What History Are You Reading in December ?

Hello All! Just noticed that there was no 'What RU Reading' thread.

Currently I'm reading Eckberg's book: "Stealing Indian Women: Native Slavery in the Illinois Country".

The book explores the very beginnings of Indian slavery in the trans-Mississippi area. It's really quite interesting.

So what is everyone else reading?

I'm reading a quadruple biography of four Catholic writers: Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor. Not specifically history, but very good: The Life You Save May Be Your Own.

The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in World History by Linda Colley.

So far, high marks for the choice of subject and the research, medium marks for the historian's writing and analysis. Elizabeth Marsh was an 18th century women in a seafaring family whose travels spanned the globe. There are remarkably preserved records from a variety of sources. Pretty neat.

Colley, however, brings an awful lot of herself to the analysis, and not always convincingly. We'll see how I feel as I get farther through it.

Currently reading a biography of Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend by Gary L. Roberts.

Interesting history of another character of the American west.

Started Trafalgar: Biography of a Battle, by Roy Adkins. Seems to me a very good book.

As for non-military history I've read Germany's Cold War and Cold War Holidays this month.

For most of the month, I was working on 1491. Just finished that and started Queen Isabella.