First was Roseblood by Paul Doherty. This author has written a large number of historical fiction novels, generally more or less "mysteries", as well as some non-fiction history. In this book, he touches on events of the Wars of the Roses in England, dealing with some of the politics while also telling a tale of vengeance. In general I like his books because they set the scene very well. This one is no different in that respect.
The other book was Osprey Weapon #9: The Colt 1911 Pistol, what as a child I would have called the 45 Automatic. From its inception until quite recently it was the chosen handgun of our armed forces and often of our police as well. Although somewhat technical in its discussion of the weapon variants, this is a solid piece of work on the history of this pistol. Pretty good.