Reviews – Books: B
RATINGS KEY
0/5 – Terrible. Avoid this book at all costs.
1/5 – Bad. Only read it if you’re a truly hardcore fan of the author/topic.
2/5 – Okay. It’s not bad, but it’s not good either.
3/5 – Average. A decent one-time read.
4/5 – Good. Worth reading and worth buying.
5/5 – Excellent. One of my favorites; a worthy classic.
The Black Box by Malcolm MacPherson
3/5 | Reviewed 5.24.06
A nice, light summer read for the black-hearted death-lovers among us. This book has everything—famous crashes, small-plane accidents, even the transcript from the Challenger’s fatal flight. Each CVR transcript is bracketed by back-story—enough to give you the vital details (and the gory smackerels besides), but not so much technical info that it becomes an engineer’s handbook instead. Not all of the crashes are disastrous ones, but all the transcripts are gripping; some are positively nervewracking, even for a sicko like me. And then, of course, there are the crashes that are tragic in outcome, but positively funny in circumstance... Read it with a notepad, and count how many times “Oh shit!” or “Uh-oh...” become people’s last words.
Bonnie Prince Charlie by Carolly Erickson
4/5 | Reviewed 5.24.06
Another well-written Erickson biography, this one of the last of the Stuart Pretenders. Not having read much on Charlie before, I found this to be an excellent introduction, both to the man himself and to his situations and era. I’ve never been very interested in military strategy, but the sheer drama and frustration of the Scottish rebels’ sucesses and failures had me on the edge of my seat; when Charles decided to retreat instead of pushing on to London, I actually shrieked with frustration, and squeaked angrily for the rest of the doomed campaign. Watching the Young Pretender’s descent from regal wunderkind to pathetic, wife-beating drunkard was equally frustrating; at points, it was hard for me not to cringe as I turned each page, knowing that things were just going to get even worse for poor old Charlie and his allies. His story holds so many “if onlys” and Erickson does a fine job of balancing the glory of his youth with the follies of his old age—it’s not a forgiving portrait by any means, but it manages to be both honest and compassionate. A fascinating depiction of a would-be king and his troubled times, this is good reading for history fans in general and English/Scottish history buffs in particular.
