The Commonwealth of Thieves

In 1787, most of the British populace were overjoyed to see the transfer of over 1500 convicts, from the diseased, cold and dark prison hulks in Portsmouth and Plymouth, onto a fleet of eleven ships destined for the yet unsettled shores of New South Wales. The Commonwealth of Thieves, by Tom Keneally, relates the story of Captain Arthur Phillip, the commander of the fleet, and the men, women and children that comprised the prison population on board. The convicts were accompanied by a few marines and soldiers on a trip halfway around the world to another hemisphere to a place unlike any they had ever heard about. The author expertly makes the reader aware of how strange this must have seemed to both the prisoners, who were meant to start a colony, and to the indigenous tribes of the Eora people who had been on the continent of Australia for over 60,000 years. Keneally tells the story of the first four years of the convicts’ struggle to find food, shelter and acceptance to a life so remote from Britain. He also relates the Aborigines’ plight of being invaded by a foreign culture, its deadly diseases, and the inevitable clash of civilizations. The reader will finish the book wanting to know what happened next.

-Emily Dickinson

The Two Princes of Calabar

The Two Princes of Calabar is the remarkable story of two brothers that are taken from their home in Calabar, Africa and are sold into the slave trade.  Originally slave traders themselves, the brothers use their extraoridinary knowledge of the english language to eventually escape slavery.  The brothers then go on to become Methodists and stay with the brother of the founder of Methodism in England.  After all that they go through the brothers make a shocking return to the slave trade in Calabar.  This short but intriguing story shows a new side of the slave trade is definitely worth reading.  Written by Randy J. Sparks, a history professor at Tulane, The Two Princes of Calabar is a compilation of letters and other first hand accounts that piece together the journey of these two brothers that is unlike anything in a history book.

-Queen Isabel

The Opium Wars

In The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another, W. Travis Hanes III, Ph.D. and Frank Sanello tell a vivid story of cultures in collision. Drawing on historical documents and firsthand accounts they recreate international events leading up to Britain's invasion of the Chinese mainland. They capture the chaos and turmoil of two decades of war that saw Britain's world-class armed forces engaging Chinese defenses still dependent on medieval weaponry and military strategies.
-Helen Keller

The True History of Chocolate

The True History of Chocolate covered over thousands of years of history with the simple connection of chocolate. Although it was many years, the book was not very long and for the most part was very interesting. Learning that chocolate was originally served only in liquid form, hot or cold was a lot different from now where most of us think of Hershey's chocolate bars when one says chocolate. Starting with the Olmecs and Mayans was also different, then moving on to the Aztecs and eventually Europe.

This book covered not only chocolate, but the slave trade, the fall of the different mesoamerican empires and the conqistadors that conquered the Aztecs. Moving on from there was the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Reason. It was fun to see how chocolate adapted and survived through all the different years and now is thriving. Also, I learned the different chemicals in chocolate and why it used to be used for medicinal purposes and different ways to grow it, under certain and very specific climates. Overall this book covered years of history and taught me lots of new facts about chocolate and I probably never would have known.

Evita