1920s Prohibition – Was It Really a “Noble Experiment”?

When I used to teach my college classes, each student did a presentation from a preselected list of about fifty options. Unsurprisingly, I don’t think a single semester went by without someone choosing 1920s Prohibition. America’s “Noble Experiment” with moral purity still fascinates people today. Especially when they are young, adventuresome, and, shall we say, […]

After the Fog – Rob’s Review

The novel After the Fog caught my interest because it’s a rarity—a novel featuring environmental history. Stories of this type are badly underrepresented in literature. As I read, things got even better, subject-wise. The novel turned out to be about a working-class, ethnic family in 1948 Donora, Pennsylvania. This is another type of story badly […]

Review of Deacon King Kong, by James McBride

Deacon King Kong is a historical fiction novel that appeared in 2020. Author James McBride is an iconic figure in African American literature. He’s one of those Published Authors™ who only needs to write a book every five years or so to keep up his cred. To read my other recent historical fiction book reviews, […]