David Sweet > Recent Status Updates

Chilling in many ways. On Peleliu in the Pacific, Sledge writes, “To my left, lay a couple of bloated Japanese corpses teaming with maggots … it was like no other battlefield described on earth. It was an alien, unearthly, surrealistic nightmare, like the surface of another planet.”

Paul Johnson is always skillful in the concise biographies. There are many insights about Eisenhower that are new to me -- in his first campaign for President, he had "a masterly use of TV" with his ads, that brought in more money for his campaign than they cost to transmit. We were all led to believe Kennedy was the first to really take advantage of TV.

Compelling look at the chaos at The Wall Street Journal newsroom that sat across the street from the World Trade Center South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. Since I was in that newsroom for five years (though not that day), the story has particular resonance. Amazing how reporters and others struggled to survive -- and put out a newspaper -- as they were ducking under cars after the towers fell, blinded by dust and more.

Read it once before, but well worth a second read. The in-depth reporting by WSJers Bryan Burrough and John Helyar is phenomenal. Occasionally hard to keep the large cast of characters straight, but that's the only complaint. A riveting account of a completely crazy business story.

Really fascinating look at how American pilots survived after being downed in Nazi-infiltrated Yugoslavia.

Fascinating look at hundreds of Allied airmen trapped in Yugoslavia and trying to avoid the Nazis during World War II. Had no idea of the cramped space on bottom of plane of a ball turret gunner who, depending on the type of plane, would be killed upon landing if damage prevented them from being retracted into the fuselage.

Fascinating observation that around same time Churchill began his rhetorical brilliance to rally England and the world that Hitler went quiet after rousing Germany in the 1930s.

Read more than 100 pages in one day of a book left in our Jamaica hotel suite - engrossing story of the deeply flawed author of James Bond stories who
lived in Jamaica.

Leave it to Paul Johnson to write a more engaging biography of Winston Churchill in less than 200 pages those who spend years writing numerous volumes.

Though the start was somewhat slow with too many references to Jobs’ lack of hygiene, just finished a fascinating section about how he wooed John Sculley of Pepsi to join Apple, punctuated by the memorable phrase, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water?”

Fascinating start about how she and George lost their 3-year-old daughter to leukemia so quickly. Not only that, the future First Lady's brother was often hospitalized for months as a child. Well-written and researched;

Some inspiring stories and some dispiriting ones of the men who carried bags and gave advice to the world's greatest golfers. The chapter on Ben Crenshaw winning the 1995 Masters with Carl Jackson at his side -- the longest player-caddy tandem in Masters history -- is especially poignant. Great work by author @WardClayton

An excellent look at more than just the battle at Cypress Point itself, The Match reveals plenty of golf history amid some of its biggest names -- Hogan, Nelson and Venturi (Ward was a potential big name who didn't quite make it). In Mark Frost's hands, the story is well-written and aptly researched.

No doubt this is a good book, but there's so much detail and names to remember and so many pages to go before I sleep that I have put it aside for now.

I had never known of the deep Hogan/Nelson friendship or the fact that it fractured. Given that this famous golf round is only four hours, Frost needs to work in many other angles -- and does successfully.

Hard to believe Churchill approved Soviet aggression in Poland in 1939 in hopes of limiting German domination in the area. The result: Stalin sent Polish families to slave-labor camps where, on their way, “corpses of children froze in the snow.”

Mark Frost weaves much golf history into this book, which makes sense given that details of The Match in question are scanty and dependent on aging memories.

Siggi is an incredibly successful businessman despite his traumatic past. But would be nice to find out more about what kind of husband/friend he is and more about his inner life (fears and the like).

With so many details and names, the history can be slow reading. Still, Stalin’s murderous and lying ways shine through.

How he survived the Holocaust while 59 family members died is a miracle. The stories, as expected, are harrowing.

By stealing land from the most productive farmers in the Ukraine and then shooting them or sending them to Siberia to work as slave laborers, Stalin ruined millions of lives, including by mass starvation for those who remained. The works of a madman.

The premise of the book is captivating -- World War II was Stalin's war more than Hitler's. Given the impact afterwards of Communism spreading across Eastern Europe, no doubt the aftermath was all Stalin. Should be a great read.

Incredible that Germany became a dictatorship under Hitler not by brute force but by representatives voting to change the country's Constitution.

Amazing the number of Northern states which allowed slavery in the early days of the republic. New Jersey was the last to abolish it in 1804.

Great historical nuggets. In 1933, The New York Times wrote, “The composition of the cabinet leaves Herr Hitler no scope for gratification of any dictatorial ambition.” Also didn’t realize Hitler was constantly lampooned in the media before he became chancellor.

Interesting start -- I had no idea state constitutions at the time influenced the content of the U.S. Constitution.