The Winter Series of Book Club 

Announcing the next series of books (plus, a bonus book).

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Dear Dispatch members, 

The highly anticipated return of The Dispatch Book Club podcast is here with lots of books (and movies) to dive into. 

Before we get into the winter series of books, I wanted to start with a bonus podcast about a book I, frankly, am just obsessed with. It’s The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff, and it has completely changed the way I view the Boston Tea Party. Turns out, everything we were taught in school was wrong. It’s a book you won’t want to miss out on. 

Then, for the winter series, we are going to read books that were adapted into films. Some of these movies were the biggest of the year, so I thought it would be a good idea to read the actual books. Plus, by doing so, we may or may not have forced Steve into actually watching a movie. 

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  1. Meg E

    I'm so excited the book club is back! Sarah, I was wondering if you have read Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. I'm reading it now, and it seems like a book you might like.

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  2. Rdm2421

    Has anyone listed to the Sam Adams book? Would prefer audiobook but most history books are better in print. Thanks!

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    Calvin.Siler

    I'm excited for the discussion of American Promtheus. I went on a tear of reading nuclear physicists biographies two summers ago in anticipation for the Nolan film this summer.

    If any one is looking for extra credit, Ray Monk's biography of Oppenheimer is also excellent. It goes into greater depth in certain areas of his life, including the antisemitism that Oppenheimer experienced at Harvard as an undergraduate in the 1920s.

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    Bill B

    I haven't read the Sam Adams book yet although I'm checking if the library has it - my wife will only allow me to buy so many books before she leaves me. But the impression I get of Adams from what I have read is that he dissipated a fortune, failed at business and wasn't the least bit "conservative" in any sense so I find it amusing that he is lauded so prominently here.

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  5. Iconoclast

    Sarah, hi! You’re the best! If you’re looking for another early America history book for future readings, consider Hogeland’s ‘The Autumn of the Black Snake’, which follows George Washington’s leadership in opening the Ohio Valley to Euro-American settlement, from kicking-off the French and Indian War, to the massive defeat of St. Clair’s militia at the hands of the confederacy of northwest Native Americans, to the establishment of a standing army and Mad Anthony Wayne’s defeat of the confederacy at Fallen Timbers. It’s a reminder that while Bostonians were rebelling against taxes, Virginians were rebelling against the British restrictions on settlement beyond the Appalachians.

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    David Hendrickson

    So glad this is resuming! I got a few months behind due to military training, but I'm plowing through American Midnight and should be caught up relatively soon.

    Please make sure the next set of books for spring are ready to go before spring! The releases have been kind of choppy and my Audible credits are piling up.

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  7. Jimlafferty1993

    This is going to be great! Thanks.

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  8. M.W.Sanera

    Sarah, Sam Adams does not shine in Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge (2005). Thomas Fleming includes him as one of the leading conspirators who worked to remove Washington from the commander of the army. John Adams was also involved but to a lesser extent. Does Schiff discuss this episode? Michael Sanera

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