My name is Jeff Tolan. I have lived in Ottawa, Ontario since 1987 after growing up and attending school in the US. I’m a chemical engineer but also passionate about History. After years of endlessly enduring me talking about the books I’ve read, my friends suggested that I write reviews and post them. This site is the result.
My objectives in this site are to share my enjoyment of history and to offer my information and opinions about the books I have read. I am not a trained or practicing historian, though I did minor in History in college. Rather, I am just someone who enjoys a good book and likes to talk about it. I lean much more toward popular History than the scholarly variety.
The scope of the site is History, but this term is interpreted in many ways. I by and large limit the realm of the subject matter to the time period of more than about 40 years before the present. This is to distinguish between historic and current events, which are still unfolding. In addition, it takes some time to gain historic perspective. Finally, much relevant information only becomes available after the retirement (or death) of the principle individuals involved. I also focus on History as based on written documentation. So, although the study of History is frequently carried out alongside such fields as archaeology, geology, and anthropology, I restrict the site to the realm of at least some written documentation. The earliest example dates from around 3000 BC in ancient Egypt.
I find books to read by (a) following authors I have enjoyed, including Nathaniel Philbrick, Margaret MacMillan, Ron Chernow, Arthur Herman, and many others; (b) looking at the list of winners of the Pulitzer Prizes; (c) reading the book reviews in The Economist, BBC History magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, and (d) following the recommendations of my family and friends. The most important of these was my father, Alfred Tolan, who instilled in me his love of History. We lost Dad in 2017 but I receive many good recommendations from those still around me.
I am pretty broadly open to subject matter, though I stay away from books about the “Cloak and Dagger” of Spying and about Pirates. My opinion is that Hollywood has made these areas more important than they actually are. I probably have more familiarity with History than most people, but not so much as to be able to plow through a difficult, dense book with no trouble. Therefore, I hope my comments about whether a book is “readable” or “a tough slog” are helpful.
Like most people, my budget is quite finite, so I rarely if ever spend more than $50 for a book. If I do, I’ll identify it as “expensive”. I will not generally quote a price for a book, as this depends on the vendor, US/Canada exchange rate, etc. and changes frequently. Almost every book I read is available from a bookstore or online from sites such as Amazon. If it is not, I’ll identify it as “rare”. I usually read paperbacks, as they are cheaper than hard cover, and carry the added seal-of-approval that the best History books always come out as paperbacks after a year or two in hard cover. I do not read e-books because I’m a slow adopter, but I assume all of the books I review are available as e-books.
I find that reading books about History (especially the great books) offers me the opportunity to travel to places and times that I otherwise cannot go to. This is not only a lot of fun, but teaches me about how we got to where we are today. Whether this offers insight into where the future will take us is an open question, but a tantalizing one. Either way, I hope you enjoy the site. Feel free to submit comments on the Contact page.