Not just an account of the famous wine tasting that put California wines on the map. Taber goes into the history of California winemaking, giving first-rate biographical profiles of the California vintners that produced (and still produce) world-class wines. Also excellent are the chapters about the impact of the 1976 tasting, which spurred the development of New World wine regions and exposed Old World producers to innovative winemaking practices. ( )

I was familiar with much of this art history from a university introductory course (Darkness at Noon) and French political history from other readings but King weaves a wonderful story of their interconnectedness that filled in a lot of gaps for me. Perfect pandemic reading. ( )

Fascinating and rich with history. Truly enjoyed visiting the two main wineries represented here. A wonderful tale! ( )

About Impressionism ( )

I always enjoy histories of the arts (music history, literary history and art history), and Ross King is one of the best art historians writing for a broad audience. Obviously, a book (or in my case, an audio book) about art has its limitations (which copious use of Google Image search is the remedy).

The beauty of King's work is his focus on the *history* aspect - not just the history of the artists, but the history of the period more broadly. The history of the Second Empire and its fall, the Paris Commune of 1871, and the earliest days of the Third Republic are all here. We learn a lot about the artists, but also Napoleon III (and to a lesser extent, Napoleon Bonaparte), Wilhelm I of Prussia, and the political leaders of France in the period from 1863 onward.

The hero here is Eduard Manet; the ultimate villain is Ernest Meissonier. You might ask about the latter, "Who?" This book will tell you. Both hero and villain are portrayed not in black and white, but in varying shades of grey, with all of their human warts and foibles. A great read. ( )