Brainstorm 282: Cold War Nonfiction Reads

This week we continue the November nonfiction Brainstorms with 8 histories, biographies, and memoirs about the Cold War between the US and the USSR after WWII and how that impacted others around the world. Many of these were only written recently after classified documents eventually became available to the public decades later. Several of these read like tense thrillers, while others, like Margarita Engle’s memoir, help demonstrate how these events impacted families around the globe. Click on the titles to see my full review of each book and any content notes/trigger warnings. 

Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone by Larry Devlin

Larry Devlin was the CIA's man in Congo for some of the main years of unrest right after it gained independence from Belgium. At that time the Soviet Union was looking for a country to be their foothold in Africa, so Larry spent most of his years trying to keep Congo out of the hands of the Soviets. No small task when the country is in turmoil and power keeps changing hands.

An eye-opening look at what a real spy’s everyday life is like and the kind of power struggles going on in Africa in the 1960s.

Target Readers:

Memoir Fans, Africa History Buffs, Spy Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Congo Setting Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

 

The Collapse: the Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall by Mary Elise Sarotte

Mary Elise Sarotte takes readers through all the tiny little incidents, accidents, and unprecedented choices that happened at just the right time and were capitalised on so that the opening of the Berlin Wall happened when no one knew it would, not the East Germany authorities, not the Western intelligence agents, not even the reform movements inside East Germany.

Sarotte has obviously done her research. Years and years of research and interviews and scouring of primary documents. And the story she tells is crazy!

Target Readers:

East Germany History Buffs, Crazy but True History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

 

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings (Enchanted Air, #1) by Margarita Engle

In free verse poems, Margarita Engle tells of her childhood from her parents falling in love, her birth and on through age fourteen. The book covers 1947-1965, and since Margarita's mother was Cuban and father American, she had a unique perspective of the Cold War events that happened during her childhood. She tells of the family's yearly visits to family in Cuba until the civil war and politics prevent those. Margarita shares her love for the life in Cuba, how the part of her that loved plants and animals felt most at home there, and how confused she felt by the events that prevented her from visiting an island she loved. There's an afterward giving an overview of Cold War events and what happened in Margarita's life since age 14.

Margarita beautifully captures the identity crisis of children caught between cultures. Third and fourth culture kids will readily identify with how she tried to figure out where she was most at home. It is also extremely interesting to see the Cuban Missile Crisis and other Cold War events through the eyes of a child who loved both Cuba and America.

Target Readers:

Memoir Fans, Novels in Verse Fans, Mutli-ethnic Family Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Award Winner Readers, Middle Grade/Young Adult Readers

 

Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin

Sheinkin takes readers on an in-depth trip behind the scenes into the Cold War, and just how close the US and the USSR came to an atomic battle in the days and months leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

If you want a succinct but well-researched overview of the Cold War, this would be my recommendation.

Target Readers:

History Buffs, Nonfiction Fans, Award Winner Readers, Young Adult Readers (though approachable to upper Middle Grade)

 

Flight for Freedom : the Wetzel Family's Daring Escape from East Germany by Kristen Fulton, ill. by Torben Kuhlmann

A picture book biography of the Wetzels, what life in East Germany was like for them, and how they and another family made a hot air balloon and escaped to the West.

The picture book does a great job of relaying the basics of the difference between life in East and West Germany, and extensive back matter includes a lot more information on why the Berlin Wall went up, why people tried to escape over (and under) it, various methods that worked, and why the Wetzels didn't really open up about their escape until recently.

Target Readers:

Picture Book Biography Fans, Escape Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, History Buffs, East Germany History Buffs, Lower Grade/Middle Grade Readers

 

In the Shadow of the Moon: America, Russia, and the Hidden History of the Space Race by Amy Cherrix

A look at the Cold War and arms/space race between the USA and Russia that focuses on the rocket engineers who played huge roles behind the scenes, Werner von Braun and Sergei Korolev.

Most of the books about the Cold War and the space race focus on the astronauts and cosmonauts, but this one looks at the rocket engineers and how they came to be at the forefront of their respective countries design programs.

Target Readers:

Space Travel Enthusiasts, History Buffs, Nonfiction Fans, Young Adult Readers

 

Spies: the Secret Showdown between America and Russia by Marc Favreau

A history of spycraft between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. This is rather succinct and really just touches on some of the biggest moments in spying during the Cold War. You learn some of the biggest spies on each side, and moments when things got really dicey.

Target Readers:

Spy Story Fans, History Buffs, Nonfiction Fans, Young Adult Readers

 

The Spy and the Traitor: the Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

A biography of Oleg Gordievsky, who was raised in a KGB family, recruited to the KGB at a young age and quickly rose in the ranks working in Scandinavia and then England. The book outlines how he was recruited by MI6 and the role he played behind the scenes in the Cold War and world history because of his spying.

This is a very fascinating look at the life of a KGB agent and the USSR during the 60s-80s. This book reveals many behind the scenes things about the Cold War, and is another good dose of reality to counter the Hollywood version of what a spy’s life is like.

Target Readers:

Spy Story Fans, Biography Fans, Nonfiction Fans, History Buffs, Adult Readers (though approachable to high reading YA)

Brainstorm 281: Linguistics and Language Nonfiction

This week’s Brainstorm continues November’s focus on nonfiction with 3 books that look at language and linguistics, from inventing a new language, to decoding a dead language, to saving a dying language. Each one also explores how language impacts culture. Click on each title to see my full review and any content notes/trigger warnings.

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim, ill. by Cindy Kang

A picture book biography of the Korean king responsible for developing the Korean alphabet, how he did it, and why he wanted to help make reading, writing, and learning accessible to all his subjects.

This book does a fabulous job connecting the ability to read with social justice and human rights issues.

Target Readers:

Picture Book Biography Fans, Korean Language Studiers/Speakers, Korean History Fans, Social Justice Reads Fans, Curious Readers, Nonfiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers

 

The Language of Angels: a Story about the Reinvention of Hebrew by Richard Michelson, ill. by Karla Gudeon

A picture book biography of Ben-Zion whose father in 1880s Jerusalem was on a campaign to make Hebrew a living language again after thousands of years of being stagnant and only used for prayers or scripture reading. Ben-Zion's father went to extreme measures to make sure he only heard and spoke Hebrew, and the book tells about that as well as how he and his father worked to create new Hebrew words for modern inventions.

Ben-Zion’s father sounds like a character and possibly a bit hard to live with, but he did have a lasting impact on Jewish culture.

Target Readers:

Picture Book Biography Fans, Jewish History Fans, Hebrew Language Studiers/Speakers, Curious Readers, Nonfiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers

 

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: the Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox

A biography of the three people who worked the most on decoding Linear B, an ancient writing found on tablets unearthed at Crete that pre-dated Greek in an unknown language. First there was the archaeologist, Arthur Evans who found the tablets in what he dubbed Midas' palace on Crete. Then there was the classical linguist professor, Alice Kober, who worked on it during her free time and came very close to cracking it before illness took her, and finally, the architect Michael Ventris, who also worked on it during his free time and finally broke the code.

This is a fascinating look at how hard it is to decode an unknown script for an unknown language and how the people who did manage to crack it open went about doing so.

Target Readers:

Code & Puzzle Lovers, Linguistics Fans, History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Curious Readers, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

Brainstorm 280: 4 WWII Nonfiction Reads

November brings a focus on nonfiction reads for the Brainstorm. And we’re kicking off this week with 4 nonfiction WWII reads for a variety of ages. I limited myself to only WWII stories I haven’t highlighted previously in the Brainstorm. Click on the title to see my full review including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Alias Anna: a True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood with Greg Dawson

A biography in verse of Jewish Ukrainian musical prodigy Zhanna Arshanskaya and how she avoided being eliminated by the Nazis during WWII.

The co-author of this book is Zhanna's son. Zhanna's story stands out for how she escaped even though she was famous before the war, and for her musical talent (she went on to get a full ride to Juilliard).

Target Readers:

Biography Fans, WWII Escape Story Fans, Music Lovers, Reluctant Nonfiction Readers, Quick Nonfiction Read Fans, Novels in Verse Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

A Bookshop in Berlin by Françoise Frenkel, translated by Stephanie Smee

The autobiography of a Polish Jewish woman who launched a French bookstore in Berlin in the 1930s after getting her education in France. Her shop was only open for a few years before it became clear that she must get out. She reluctantly closed up her shop, returned to Paris, and then relates her numerous stops in Southern France trying to find a way to Switzerland as the Nazi hold on France gets tighter and tighter.

I’ve read many fictional accounts of escapes out of France into Switzerland but this was the first autobiography and it was intriguingly more calm than many of the fictional accounts. Frenkel focuses on what it was like in more of the day to day activities, like standing in lines or waiting in a safe house.

Target Readers:

Autobiography Fans, WWII Escape Story Fans, History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

 

Nicky & Vera: a Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Saved by Peter Sís

A picture book biography about Nicholas Winton, who quietly and humbly went to work to rescue Jewish children from Prague when he saw the need at the rumblings of WWII, arranging for them to go to England and escape the Nazis. Sís showcases how important Nicky's work was through the story of one of the girls whose life Winton saved, Vera Gissing. Vera was a girl who loved cats and had a happy childhood until the Nazis arrived. She got on one of the trains Nicky arranged and went to England, and when she returned to Prague after the war she found that none of her family who stayed in Prague had survived. If not for Nicky, she would have died too.

The full impact of Nicholas Winton's actions weren't even really known until 1989 when his wife stumbled across the records of all the kids he put on trains (she didn't even know what he had done during the war until then, he was that humble), and that started an event where a whole bunch of the now grown children he saved got together to thank him. A powerful and moving picture book with a unique art style loaded with symbolism.

Target Readers:

Picture Book Biography Fans, Quick Nonfiction Read Fans, WWII Story Fans, Symbolic Art Fans, Heartwarming Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers on up

 

Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship" by Deborah Heiligman

Deborah Heiligman relates the story of the disaster of the torpedoing of City of Benares which was carrying over a hundred children from Britain to Canada in hopes they would be safer during WWII. The story looks at how some of the children and adults on the ship survived, how ordinary people became heroes, how the survivors were rescued, and how this disaster impacted future boating policies and plans for British children during WWII.

An excellent piece of nonfiction writing loaded with personal interviews and primary documents woven together in a fascinating way.

Target Readers:

WWII Story Fans, Disaster Story Fans, Survival Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Young Adult Readers (though approachable to upper Middle Grades)