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Recent Reviews
Saul David
Rave The Washington Independent Review of Books David gives us an added insight into how the Allies achieved that hard-fought victory. Although the book focuses on one small unit, it demonstrates the dedication, skill, and courage of all those who won that war ... Using primary sources, including interviews and memoirs left by participants, author David provides us with a riveting and harrowing account of this costly victory, fought by men we have gotten to know in earlier chapters of the book. That we know these men as real-life characters before the victory adds a dimension to this story and gives it a vitality so important in books about combat. David does a remarkable job in bringing these rugged, non-conforming men back to life ... David has written an important, highly engaging work that is, as novelist Raymond Chandler once wrote of a book he was reviewing, unputdownable.
David L Roll
Positive The Washington Independent Review of Books Author Roll is neither the first nor likely the last to write a biography of soldier/statesman Marshall, but his magnificent portrait of the man comes at a time when we seem most in need of leaders with his abilities, attitudes, and selfless dedication to the nation ... Roll’s work — which profits from new sources, including personal letters not made public until recently — does not supersede Forrest Pogue’s monumental four-volume Marshall biography as much as it supplements it with new material and a vigorous new vision of Marshall’s character and significance. Roll’s work is a highly focused depiction of Marshall that vividly recounts moments in the man’s life and then puts those moments into historical context ... Roll does not omit nor gloss over Marshall’s flaws and shortcomings ... David Roll’s fear that Marshall is becoming forgotten in today’s world is probably realistic, but his highly readable biography should go a long way to bringing the man back into the public consciousness.
Tyler Kepner
Rave The Wall Street Journal ...delightful ... K is a work of history but not a narrative in the traditional sense ... The interviews can be at once revealing and occasionally moving ... There are no windy discussions here of analytics or insights derived from data-driven information. The book is well-written, anecdote rich and filled with seldom-shared insights by players. By the end, the reader will understand the exact nature of the 10 pitches and have a much better grasp of the dynamics of baseball. Read it to find out why throwing a change-up takes courage.
James Holland
Rave Washington Independent Review of Books \"... a major work on an often overlooked event key to ending [World War II] in Europe ... Holland is a master of narrative. His combat scenes are crisp and evocative, and he does a masterful job of putting the reader in the cockpit with the men on all sides fighting this war. Anyone with more than a passing interest in WWII will find this book invaluable in understanding how the war was won and how many airmen sacrificed their lives to win the battle that led to victory. Men from both sides who lived (and often died) come alive through stories Holland skillfully coaxes from interviews, oral histories, diaries, and official records.\
Rob Neyer
Positive The Wall Street Journal In Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game,baseball journalist-analyst Rob Neyer acknowledges the pervading influence of Statcast. \'Using both cameras and a sort of radar, if it’s on the field and it moves, Statcast is watching. And recording. Yes, the baseball wherever it goes, but also every player and the hitter’s bat.\' ... The scope of this book ranges and rambles engagingly, from the potential impact of climate change on the game and the influence of social media on players, to the evolving fashions of player uniforms and hair styles ... Mr. Neyer ends his book by lamenting that, if left to the owners and the players union, very little improvement can be expected. In the past 20 years, for instance, \'the only significant changes to the playing rules...have been made to lower injury risks, and not to make the game itself more entertaining.\' What’s needed, then, to help usher baseball into its next era, is a voice—\'the writers and the TV presenters and the radio people\'—to call for \'a better, smarter, more exciting version of Baseball,\' to speak up on behalf of the fans who, if attendance numbers are any judge, are already starting to lose interest.
Ben Reiter
Positive The Wall Street Journal The tagline on the cover of Sports Illustrated, read \'Your 2017 World Series Champs\' and featured a photograph of George Springer, the Houston Astros’ rookie right fielder. What made the claim so striking was that, at that time, the Astros were one of the worst baseball teams in half a century ... The article inside...made some strong points about how the Astros were combining analytics and old-fashioned scouting to produce a better team. But, like many others, I reminded myself that Sports Illustrated was almost always off the mark when trying to predict World Series winners on Opening Day, let alone three years in advance ... Lo and behold, after A.J. Hinch signed on as manager, the Astros started winning in 2015, with an 86-76 record and a wild-card spot in the American League playoffs, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals. In 2016 the Astros posted an 84-78 record. But in 2017 the Astros really did become the World Champions—right on schedule ... Mr. Reiter now has written a full account of the remarkable story of how one of the greatest turnarounds in modern baseball history was engineered. As he tells us in Astroball: The New Way to Win It All.