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 May 22, 2006Citizen HughesBy Michael Drosnin
Driven by phobias, disfunctional genius manipulates the world about him
Maniacal billionaire Howard Hughes interacted with the world through messages handwritten on legal size paper or over the phone from his penthouse atop the Desert Hills Hotel in Las Vegas during the sixties. From his isolated reclusive perch that he never left in all those years, he manipulated politics, the fate of his financial empire and the lives of great and small men.
 William Wallace
by Andrew Fisher
How Scotland produced a warrior equal in ferocity and might to Edward I of England
Most Americans know William Wallace, the Scottish hero, as Braveheart, after the film of the same name starring Mel Gibson. Andrew Fisher in his historical examination of Wallace portrays the man more objectively. This is a difficult task since little is known of the man other than a few official records. One very biased source is Henry the Minstrel or Blind Harry who wrote The Wallace. The long poem in 12 books was published circa 1477, two centuries after Wallace’s execution.
 Man And The Computer
by John G. Kemeny
In computers the past is prologue
The Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry's new Real World Computing Program aims to improve human communication and make further progress in scientific technology. The goal is to build a highly advanced information society.
 Alan Turing the enigma
by Andrew Hodges
The story of a brilliant scientist destroyed by the Post World War II homophobia
It would not be exaggerating to say that Alan Mathison Turing, born on June 23, 1912, was Britain’s secret weapon against the German’s during World War II. This biography by Andrew Hodges details the life of this complex and conflicted man from the heights as one of Britain brightest minds to the depths on June 8,1954 when he took his own life by cyanide poisoning.
 Angela’s Ashes
by Frank McCourt
The human spirit overcomes the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Angela’s Ashes is an autobiography of author Frank McCourt’s life growing up in America and Ireland in the 1930’s and 1940’s, but as a reader that’s a fact I had to continually remind myself of as I laughed, cried, cursed and cheered its characters from beginning to end. McCourt employs his natural "gift of the gab" to recreate the story of his impoverished youth.
By Marnie Santoyo
 Falling Leaves
by Adeline Yen Mah
Cinderella in mid-20th Century China with evil stepmother but no handsome prince
Adeline Yen Mah’s autobiography of her cruel childhood reads like a modern day Cinderella story. But there are a couple of key differences: this Cinderella grew up in pre-communist and communist China and this story doesn’t offer a "happily ever after" ending. Instead, it feels indefinitely unresolved, especially for the author and her personal struggle.
By Marnie Santoyo
 Spycatcher
by Peter Wright
British Intelligence’s first science officer after World War II weaves a wonderful tale of his work
Spycatcher is one of those rare revealing books that allow the reader a real first-hand inside look at the operations of a very secret organization. The British government had gone to great lengths to suppress its publication but it emerged and became an instant success upon its release in 1987.
 The Ransom Of Russian Art
by John McPhee
Absent-minded professor funnels a fortune in Russian art out of the USSR
For fans of John McPhee, this short work, The Ransom of Russian Art, follows the authors’ method of telling a story through the eyes of one or more main characters. In this work, the character is Norton Townshend Dodge. This absent-minded professor of economics holds true, too, to McPhee’s knack of celebrating memorable and somewhat eccentric people.
 West With The Night
by Beryl Markham
Beryl Markham remarkable life in Africa, her love of flying and her epic solo journey from England to the U.S.
I found Beryl Markham's book West with the Night incredible reading for a number of reasons. The book is a memoir of willful, freethinking woman in an age where women were not permitted to be either. How she was able to do both is one element of this narrative. Another compelling element of this work is the description of colonial Africa as seen through the eyes of a colonizer, who has come to identify more with the natives than with the ruling conquerors of which she is one. Finally, this is a book about flying and of an adventurous attempt to be the first to fly solo from England to the U.S.
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