August 11, 2026

Book Review | American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History by Charles Murray

American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History weighs in at a little under fifty, four-by-six pages (not including notes and citations). It’s pretty light weight, especially as it goes for books on politics or history. And yet, Charles Murray does not disappoint. He packs in a lot of interesting ideas in a short amount of time. […]

Review | Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham

It took me a long time to begin to like Jon Meacham’s portrait of Thomas Jefferson in Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power.  As I finished it, however, I found myself a reluctant admirer, appreciative of Meacham’s style and of the biography, not to mention of the man. Meacham is the author of two previous books […]

Book Review: “1421” by Gavin Menzies

On a scale of 1 to 10, this book is junk.

It’s rare that I would waste space blasting a book. Life is short and time is a scarce resource. I’d rather just drop a book unworthy of finishing and move on to a new one. This time, though, I think 1421 merits further explanation because of the sensational success it has experienced worldwide.

Simply put, 1421 is junk history posing as “real history.” [cont…]