Recently, I finished reading
The A-Z of Punishment and Torture, an e-book by Irene Thompson (illustrated by Catherine Edmunds), a chilling account of man's inhumanity to man. An absolutely fascinating, but nevertheless very disturbing, catalogue of the methods developed and employed by people throughout history, to inflict maximum pain and suffering on their fellow human beings. I sometime wonder how our species has the audacity to call itself civilised. I recommend this book to anyone who has their head in the clouds, for it'll soon bring them back down to reality here on Earth.
I am now reading an e-book called
The Ballad of Johnny Madigan, by John Bray, about a teenage Irish immigrant who joins the Union Army. I read
The Red Badge of Courage many years ago, and have some knowledge of the American Civil War, so I am curious to see how the former shapes up to the challenge of being a really good historical novel.