Doug has long been a fan of Paul Johnson’s writings, and this 2008 release HEROES did not disappoint. Working on the premise that a hero is anybody “who has been widely, persistently over long periods, and enthusiastically regarded as heroic by a reasonable person, or even an unreasonable one,” Johnson shares entertainingly informative vignettes on a wildly diverse collection of individuals who fit that discription, including Samson, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, George Washington, Emily Dickenson, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Marilyn Monroe, and Margaret Thatcher. The few anecdotes Doug read aloud to me from the chapter on Ronald Reagan, whom Johnson clearly admired, were enough to convince me to put this on my own “to read” list straightaway.