Dear Great Book Guru,
Sea Cliff is such a wonderful place any time of year, but May is a particularly special time. I just came home from the Landmarks House Tour. It was amazing: there were so many homes- from tiny jewel boxes to majestic castles- and so much in between. But next Monday is Memorial Day with its spirited parade through the Village and its bittersweet conclusion at Clifton Park; I would like to read something befitting this day. Do you have a suggestion? Memorial Day Observer

Dear Memorial Day Observer, I agree with you- the House Tour was the best ever- Tina Marchese and Leslie Guerci and all their committee members are to be congratulated on a job well done! Of course, Memorial Day evokes another side of life in Sea Cliff and I admire your desire to set the tone with a tome…. I would recommend A PEACE TO END ALL PEACE by David Fromkin. The title comes a British commander's comment at the end of World War I, " After the war to end all war, they have been pretty successful in making a peace to end all peace" referring to the decisions by the British and to a smaller extent the Americans and the French that created new borders, new countries, and new hostilities. The book delves into the many missteps and misconceptions whose repercussions continue to plague the world today. Can we learn from the mistakes of those who came before? The book suggests probably not, and this makes Memorial Day all the more poignant an observance.