What are You reading?

[Jim Lane]

16. I read mostly history.

Right now it's The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941-1942, by Nigel Hamilton. If you don't care much for military history, ignore it. It's a focus on Roosevelt as he dealt with war issues before Pearl Harbor and as Commander in Chief thereafter.

As a side note, one thing that struck me was how much material the author was able to use from the private diaries kept by several of the key players. For example, Canadian PM Mackenzie King happened to be meeting with FDR at one crucial time, and recorded very detailed accounts of their conversations, giving a real inside view into what was happening. It occurred to me to wonder how historians of the future would fare. Do many of our current political and military leaders keep such personal records? Maybe the historians will have to rely on their emails, blog posts, and tweets.