Being there with Don DeNevi. . . now and in the forthcoming coming weeks of Christmas giftbuying fun to enter the unusual, nay, extraordinary, potpourri-medley avalanche of good booksinundating today’s military, and other, book reviews literature searching for the best qualityspecials. Loving every second of it, this “book reviewer” joyfully will henceforth “announce andintroduce” only the best titles recently made available so that casual, ordinary reader-buyer willhave a choice in shopping additional best buys for the beloved family member or good friend…“THE HORSE – – A Galloping History of Humanity”, by Timothy C. Winegard; Dutton, an imprintof Penguin Random House, 2024; hardcover, 518 pages, $35.Very, very hard to put down, once begun, and rightly so, because Tim, in his nonpareil prose,offers us an epic history hitherto unexplored, “When one human tamed one horse and anunbreakable bond was forged and the future of humanity instantly rewritten, placing the reinsof destiny firmly in human hands”. Receiver of the gift book treasure will instantly wonder uponunwrapping, “What? A HORSE? Why me? Who cares? Wrong me? Wrong gift?”, not realizing inhis or her hands was, thus far, and by far, the best story telling of our century.“ZHOU ENLAI – – A Life”, by Chen Jian; the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2024;hardcover, 817 pages, $39.95.Two authors reviewing this soon-to-be announced award-winning classic should introducescholar-historian-visiting professor Dr. Chen Jian’s biography – they are far superior to critique“Zhou Enlai” than this simple writer-in-training. Sergey Radchenko , author of “Two Suns in theHeavens: The Sino-Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy, 1962-1967”, pens, “A must read. ChenJian’s book illuminates Zhou Enlai’s life from the earliest years to his final days with nuance,empathy, and scholarly depth. Along the way, he also tells the breathtaking story of Zhou’sChina. This is a rare work of history shot through with the lived experience, and even occasionalpensiveness, of an eminent authority on twentieth-century China.”And, Xu Guoqi, author of “Chinese and Americans: A Shared History”, a bit more cogent butjust as respectful, writes, “Communist China resembles a labyrinth. This brilliant study has givenus a key and a map to understand it. A masterpiece and a must-read for anyone who caresabout China and its impact on the world.”Two brilliant reviews by two great scholars about a man overshadowed by Mao. RichardNixon proclaimed him “the greatest statesman of our era.”“A REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDSHIP – – Washington, Jefferson, and the American Republic”, by
Francis D. Cogliano; Harvard University Press, 2024; hardcover, 354 pages, $35.
Although bitterly estranged when Washington died in 1799, their 30-year friendship andproductive relationship were two of the pivotal rivets in the foundation of our beloved nation’sbirth, growth, and development.Most authors are worth reading because of their area of expertise, especially if one is FrancisCogliano. His scholarship has been admired and acknowledged since authoring the superb“Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson’s Foreign Policy”. Today, he is currently Professor ofAmerican History at the University of Edinburgh and Acting Director of the International Centerfor Jefferson Studies at Monticello.All three writers offer the most careful, complex, and critical, yet entertaining, studies ofthree personality profiles, warts and all, the horse, all 6,000 years of him, Zhou Enlai, and thetwo founding fathers, suggesting, imploring, demanding you may as well spend a little more
than a $100 for all three to present to a loved one to relish this Yuletide, and long after.
