We can learn the history of a time, place, or person without reading a biography. Biographies are fundamentally personal, and why should we desire to spend time in the company of someone considered one of history's villains? In most cases, I think that the answer is a desire to understand.
A Fiery Peace in a Cold War
This book, with its focus on Schriever and how he became known as the father of the high-technology Air Force, is more directly relevant to my professional life than most of what I read, what with the current efforts to stand up an independent Space Force. However, it is more than simply a chronicle of Schriever's efforts to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In fact, for all that this book uses Schriever as a common thread, Schriever seemed to exist in this narrative to assist in bringing all of the other pieces and players to the stage at the right times
