Current Reading June 2026

Flip of the calendar and we're close to summer! Share your read this month.

I'm making slow progess on Palaeontology in Public, a collection of essays about various aspects of the popular reception of extinct animals (fossil plants get no love, sniff) through the 19th and 20th centuries.

Finished Brave the Wild River, an exemplary tale of adventure and science in mid-20th century America.

Finished William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come by James Curtis

Wrapped up Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Most Controversial World War II General. As much political and social history as it is military history. The author does try to clue in the reader to the historical context that Tojo's life took place in, but I've read a lot of modern Japanese history and all that background was very useful.

Completed a technical but interesting Q-birds: The Impact of American Manned Aircraft As Drones by Frederick A Johnsen.

Finished Operation Lusty: The Race for Hitler's Secret Technology by Graham M. Simons

Although the bulk of Bernardo de Gálvez deals with Spain's parallel war in the American Revolution, this is as much an examination of Spain's North American empire through the lens of one man's career. Could have been a winner, but undercut by the author's language skills, and possibly talking down to his supposed audience; not really a book for the general reader, so only hard-cores and academicians are likely to pick it up.

Wrapped up Dream Car: Malcolm Bricklin's Fantastic SV1 and the End of Industrial Modernity; I came prepared to scoff some more at Malcolm Bricklin, but the author made me reconsider my position.

For anyone interested in the history of the early Zionist movement in Europe, I can recommend the excellent short biography, Theodore Herzl: The Charismatic Leader by Derek Penslar. Growing up Jewish in America in the 1960s and 70s, I've frequently heard Theodore Herzl mentioned, mostly reverently, in Jewish settings of all kinds. Herzl, an assimilated German Jew who was active in the latter part of the 19th century, was one of the most important figures in the early days of the Zionist movement in Europe during that time. I've always heard contradictory things about him and been interested in learning about the actual person, what he really did or didn't stand for, and how his views may have evolved over his relatively short (44 years) life. My full review can be found on the book's work page and on my Club Read thread.

Completed a disappointing Bayonets and Scimitars: Arms, Armies and Mercenaries 1700-1789 by William Urban

And more disappointment, The Waterfall That Built a City: The Falls of St. Anthony in Minneapolis by Lucile M. Kane

>12 jztemple: Can't confess to searing interest, but I did google whether the Dakota peoples had an claim to the falls and was told that since the closure of the upper dam there has been "Indigenous stewardship and cultural revitalization" efforts with local civic authorities. There was also mention of Owámniyomni having spiritual significance to the local indigenous people. Since your book was published a good 60 years ago, perhaps a newer history is now needed.

Polished off a short but well done The Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Fleming

Put in a concerted read of US Aircraft in the Soviet Union and Russia, which I'm posting here because much more than military aviation is being covered.

Finished reading through Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson. It was a decent enough account of Pearl Harbor, going into great detail about the attack, and also highlighting the investigations into the failures leading up to the battle. Main issue was that writing style wasn't the strongest.
Currently reading through 1776 by David McCullough.