
Getting Out of the Mud: The Alabama Good Roads Movement and Highway Administration, 1898-1928
Martin T. Olliff and David O. Whitten
Book
Martin T. Olliff recounts the history of the Good Roads Movement that arose in progressive-era...
This book was quite a slow burner for me. First of all, there is not much progress happening towards the murders, and secondly, it is a very political book. There is a lot of scientific talks about alchemy, potions and other science-related things, that sound interesting, but at the same time doesn’t make sense to me at all. :/ The topics discussed in this book were paedophilia (the king was a paedophile), prostitution, scientific inventions, alchemy, French political affairs, etc. There were not many things happening in this book, and I missed the twists and turns to speed up this book.
The writing style of this book is very rich and sophisticated, the author has to be a true intellectual, who is into philosophy and science. It is a translation from French, that’s why it is filled with French expressions and place names. The chapters were too long for my liking and felt quite draggy sometimes. The ending was quite interesting but didn’t leave me fully satisfied. So, to conclude, it is a very complex novel, filled with refined characters, and very layered and political plot. This book is very beautifully written and I believe that the author is very gifted, to be able to write a book like this, but the reader has to be an intellectual as well, to appreciate and enjoy it. So if you are into 18th century France, and enjoy books about politics and science, this historical thriller will be for you.

The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America
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A New York Times Best Seller! To many, the past 8 years under President Obama were meant to...
politics social issues

Unlikely Warrior: A Pacifist Rabbis Journey from the Pulpit to Iwo Jima
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A brilliant student, orator, and debater, Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn was an outspoken social activist...

Wilhelm Reich, Biologist
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Psychoanalyst, political theorist, pioneer of body therapies, prophet of the sexual revolution--all...
Recollections: The French Revolution of 1848 and its Aftermath
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Alexis de Tocqueville's Souvenirs was his extraordinarily lucid and trenchant analysis of the 1848...
Revolutionary Lives: Constance and Casimir Markievicz
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Constance Markievicz (1868-1927), born to the privileged Protestant upper class in Ireland, embraced...

Body Counts: A Memoir of Activism, Sex, and Survival
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As a politics-obsessed Georgetown freshman, Sean Strub arrived in Washington, DC, from Iowa in 1976,...

Eleanor Marx: A Life
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Unrestrained by convention, lionhearted and free, Eleanor Marx (1855-98) was an exceptional woman....

No Way but This: In Search of Paul Robeson
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Film star. Icon. Agitator. Martyr. Paul Robeson was a brilliant student and champion athlete who...