RACE TO THE POLAR SEA : THE HEROIC ADVENTURES OF ELISHA KENT KANE
by Ken McGoogan

Not willing to stay at home, hang up a shingle and practice medicine, Elisha Kent Kane was more interested in adventuring around the world. Even though he had heart problems, he had already been involved in death-defying experiences: being dropped in a volcano in the Philippines and almost getting stabbed in a fight in the Sierra Madre. But, when he went on an expedition, serving as the assistant surgeon on a ship, searching for the lost British explorer Sir John Franklin, in the Arctic, he knew he had found his calling.
In 1853, Kane sailed with his own men to look for the Open Polar Sea and Franklin. Eventually, they would be trapped in the ice, but Kane's enduring friendship with the Inuits taught him how to survive in the extreme cold.
Kane and his team would abandon the ship and escape by sledge, dogsled and then open boats, traveling 1,300 miles in eighty-three days.
Who would have thought that a young, thirty-three year old man, from a prominent Philadelphian family, would return home not only as a hero, but as America's greatest explorer.
In Race to the Polar Sea Ken McGoogan has written a fantastic thriller. From the Prologue to the last page, you are caught up in the story. What is really amazing is that Kane's manuscripts were lost for 150 years. A friend of the author, who owns an antiquarian bookstore, acquired Kane's collection from the descendants of his brother.
There are photographs and drawings (Kane did all of his own illustrations).
A book not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

FABERGE'S EGGS : THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE MASTERPIECES THAT OUTLIVED AN EMPIREby Toby Faber

When you see or hear the name Faberge, what comes to mind, today, is toiletries. But, the family, originally, were jewelers and their pieces were designed with the utmost quality and exquisite craftsmanship.
Carl Faberge was known as the "egg guy." Hs firm created fifty eggs, from 1885 to 1917, for Russia's czars to give as Easter presents for their czarinas. What made them so special were the surprises hidden inside each one, such as the 1911 Bay Tree Egg, which has a singing bird emerging from the top of a tree when a jewel is pressed. Others have miniature portraits, a clock, a model train, etc.
Unfortunately, the extravagance of the Romanovs led to their demise and after the Russian Revolution, the eggs disappeared.
In Faberge's Eggs Tony Faber has written a marvelous tale about art, Russian history and wealth of a bygone era.
To round out the book, besides the family trees of both the Faberges and the Romanovs, there is a complete list of all the imperial eggs, a glossary, notes, an extensive bibliography with websites, and an index.
A terrific read.
Highly recommended.

EMILY POST : DAUGHTER OF THE GILDED AGE, MISTRESS OF AMERICAN MANNERS
by Laura Claridge

In 1922, Etiquette : in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home debuted, written by a middle-aged woman, whose name would be recognized as one of the most important Americans in the 20th century.
Emily Post was born a few years after the Civil War ended, the only child of renowned Baltimore architect, Bruce Price and his rich wife, Josephine Lee (her money came from anthracite), whose ancestors sailed on the Mayflower.
After attending numerous balls as a young lady, Emily would meet and then marry Edwin Post, hoping she would have the kind of marriage her parents had. Instead, it ended in divorce with published details in the newspapers.
She now had to support herself and so began the process of writing.
Laura Claridge's Emily Post is a fascinating biography of an authority on good manners, who lived from the Gilded Age through the 1960s and whose book reflected, through numerous revisions, what was expected of people in society.
So, if you want to brush up on etiquette, check out this book. You might learn something.

HOMETOWN APPETITES : THE STORY OF CLEMENTINE PADDLEFORD, THE FORGOTTEN FOOD WRITER WHO CHRONICLED HOW AMERICA ATE
by Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris

Before James Beard and Julia Child, there was Clementine Paddleford, the most important food writer that nobody has ever heard of. Born in Kansas, on a 260-acre farm, in 1898, she became a most formidable journalist, eventually writing for the New York Herald Tribune and This Week magazine. Clementine wrote in "florid prose" about regional American food and eventually traveled 800,000 miles, in the United States and later, overseas, visiting housewives in their kitchens for "word-of-mouth hand-downs from mother to daughter" recipes.
In 1953, Paddleford was named "Best-Known Food Editor" by Time magazine.
She had her own inimitable style of fashion wearing capes, hats and a velvet choker around her neck with a tube attached. In her thirties, she had throat cancer, but that didn't stop her. She continued working and searching for the best recipes for millions of her readers.
Hometown Appetites is fascinating and a delight to read. Recipes are immersed throughout every chapter. Photographs of Paddleford and samples of menus that she kept (700 to be exact), plus how the two authors got together in the first place makes the book even more interesting.
Highly recommended for all food enthusiasts.

QUEEN OF THE OIL CLUB : THE INTREPID WANDA JABLONSKI AND THE POWER OF INFORMATION
by Anna Rubino

Wanda Jablonski was an investigative reporter who unraveled the secret world of oil from the 1950s through the 1980s. She was nicknamed the "midwife" of OPEC and was very influential, behind the scenes, in its creation, due to her sources.
A petite woman, Wanda boldly went to exploration sites in the Middle East, the Venezuelan jungle, entered male-only boardrooms in London and New York and interviewed King Saud in a Saudia Arabian harem. She was able to retrieve information from CEOs of the oil giants and high political figures in such a way that had never been done before by anyone.
In 1961, Jablonski started her own newsletter, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, which was dubbed the "bible" of the oil world.
Queen of the Oil Club is a fascinating story of a remarkable woman who by the power of information was able to influence the petroleum industry.
A great story and an important read.

TITANIC'S LAST SECRETS : THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHADOW DIVERS JOHN CHATTERTON AND RICHIE KOHLER
by Brad Matsen

In August of 2005 shipwreck divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler discovered new evidence on what had sunk the Titanic. Working with a forensic marine analyst they were able to uncover archival information that had never been seen by any historian.
Brad Matsen writes a meticulously, spell-binding story of the great ship's construction and of its demise. There were compromises made that would, in the end, doom most of the passengers and the crew.
The conclusion is a real shocker.
Matsen did his own research, which can be found at the end of the book, by the Notes and the extensive Bibliography he used.
Titanic's Last Secrets is a terrific read.
Highly recommended.

THE FORSAKEN : AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY IN STALIN'S RUSSIA
by Tim Tzouliadis

There is a photograph, from 1934, of young men on a baseball team. They are all from cities across America. One team is the Foreign Workers' Club of Moscow and they're playing against the Autoworkers' Club from nearby Gorky. They smile for the camera.
Thousands of families left the United States for the Five-Year Plan of Soviet Russia in search of a better life. Being unemployed during the Great Depression they were lured by the promise of jobs, plenty of food, a place to live.
They thought they were going to the "Promised Land."
Four years later most of these men will be arrested along with the rest of the Americans and become victims of Stalin's Terror. Some will be killed immediately. Others will be sent to labor camps where they will starve and be worked to death.
The book is an indictment of both Communism and the American government. Roosevelt was deaf, dumb and blind when it came to his dealings with the Soviets. His American Ambassador, Joseph Davies, was totally clueless, naive and oblivious who totally admired Joseph Stalin.
The Forsaken is a superb story of forgotten history. Tsouliadis captures the horrors, the guilt and the innocence in a meticulously researched epic tome.
Highly recommended.