John Heintz is a respected Chicago educational consultant who previously held leadership responsibilities with the Niles Township High School District 219. An avid reader, Chicago native John Heintz particularly enjoys 20th century fiction classics such as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby. Mr. Heintz was, after all, an English teacher for fifteen years before building the consultancy Second Rail Education. Two of his favorite nonfiction authors are Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Judt. Mr. Heintz finds Ms. Goodwin's work No Ordinary Time - Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II particularly compelling.

1. Book Group - From America Before
World War II and Europe After
John Heintz, Chicago

2. Introduction
• John Heintz is a respected Chicago educational consultant who previously
held leadership responsibilities with the Niles Township High School
District 219. An avid reader, Chicago native John Heintz particularly enjoys
20th century fiction classics such as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great
Gatsby. Mr. Heintz was, after all, an English teacher for fifteen years before
building the consultancy Second Rail Education. Two of his favorite
nonfiction authors are Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Judt. Mr. Heintz
finds Ms. Goodwin's work No Ordinary Time - Franklin and Eleanor
Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II particularly compelling.
Focusing on the war years between 1940 and 1945, Ms. Goodwin
describes how FDR was able to coax a war-wary nation into engagement in
the fight against Nazism and how this involved a fundamental
transformation of the US industrial base. She also focuses on the intimate
relationships that informed these efforts and undertook interviews with
86 individuals who were familiar with the President and First Lady.

3. Book Group
• Ms. Goodwin takes relish in exploring the minutia of the
White House, and fills her work with anecdotes such as the
one that FDR would typically recall his boyhood memories
of riding a sled down a hill to help get to sleep during the
crisis-filled years. At the same time, she goes into depth
covering the personal relationships that underlay
diplomatic efforts. At the Teheran Conference in 1943, FDR
drew on a longstanding personal friendship in convincing a
reluctant Churchill to acquiesce to an invasion of Europe
from across the Channel. Ms. Goodwin's storytelling is both
global and intimate, and she creates the perfect
introduction to Mr. Heintz's other history recommendation.

4. Conclusion
• For the European perspective, Mr. Heintz recommends Postwar.
Postwar is the tome of former New York University Professor of
History and head of its Remarque Institute Tony Judt. Postwar is
essentially a survey course in European history since the end of
World War II. The book rotates between nations, economics,
politics and culture in a comprehensive overview that connects
other, much more detailed histories. The published title is satisfying
for its rich source material. But the audiobook is even more
enticing. The audiobook has been repeatedly updated to clarify not
only the pronunciation of names, locations and events where the
original recording might have slipped, it also rewords sentences to
make subtle points more clearly. At 43 hours, listening to Postwar is
a commitment but one that is well worth the time.