What We Are Reading Today: ‘Dragonflies of North America’ by Ed Lam

“The First King of England” is a foundational biography of Æthelstan (d. 939), the early medieval king whose territorial conquests and shrewd statesmanship united the peoples, languages, and cultures that would come to be known as the “Kingdom of the English.”

In this panoramic work, David Woodman blends masterful storytelling with the latest scholarship to paint a multifaceted portrait of this immensely important but neglected figure, a man celebrated in his day as much for his benevolence, piety, and love of learning as he was for his ambitious reign.

“Scars and Stripes” shows us how wars leave a legacy of human suffering. It’s hard to describe Eugene Red McDaniel’s struggle in enduring the horrors of being one of the most brutalized prisoners of war.

When his plane was shot down over the skies of Vietnam, McDaniel would be captured and spend six agonizing years as an inmate in Hanoi Hilton. 

His captors used barbaric and sadistic torture techniques on him, but McDaniel remained a source of hope and strength for his fellow prisoners by clinging to his faith in even the darkest of hours. 

In this book, a whole new generation of Americans will come to understand the power of prayer, belief, and devotion to God had in sustaining McDaniel during his six years as an inmate in Vietnam.