’s amazing what can be achieved with an agenda, some lazy critics and and the promotion of an idea or a cause. Facts become surplus to requirements. Like most I’d heard the story of Mary Seacole, the black Crimean ‘nurse,’ who is cited as a pioneer of nursing and a heroine. Websites, books, blogs, plaques, statues. An uninterrupted wave of praise. Then I heard someone suggesting that almost none of this was actually true and I’d been meaning for a while to learn more.

I bought Mary Seacole: The Making Of A Myth by Lynn McDonald. She is a Canadian with an impressive cv as an academic and a member of the Canadian Parliament. She’s also Director of the 16-volume Collected Works Of Florence Nightingale; so an undoubted Nightingale expert. The book genuinely worried me because it exposed how such myths are created then perpetuated by supposedly respected institutions such as the BBC. There has been a concerted effort to displace Nightingale and replace her with Seacole as the pioneering figure in nursing when nothing could be further from the truth. So many lies have been told that I don’t have time to even begin to list them but I’ll mention a couple.

It’s claimed everywhere that Seacole was awarded medals/honours. She’s even photographed wearing some but there’s absolutely no record of her being awarded any. Supporters for instance claim that she was awarded The Legion D’Honneur but she wasn’t. The first time that she was ever seen wearing medals was at a bankruptcy hearing.

She wasn’t a nurse and never claimed to be one. A she definitely wasn’t refused by Nightingale because of her race. This is a complete invention. It looks like they only met once and for no more than 5 minutes. She was heading for Balaclava to meet a business partner and stopped off a Scutari and requested a bed from Nightingale who provided her with one. She spoke warmly of Nightingale.

She had a kind of hut/hotel at Crimea providing food and drink but only for officers. She did some amateur medical work but not on the battlefield as claimed.

All of McDonalds work is properly referenced and sourced. This isn’t a hatchet job on Seacole. Seacole was primarily a business woman who used herbal cures. She was a good person. She did some good. But I’m afraid that in terms of achievements she shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Nightingale.

Recommended.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Another cracking book of old photographs but this time one that I got from the local Library. It’s Dickens Victorian London 1839-1901 by Alex Werner and Tony Williams. Another absolute cracker that I’m now thinking of buying.

[Herlock Sholmes]

It's a great book, I was lucky enough to pick it up dirt cheap at a remained book sale.

I’m certainly glad that I bought it Dusty. I paid £20 but it was well worth it. Knowing my luck I’ll see it next week in a charity shop for £3. I once paid £40 for a book only to have a friend tell me that he had a copy that I could have had for nothing!

[drstrange169]

It's a great book, I was lucky enough to pick it up dirt cheap at a remained book sale.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Just looked through the book as a whole so I’ll give my last comment in case everyone thinks that I’m on a commission.

Review - Just buy it.