Here's some information on the books from the Book Blog.
This is the last of my economic books. Obviously from the title, it discusses problems with capitalism. It will discuss the financial crises caused by capitalist systems and how they reoccur time and time again. Why don’t people learn and make changes? Let’s find out.
This is about a romance between an American soldier in Italy during WWI and an English nurse. That’s all I know about it. I’ve yet to read a Hemingway novel I haven’t enjoyed, so I’m sure this will be good.
This was a good book, though not my favorite Hemingway. The Sun Also Rises is a better romance, and For Whom the Bell Tolls is a better war novel. This combines elements of the two and is enjoyable in its own way. There is one part of the book that I do not get and hate. I’d love to ask Hemingway why he felt the need to add it. But I can’t, so I’m left thinking about it with no closure.
I didn’t realize this is coauthored by the guy who wrote Forgotten People of the Ancient World (see two books down). I really enjoyed that one, so I’m sure this will be fun to read too. It’s less than 300 pages, so these lives won’t take up too many pages. I like that it has sections dating from the founding of the city all the way to the “fall” of the city. You see a lot of names as sources when you read about various aspects of Rome or people they interacted with. It will be nice to get more information on some of them.
This was a good read. It can be read casually in small bites or for longer and still be interesting. You’ll never remember all the names in this book; all Latin names start to look the same after a while. It has good coverage starting from mythical foundations to the historical “end”. I’ll definitely be looking into the author’s other books.
This is from the pile of books I bought and then completely forgot about, The author interviews a bunch of wealthy New Yorkers and gets their insights on their own lives. It will be interesting to see wealth and economic privilege from the inside. It will also be incredibility irritating to read what I can only assume will be rich people whining.
This wasn’t that bad of a book. There is a lot of rich people whining about wealthy white people problems, so the subjects of interviews are not very sympathetic. The author was careful not to skew it one way or another, so I’m sure there are readers who do feel for these people. A lot of what annoys me was these millionaires wanting to feel like good people but don’t really want to do the things that would make them good people. They are happy with the system that exists despite the increasing inequality it creates. They want to go pick up some litter and think they’ve made the world a better place, when really they’ve done nothing significant. Delusion is a choice they’ve made and they are happy that way. When they are reminded of the great inequality they benefit from, they feel personally attacked. Anyway, not a bad book, though I’m sure not everyone can stomach the self-pity.
Saw this online and though it would be interesting. I would take the “forgotten” aspect with a grain of salt. If you’ve read about certain time periods, you know a lot of these tribes or at least heard of them. I certainly don’t consider Akkadians or Visigoths to be forgotten, but maybe someone who has read less on the subject would. The “Rise of Rome” period looks the most unfamiliar to me; it’s also the longest. It’s got pictures, too. Looks like a good book.
I really enjoyed this book. Each “people” takes up about 6 pages, so it is light reading that you can pop in and out of. Those short entries also makes sure that the fat is trimmed and everything is interesting. The pictures are cool and the book itself has really nice thick paper quality (hardcover). From a casual to avid history fan, this book is a good read.
This book is about how people work hard on minimum wage job(s) just to reach the poverty level. The author goes “undercover” and works different jobs with low pay to see how hard it is to get by. The book is over 20 years old, but considering minimum wage has not risen in 17 years, I don’t believe much has changed other than the fact that a dollar is worth less now than it was then.
This a book that can be read pretty quickly. There’s not much depth to it. The story may have been more interesting if it were the life of a real “working poor” person instead of a upper-middle class journalist, but where would he or she had found the time? The events themselves are a decent read and relatable to anyone who’s had a crap job or two. The author summarizes everything nicely in the end and hopes one day that the way things are will improve. The author died in 2022 and the plight of the poor has seen little improvement. Maybe job hopping for more pay is easier in the internet age. It at least gives people a chance for escapism while the boss isn’t looking. However, rent is up and pay is less, and the population is only growing. We need a better government.
I bought too many books on economics so I’m trying to split them up a bit. I’ve heard about Keynesian economics and passing and understand that this theory was kind of the driving force behind new deal policies. I’d like to know more about this, but in all likelihood it will be boring to me and a lot will go over my head. But maybe not.
Dropping this book. I was weeded out by the introduction. It seems like it will be too technical and there is jargon I don’t feel like looking up. This is for someone with more background knowledge and interest than me. Sorry, Keynes.
I’ve been meaning to read this for like 15 years and have never gotten around to it. The time has come. I’m pretty sure I will like it. It’s a depressing anti-war story set in a depressing war. Right up my alley.
This was an excellent book, as expected. I don’t really know what else to say about. It really gives you a horrible dread of war and the plight of the soldier, an empty feeling as you think about all the death and destroyed lives, and all this without romanticizing war and only slightly romanticizing the brotherhood of soldiers. I do wish I had read it sooner in life, but I’m glad I read it nonetheless.
I like this author. I read one of his other books and saw this new one came out. The author likes to discuss alternatives to the neoliberal economics that dominates the Western world. This book I think follows that thread through the medium of foods of the world. The author writes in an easy-tone that is enjoyable to read, even the unpleasant topic of neoliberalism. Should be a light and fun read.
I thought it was a pretty good book. It’s short and discusses different economic concepts in bite-sized pieces. They’re not all the most interesting, but a decent read nonetheless. It covers a wide variety of topics and you get some interesting food facts, too. I think the author accomplished his goal of writing an economics book everyone can get into.
This might be the last of the books I stumbled upon and downloaded many years ago, probably from Archive. I don’t remember what about it made me want to read it, other than the topic in general. I believe it is a general European history of the “High” (or middle) Middle Ages. I guess it had pretty good reviews. I never really read a general European history on this period, only books that about specific countries or regions that may overlap in time. I think it will be good.
It was okay. I’m not sure where or why I acquired this book, but someone must have said good things about it. It was fine, but in general just wasn’t very interesting to me. I found myself not remembering what I had just read and going off on thought-tangents. If you have time to kill, it’s a decent read, but there’s probably better books on the topic.
I bought like 6 political or economic books 6 months ago and completely forgot I had them. This is one of them. I believe it is about degradation of the Democratic party from the party of FDR into Republican-lite. It should be interesting and it is not very long. It’s has a 2017 publishing date, so I assume it goes into Hilary’s big “surprise” loss. I do hope it goes into the FDR years a bit, because I am always confused on whatever happened to the New Dealers. Did they disappear after Truman won, or did they slowly die off? We’ll see what the author says.
There wasn’t much history in this book and I didn’t like it at first. However, it turned out to be pretty good. I did learn quite a bit about the Clinton and Obama neoliberal policies. It’s one of those books that you read and just get more and more angry, and then you get more angry because there’s nothing you can do about the things that make you angry. As someone who already saw things from a similar viewpoint as the author, it’s a good book. The people who SHOULD read it are the true blue Democrats who don’t see anything wrong with our past three Democrat presidents. The question is: would it change their minds, or would they block it out?
The title and cover give the impression that this book is about the development of language in prehistoric man and the development of complex language. I think that’s only part of it. It looks like it goes beyond that and discusses the historical and ever present factors that change and modify language. I mainly am interested in the first part, so we’ll see how much of this is for me. It’s only about 300 pages, so it can’t be that in-depth; also due to the fact that we don’t know how language developed. It’s nearly 20 years, but I doubt there has been significant developments in the field since then.
I read this book pretty quickly, which means I must have liked it. I was not thrilled with it at first, as the first couple chapters are very basic and a repetition of things I’ve heard many times before. A quarter or a third through it, however, and it becomes very interesting. It’s not a slog of a read either and is very digestible. I recommend it, even if you have just a tangential interest in language.
I think we read the first bit of Beowulf in high school. Never read the whole thing, and definitely never in Old English. This is a side-by-side translation with OE on the left and Modern English on the right. I have only the smallest understanding of Old English and certainly have no vocabulary, but it will be interesting to see them next to each other. I wouldn’t have bought this if it didn’t contain the original text.
It’s a very good story. You can see how its epic nature inspired later writers down to the modern Tolkien. It would have been nice to read it in the original and understand it, but you’d probably need to sit there constantly looking up words in a dictionary. That does not sound fun. But this should definitely read by anyone who likes old stories or Germanic legends. The story is timeless.
Not sure why but I’m interested in James Monroe. Maybe because he’s the last of the Revolutionary presidents, maybe it’s his “Era of Good Feeling”, or maybe it’s influenced by other thinks I’ve read, such as the biography of John Quincy. This sort of rounds out my books on presidents 1-6, skipping Madison because I find him distasteful, and only giving a glance to Jefferson. It’s a biography, so I’m sure we’ll start with the peaceful life of a Virginia plantation owner, go through a couple wars and Indian massacres, and have a short retirement before death. Let’s hope he’s a nice guy.
This was a pretty good biography. I feel like I learned about the man who I only had heard of tangentially, through his famous Doctrine or through other biographies. I think the book was a bit long and got sort of dull in parts, but that’s because there were a lot of little details. I guess extra details should be considered a good thing. It seems like there was a lot about his family in the book, but I couldn’t remember who was who by the end of it. Regardless, it’s a book for history lovers.
A cheap impulse buy, I like the Shakespeare title and enjoyed Fahrenheit 451. It seems like it’s more of a spooky type of book than a straight sci-fi. I don’t really know much else about it. Something about an evil carnival. Seems interesting.
This was a fun book to read. It’s not very long and it keeps things interesting the whole time. It also keeps things mysterious. There’s no big reveal or anything. We are still kept in the dark about the how and why. The writing style can be strange at times, but I think it’s just Bradbury’s way of trying to create an atmosphere and really project the thoughts of a 13 year old. Definitely a good book and could be read by any age, really. I’ll probably give it to my nephew next.
This is one of those books that somehow ended up in my downloads folder and I forgot about it. It’s an anthology of sort-of horror sort-of sci-fi stories. It’s fine overall. Some of the stories are creepy, some have an interesting atmosphere. There’s sex and vulgarity that seems a bit ham-handed and I could do without. Some of the stories seem to go nowhere and don’t have the payoff you’re expecting from the build up. Or they just have a confusing ending that doesn’t seem to make any sense. It was good enough for an author I’ve never heard of. I wouldn’t pay for it, but it’s worth at least picking at some of the tales.
This is an interesting historical topic. My understanding is that after Charlemagne died, his empire split amongst his sons. There was a western kingdom (France essentially), an eastern one (Germany essentially), and a middle kingdom (Alsace and Lorraine and others). Obviously today, there is no middle country between France and Germany. So this is a medieval tale about this middle region, called Lotharingia after the son of Charlemagne.
Didn’t care for it. The book is written like an anthology of stories that cover 1200 years or so and thus is very superficial. I think the author makes it clear that this is not to be taken as a serious objective historical work, and that’s fine. He throws little comments and personal stories throughout. The anthology style makes it difficult to keep track of what is happening when and where. The where brings me to my main complaint of books like this: not enough maps. 460 pages should have at least 20 pages of maps. The author also talks about various art things, which I found extremely boring. I don’t know what he’s talking about and without pictures I cannot relate. I refuse to look them up. I don’t recommend this book.
I’m pretty sure it’s about meat packers in Chicago, based on some real investigative journalism by Sinclair. Or maybe the meat packing was real and it's about factory workers. Should be interesting. I’m down for something anti-capitalist.
Great book. Sinclair does not shy away from describing the disgusting and depressing lives of the meat packers in Chicago. The saddest part is that most of these things were a reality; some of them probably still are. And it’s good socialist propaganda too. Everyone should read it.
Look down and you'll see I've read this author's book on the Battle of Hastings. It was good, so I wanted to see what else he has written. I do love English history. This is about the Civil War of 1139-1153 between the nephew and daughter of Henry I. I've read a little about this period but never anything specifically about it. Bradbury's books seem short but packed with information. This will be interesting.
Very good book. Not much else to say other than it’s well written, highly informative, and doesn’t drag on. Anyone who likes English history or medieval warfare should read Jim Bradbury’s books.
I’ve never read a Dostoyevsky (I will not spell it without the middle y). Everyone has good things to say about his books, so I think it will be good. I’ll start with his most famous one. I think I already know how it ends, however. That’s the price you pay for a reading a 150 year old book.
This is a great book and I definitely did NOT know how it ends ahead of time. What an ending. It is definitely an interesting book and keeps you wondering what the main character Raskolnikov will do next. I'm not sure if this is the intent, but for most of the book he is unlikable. Razumikhin is a much more likable character. The side characters are all very interesting people and Dostoyevsky gives us a lively view of St. Petersburg in the 1860s. I will definitely read more of his work.
I don’t really know what this is about. It’s another instance of downloading random things long ago. I guess it’s about moral philosophy. I’m not sure if I’m interested in that. Guess we’ll find out. It looks more like a critique on modern theory, so I probably won’t have the background knowledge required. Good luck to me.
Philosophy books aren’t for me. They go on and on and are just boring. What did I get out of it? Not much. It could’ve been interesting at half the length. Essentially, we modern people lack community and a common sense of justice or virtues, which the Greeks and early Christians would have had. That’s why we have all the political disagreements that never get resolved. The end.
This is some Anglo-Saxon history. Mercia was the main kingdom on the island before the Viking invasions and Wessex survived to dominate the island. This is the northern part of England. It’s a short book, probably because there are not many written records on the matter. Most of the Mercian written records would probably have been destroyed during the invasions. Most of the post-invasion stuff that survives is from the southern point of view. I’m skeptical that the author will be able to come up with a very detailed story for the 400 or so years it seems to cover, but I’m open minded. At least I will enjoy the subject, even if I have read it elsewhere before.
The book isn’t bad, but it suffers from a lack of an editor. The flow of each chapter is confusing and jumps around in time too much. It introduces a lot of people, who you are expected to remember pages later. Or, it talks about a person and then introduces them later. There’s also a lot of people who are mentioned once and never again. It confusing, especially since so many people share names and don’t have sort of surname. It also needs some sectioning. Each chapter just goes on for 20 pages. The information is interesting for the most part, but there are errors. It just needs an editor. And an appendix with family trees. And maps. Other than that, it’s fine.
I loved The Sun Also Rises, so I wanted to read some more Hemingway. This one is about an American in the Spanish Civil War, on the Republican side. We know how that ends up, so I have a feeling this will be a bit on the depressing side.
This is a fantastic book. I probably say that too much, but it’s true. Any story that has the great emotional impact that this one had on me is a book to be praised. You get over the weird pseudo-Spanish writing style pretty quickly and it becomes kind of endearing. The characters feel really alive, and even those who at first seem like minor side characters you begin to gain attachment to. That is a dangerous feeling to have in a war. I can’t compare it with The Sun Also Rises because they are such different settings and invoke different, yet similar and very human, feelings. I loved it.
I downloaded this years ago and am finally getting to it. It seems interesting. It is about exploring the origins of monotheism in Israel based on the original polytheism in the area. Where did this one god originate out of the many worshiped? It looks at what are called the Ugaritic Texts, which I guess are some ancient texts from a place in Syria in an extinct cousin of Hebrew and Aramaic. I hope it's not over my head.
This book is certainly for a more academic audience, especially those familiar with Semitic studies and the Hebrew Bible (and other ancient Hebrew writings). I am not of that background, so some of it was rather boring. It’s premise is interesting and I was curious to learn about the other Semitic cultures and polytheistic Israel. I enjoyed it, even if some points were a slog. I know I’m not the target audience, so that is not meant to detract from it. It’s 200 pages, took 12 or so hours to read.
As the tag line of the book says, it is about Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the strange change in conservatism in the mid-20th century. I never heard of this guy. My wife’s uncle lent me the book and suggested I read it. I am curious how this guy affected political belief and how they will link it to today.
It was alright. I think it could be at least 100 pages shorter. So much of it is just discussing the American climate and politics when it is supposed to be a biography about an individual and his society. Most people reading this will already know what happened in 20th century history. This probably would’ve been an interesting 2 hour documentary, but no so much as a 400 page book.
I have no idea where I got this weird little pamphlet from. It’s like 120 pages. I never heard of this guy, but it was probably a free download somewhere. It’s probably been on my computer since 2015. Anyway, it does not say economics anywhere on the cover, so that’s a good start. I do not know what a neoreactionary is, but it sounds smarmy. I’m hoping it’s more readable, but I don’t expect to like it.
This was readable and provides an interesting insight into the type of people who think our current state of affairs are so bad that only a return to monarchy will improve them. After the introduction to Hoppe, I thought it would be more Libertarian nonsense. The extreme Libertarians are dangerous. These guys are different, but I think the naivety of their views will lead to no one taking it seriously. The gist of the view is that only the noble blooded private ownership of land and power can bring the deviant man back to his God fearing place in society. There is no talk of “divine right”, but still of hereditary government. It's mostly silly. The only real argument they have is that most voters and too ignorant or easily persuaded to make good decisions. So improve the voting system and educate the voter. Anything else is either dangerous or fantasy.
Here. I think the gist of this book is why Democracy is bad and why Monarchy is good. There was another guy who wrote something similar, but I think this guy was “first”. I’m curious to see the arguments. Of course there are some valid fears about democracy, such as mob rule (e.g. French Revolution) or when a populist is elected (e.g. Trump). I would love to see the arguments for monarchy. Maybe he doesn’t advocate a hereditary autocrat, maybe he advocates a limited monarchy. We’ll see.
I can't read this garbage. The author is some sort of a neoliberal libertarian who makes all types of moronic assumptions. The man is an Austrian School fool of an economist who thinks of everything as a transaction. There is nothing human about his thinking. Don't waste your time, it sucks.
I was at Barnes & Noble for the first time in a year or two and this was an impulse buy. It’s hard to walk out of there with only the book you were looking for. The title says it all. The author looks like a weirder Paul Dano. It’s probably an easy read and I tend to lean this way anyway, but I’m curious and the baiting title hooked me.
This book is okay. I don't think I was the target audience, though I doubt any right wingers would pick up the book. Maybe if you're an Obama Democrat you might learn from it. It's not a bad book, it just doesn't leave me with anything I didn't have before. There's a lot of emotional appeal, a little bit of policy, and very little implementation of policy. One of the main problems people have with socialism is that they don't know how it would work and function. It seems that this was a critical absences. Even 10 or so pages about it would be a tremendous help to the book. Read it if you want. Or check out Current Affairs first and see if the author is someone you'd want to read.
Breaking up the heavier reading with some fiction. I feel like reading some Dickens. I’ve only read A Christmas Carol for pleasure. We read Great Expectations and probably Oliver Twist in high school, but I didn’t care and I don’t really remember it. I don’t really know what the book is about, maybe London and Paris? Something about poor people. Who knows, but it will probably be enjoyable and a little sad.
This is a very good book. It is interesting the entire time and there are small points that come up later in big ways. It is sad and there are several very emotional sections. The last 50 pages are fantastic and I just couldn’t put the book down. Dickens does not disappoint. Please read it.
All I know about this book is that it is about the medieval era and it is by Henry Adams. That is enough for me to read it. I like historical works, I don’t know if this strictly French or if it’s about a certain aspect of medieval times, but it doesn’t matter. I like Adams’ style from his autobiography and I’m sure I will enjoy this book. It is a partner to his Education and I wonder how exactly they will tie together.
It’s a pretty good book. Adams has a very enjoyable prose, though he does not always make the topic easy to read. Like in his Education, if there is something that he expects you to know, he does not tell you any background information. Granted, these books were written to certain individuals, not the mass market. There’s a lot of feeling in the book. Some of the architectural jargon is a slog, and the last couple chapters about churchmen and metaphysics are not my thing. It’s a good read and I learned about some interesting places. For anyone who has an interest in the Gothic or the medieval, it’s worth checking out.
I read On Liberty before and found it interesting. I bought this book when I was throwing money en masse away on Thriftbooks. Included in this are On Liberty, Utilitarianism, Considerations on Representative Government, and The Subjection of Women. I’ve read On Liberty, so will skip it, or possibly re-read it at the end. Utilitarianism is about the general happiness of society and should be interesting, as will be the essay on government. I have no idea what the one on women is about, other than he was probably against the subjection of them. It’s going to be heady read, so we’ll see how often I am in the mood for it.
Utilitarianism isn’t bad. It’s short for a philosophical work, but still dense and wordy. It can pretty much be summarized to say that the actions of humans are mean to increase happiness, and that actions as society should increase the general happiness of everyone. He spends a lot of time arguing people who may think this is a sort of degenerate “hedonism”, but Mill makes his point that this is not the case and that all philosophies point to making others happy. On the Subjugation of Women is interesting as a historical piece, but not relevant to modern America. Maybe it has some relevance, as men often look down upon women, especially when they are in a higher position. But I think that my generation, and more so the next, these hang-ups are dead or dying. Nevertheless, good on Mill for speaking up and sticking to his philosophy. Considerations on Representative Government is a good read. Typical of Mill or other philosophical writings, it is long winded and can be a slog, but I guess the excessive writing is a sign of passion. Mill is very much a fan of representative government and for improving it. Despite being 160 years old, many parts are still relevant. We still do not have a truly representative government in this country. Some of his theories I don’t agree with, and some I don’t haven’t settled on an opinion. In general, I agree with him and his theories of government. It is a good companion to On Liberty and Utilitarianism.
It’s an easy read of historical significance and Franklin has an entertaining writing style. I think it will be interesting to see early American society in a living way, Franklin being the son of a English immigrant. He was also, of course, a pivotal character in early Pennsylvanian government. This will certainly be biased against the proprietors of the state, but it will be interesting to see his takes nonetheless. It was written, or started, before the Revolution, which makes it all the more interesting. It is the life of an important British colonial, not a revolutionary.
The book was as I expected. Franklin is so famous that the majority of these stories are known even to children. It’s still a decent and easy read, and it’s nice to be thrown back into the living atmosphere of the colonial era.
Couple chapters from Princeton
Bought this one for my dad and now I’m reading it. It seems like an interesting topic and explores a couple different civilizations, such as Rome and the Maya. I think it’s pretty academic, which I’m cool with, and it’s only around 200 pages. If it’s a snooze, it won’t take long to read. I assume it will rely more on archaeology than the written record.
It’s an interesting read but doesn’t really say much for its length. The general idea is that societies collapse when they exist in a power vacuum and the diminishing returns of complexity become too much to bear. A drop in complexity is then an appropriate choice. It’s a interesting theory that is impossible to “prove”. You have to be really into to this stuff to slog through the book, though. Finishing the book is a diminishing return in itself.
This one’s been on my list for a while and it’s time to throw some fiction in the mix. Everyone knows it; it’s a very popular American novel that satires war. I’ve heard that its humor comes from the absurdity of the characters. We’ll see if I like it.
This is a fantastic book. I shouldn’t have put off reading it this long. It’s funny, strange, interesting, and depressing. It seamlessly travels through these different feelings and leaves the reader wondering how each section will end: in farce or in tragedy. Some of the parts of the book really broke me, I was expecting to feel so sad. It opens up in such a silly manner that the initial sadness when “real” aspects of war start peaking in caught me off guard. This may be one of the best books I’ve ever read and I cannot recommend it enough.
This is my dad’s book, I don’t know anything about it other than it’s about the Battle of Hastings. Apparently it’s 200 pages just about this one battle. Could be interesting. If not, at least it’s short. Seems the author has been writing about Anglo-French history for 50 years, and this is his 2nd book on Hastings. Maybe it’s some sort of reprint. Anyway, my English history has a bit of a blind spot between Edward the Confessor and Henry II.
Pretty sure this was a reprint from the 90s. It says it’s the author’s first book to be released in the US. I liked it. The author has an interesting style. It’s kind of as if he is debating some invisible person. The author seems like a highly educated man and passionate about this issue and I believe he is honest, not trying to force any particular historical view and admits when there are options and which one he prefers. The battle itself is only some 30 pages of the book near the end. The rest is background story that paints a vivid picture. I really came to sympathize with Harold Godwinson, a character I feel is usually seen as a usurper. I think I will check out some other stuff written by Bradbury.
I’ve read Dan Jones’ books on the Plantagenets and they’re pretty good. He’s a good author and seems thorough in his research. This book is about the sacking of Rome until some year in the 1500s. It’s divided in the 4 time periods, each receiving about 150 pages. It should be interesting. It’s ambitious to write about a thousand years of a continent in 600 pages, so I can’t imagine it will be incredibly detailed. It will be entertaining, nonetheless.
I liked the book, as I assumed I would. I like Jones’s writing style and he provides plenty of little stories that make the people of the Middle Ages come alive. The author knew he was being ambitious in writing 600 pages about 1000 years, but he pulls it off nonetheless. Obviously it not heavily detailed, but provides enough breadth that one can read further about any one topic they are interested in. There’s a few dull points here and there, but that’s entirely because of my personal interests. Others may find these chapters very interesting. Good book, check it out.
The subtitle of this book is Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers: 1804 – 2011. This should be an interesting read. I bought it for my dad some years ago and he just read it, and now lent it to me. I’ve never really looked into the Balkan countries outside of their relation to World War I, or the empires of Russia and Austria Hungary. Don’t be misled by the name Misha, the author is British. I was hoping more of an “inside” perspective, but that may be irrelevant. Note that the above link is for the first edition, which goes until 1999. I have the revised edition, which adds another chapter. Not sure if there are other changes.
The author spent a lot of time as a journalist in the Balkans writing for the BBC. It’s an okay book. The early history is kind of all over the place and could use some more structure. Writing about the entire Balkans may have been too big a job for one book. I probably will never read another book about the Balkans, so it might as well be this one.
This is a book that discusses both the patriots and loyalists during the American Revolution. I want to read it because I’m hoping it is not going to paint loyalists as “the bad guys” just because they are on the losing side. The general portrayal of the loyalist in America is as a traitor, and many of them left the country, so there are no defenders. Let’s see what type of portrayal the author will create.
This book was very boring. Most of the time it talked about George Washington. Outside of Washington, it had too much breadth and too little depth. The subtitle of the book is Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution. Maybe 10% of the book discusses the Loyalist side. I was very misled by this and got very little out of the book in consequence. There are much better biographies on George Washington. This book may be good if you’ve never read a history book, but other than that you’ll be wasting your time. I don’t recommend it.
This looks like a fairly short book. I don't really know much about the Wright Brothers other than the short bit of information you get in school. I'm not particularly interested in them, but I've read McCullough's 1776 and his presidents books. He's a good author, and if he can make 1000 pages on Truman digestible, I think this will be a pleasant read.
A short and easy read. It is interesting, though we’ll see how much will stick with me. I really do find the Wright Brothers’ lives interesting. It’s amazing how they accomplished so much essentially by will power. Of course, they had the mechanical skills necessary, but they were not engineers or scientists. They read and they observed and then they accomplished great things. It is inspiring and does bring up some emotion. Certainly worth a read.
I read Volume 2 last year and Volume 1 probably the year before that. They're good books, well written, but long. This one is 1000 pages, so it will probably take 4-5 months to read. It is dense material and cannot be read quickly, but I am happy to get some in-depth information on the end of the Civil War. Like most of the things I read, I didn't have a very good understanding of the history and wanted to learn more. Now I feel like I have a good understanding from the first two volumes, and this will round everything out.
Shelby Foote is a good author and this is a good book. There was a lot of material and Foote treats all theaters of the war with equal attention. Lee and Grant get a lot more detail, but there is a lot more information available about their struggle. It’s also fair to say that the Appomattox campaign signaled the end of the war, which even those in the moment understood to be true. Aside from the battles, it’s also a book about Lincoln and Davis, their actions, and the end of their lives. There is no real epilogue except about Davis, which is fitting because he more than anyone was a living incarnation of the Confederacy. If you have 3 years, read these books.
A book about Tecumseh and his brother, two Native Americans who were some sort of leaders in the years before the war of 1812. I've heard the names but really don't know much about them, what they did, or why it matters. I'm curious about the period and the people. I don't know what kind of written records exist, or how the author will portray the Native perspective.
Not a bad book. The time period was interesting, an era where the future of the North American tribes was unsettled and could still have ended in their favor. That adds to the melancholy of the book, knowing that Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa fail. It really did leave me feeling sad afterwards, even though I knew beforehand how it would end. I guess that means the author does a good job presenting their the information and the Indian viewpoint. The author is sympathetic to the Indians, but does not shy away from presenting their savage deeds or cruelty during war. The book has a lot of information, and I couldn’t retain all of it. There were a lot of tribes involved and little battles that mostly are forgotten to history (except Tippecanoe and Tyler too), and areas of the country I’ve never thought of let alone been to. More information is not a bad thing, I would probably just remember what I wanted to remember anyway. Overall, pretty good book. Probably the most comprehensive you’ll find on the grandiose dreams and tragic fall of Tecumseh and the Prophet.
I forgot to write about the book before I read it. It was a gift, not the type of book I'd buy myself. I doubt read many political books or books on contemporary issues. I especially wouldn't pick up a book on slavery. The book is not bad. It's easy reading and fairly iinteresting. I'm not sure who the target audience is, though. The book talks a lot about denying the true history of slavery and trying to show real stories from the past. I have the feeling that if you're reading this book, you are already familiar with the horrors of slavery. A white supremecist, or someone who thinks slavery "wasn't so terrible", would be very unlikely to pick up a book that challenges their world view. An person who is uneducated on history or reality probably isn't doing much reading to begin with. Regardless, it's not a bad book and can be read in 7 or so hours. If you want to read about a man's visits to slave sites and his interactions with people from various backgrounds on the topic, give it a chance.
Following up the book on Napoleon with War and Peace. I've read the first section before, but it was on Project Gutenberg or some other digital form. I got distracted by another book and never picked it back up. Now I'm borrowing a hard copy and have a deeper understanding of the time eproid and Russian culture in general. I think I will enjoy it.
I understand why this is considered one of the great books in history, though it is not exactly a novel. It begins as a novel and a historical fiction, but towards the second half and especially the end there are many sections with Tolstoy philosophizing. The novel aspect is good and interesting, though some of the parts describing military life were dull. That may have been the point, since it is a boring life with bits of combat. I think Tolstoy had a thing for military stories, as he also wrote Sevastopol about the Crimean War (which he saw firsthand). There are many characters, some of whom are hard to remember, others who are pretty one dimensional, but the main characters are very interesting. The philosophical parts can drag on a bit, but over all they are interesting and I liked reading Tolstoy's opinions on history and what drives nations. Definitely a good read.
My sister let me borrow this. I really know nothing about it. It's 5 or 6 short stories, maybe 120 pages total.
The stories were pretty good. They're very short and I wouldn't have minded if they went on a bit longer. I never heard of the author before, but she's worth a read.
This is a 12th or so century poem about a battle in Spain during the reign of Charlemagne. It has little historical accuracy. I decided to read it after reading about the character of Roland/Orlando in Bullfinch’s Mythology. His telling of the battle hit me, so I wanted to look up its source. It’s about 300 stanzas, so I read it instead of working. It’s not bad, but is a little repetitive and can’t compare with something like the Nibelungenlied. I think Bullfinch combined several stories into his telling, because there were some characters in his that were not in this specific poem. He probably wanted to combine the stories into a singular narrative, too. Overall, pretty good. Worth a read.
Nietzsche's philosphy about morality and virtue. I never read anything by Nietzsche. I've heard of this one and it was reasonably short, can be read in 10 hours or so. It didn't think I would like it. The first several chapters didn't do much for me. The last third is, in my opinion, the part worth reading. Chapters 6, 7, and 9 have some very intersting thoughts. Nietzsche is clearly a man who has no time for democracy or anything that would hurt the natural aristocracy of strong men. He has some good insights on the strong and weak will, the noble and ignoble way of thinking. I can't agree with everything he says, but I do like quite a bit of it. I will probably read some more of his work.
This is a fairly short book for a history book. It is apparently the 6th in the series "The Pelican History of England". I read quite a bit about English history, but 17th century is hazy for me. I read a short book on Cromwell once, but I don't really understand how the whole revolution and civil war started. Hopefully this will shed some light on that, the restoration, and the glorious revolution.
This is pretty good for such a short book. In 250 pages, it packs a lot of information. I want to say it gives a good overview, but it goes pretty in depth. Of course you can look further into specific events or reigns during the Stuart reign. I enjoyed it. I got what I wanted out of it, and I think it has given me more books to go out and read.
A book I'm reading over my lunch breaks. I wanted something on Napoleon and the post Revolution years after just finishing a book on the Revolution. I know a little about Napoleon going in, probably not much more than your average person. I've read a short book about his impact on foreign countries and the impact of his legal code. I'm interested to learn more of the rise to power, the military campaigns, and maybe some insight on his personality. I'm sure he will come off as ruthless and brutal with hints of enlightenment.
This was not a very good book. My first complaint is that the maps are horrendous. Rivers are barely visible, mountains are non-existent, no arrows to show movements, and there aren’t enough for the number of battles Napoleon fought. Second, there are some errors that should have easily been caught had it been proofread. Who knows how many errors there are that I couldn’t see out of my own ignorance. Third, which is not so much a complaint as an observation, the author really does not like Napoleon. I get it, he was responsible for a lot of horrible things, but lack of objectivity leads to an unprofessional quality of the book. And the last chapter of the book seems to be mostly speculation on Napoleon’s death. 20 years after the book has been written and this theory of poisoning is still not agreed upon. I do not recommend this book. There are certainly better books about Napoleon out there by now. You can probably skim Wikipedia and get more out of it.
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It's literally just a textbook about Russian history. Nothing narrative or fancy about it. It covers from about 1000BC to modern day, so it is a very general overview. I really don't know much about Russian history outside of the decades bookending World War I, so even the simplest coverage will be new to me. Russia is pretty easy to overlook in Western European history until the 19th century, especially when compared to countries like England, France, or even Austria.
Now that I've finished this, I feel that I have a wider understanding of Russia and its history. Obviously this was a text book and some parts were dry, but it is a good overview. There is room to delve deeper in more specfic ares of interest. I will probably look further into the revolutionary and early Soviet years, and some of the works of the early Communist leaders. I found the medieval history interesting, but I doubt you could find much deeper works in an era where the comtemporary writings are sparse. I've also been meaning to read some of the 19th century Russian authors and this has given me a push to start that.
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