It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have an opinion about Wallis Simpson — even harder to find someone with a good opinion of her. This is a new look at a famous figure, set against a very specific time and place. It brings new perspective to both Wallis Simpson and 1920s legation Peking.
This is a sparkling history of a brief time in a No Man’s Land, and the bright people who burned fiercely, and all too quickly.
As we launch into summer, I’m trying to get a handle on my reading (and review) list for the next couple of months. I know — a largely futile task. Here is a look at what I am reading now.
In May, I took a little vacation and did a bit of traveling, which resulted in a bit less reading than usual for me. Having returned back to reality — and an already very hot and muggy hometown — I’m reorganizing the TBR pile for summer. Here’s a look at what I’m reading this month.
I noted when I first read this, and I still find it true: This is the best true crime book I have read since The Devil in the White City. Paul French painstakingly recreates not only the last days of Pamela Werner, but a crumbling China. Like the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Peking…