I read a book or two... when I get to it.
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I loved Mike’s History of Rome podcast but it focuses heavily on the Imperial period. This text zooms in on the turbulent final centuries of the Republic and is a lovely treatment of it. It is a swirl of names and events all threaded expertly by the author.
Great fundamentals here from Stephens, who was living in Dublin during the rising and gives you a day for day account of what the ordinary person knew and didn’t. He then goes on to speak about what it was to be Irish in those days from his perspective. #book #BookReview.
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became “the Accidental President,” it was …
A good pop history of the personalities and events surrounding the impeachment of Andy "The Accident" Johnson and his ultimate acquittal at the first ever presidential impeachment trial. I definitely learned things I did not know regarding the reasons why he was impeached in the first place. His behavior was worse than I knew (and I knew a lot previously) but they impeached on a technicality. Like putting Capone up for tax evasion. Lesson observed... don't nominate a Veep just for votes if they're a sociopath.
A good pop history of the personalities and events surrounding the impeachment of Andy "The Accident" Johnson and his ultimate acquittal at the first ever presidential impeachment trial. I definitely learned things I did not know regarding the reasons why he was impeached in the first place. His behavior was worse than I knew (and I knew a lot previously) but they impeached on a technicality. Like putting Capone up for tax evasion. Lesson observed... don't nominate a Veep just for votes if they're a sociopath.
A former Commander in Chief during the Vietnam War examines official documents, dispatches, and high-level …
An easy read, only 271 pages of actual narrative. I recommend it to folks interested in Vietnam war history, and history of air power in war in general.
Always interesting to hear "from the horse's mouth" so to speak. Admiral Ulysses Simpson Grant Sharp Jr. (grand-nephew of his namesake the President and Civil War General) brings forward a first person tale about how the civilian and military leadership of the US fought the war in Vietnam. He was the Commander in Chief of all US forces in the Pacific and served from 64-68 in that role.
Most history I've encountered of this period focuses on the life of the fighting men (mostly men then) and less on the strategic context. The Admiral puts you in the chain of command between Secretary McNamara and the combat forces in theater and discusses his view as the conflict progressed. The crux …
An easy read, only 271 pages of actual narrative. I recommend it to folks interested in Vietnam war history, and history of air power in war in general.
Always interesting to hear "from the horse's mouth" so to speak. Admiral Ulysses Simpson Grant Sharp Jr. (grand-nephew of his namesake the President and Civil War General) brings forward a first person tale about how the civilian and military leadership of the US fought the war in Vietnam. He was the Commander in Chief of all US forces in the Pacific and served from 64-68 in that role.
Most history I've encountered of this period focuses on the life of the fighting men (mostly men then) and less on the strategic context. The Admiral puts you in the chain of command between Secretary McNamara and the combat forces in theater and discusses his view as the conflict progressed. The crux of his message is that the US political leadership did not process well the lessons of the armistice negotiations with North Korea. He plays that out by discussing the ineffective use of American air power throughout the conflict including the self imposed limitation on use on strategic warmaking targets.
This book, written in 1979, was clearly read by a later generation of American military minds as many of the lessons observed here appear, to me, to have been learned very well. Not that there weren't other hard lessons yet to be observed...
This brilliantly argued new perspective on the Civil War overturns the popular conception that Abraham …
I recommend it. Much of the pop history written about the Civil War focuses on battles and generals, but the story about how Congress fought the war is just as compelling. Bordewich builds the story into a narrative that weaves seamlessly with the external events driving the country and the war. From the secession crisis to the Impeachment of Johnson it's quite a tale.
You really get to know some of the main characters of the age: Pitt Fessenden, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Franklin Wade, et al. Lincoln gets a lot of the limelight in other texts, but the Congress had to keep the lights on and figure out how to function as well as push the nation forward.
I recommend it. Much of the pop history written about the Civil War focuses on battles and generals, but the story about how Congress fought the war is just as compelling. Bordewich builds the story into a narrative that weaves seamlessly with the external events driving the country and the war. From the secession crisis to the Impeachment of Johnson it's quite a tale.
You really get to know some of the main characters of the age: Pitt Fessenden, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Franklin Wade, et al. Lincoln gets a lot of the limelight in other texts, but the Congress had to keep the lights on and figure out how to function as well as push the nation forward.
This text attempts to encapsulate the United States relationship and competition with the People’s Republic of China. It uses all kinds of authoritative texts as sources. I am often one who wishes to read primary sources, but in this case, I think the reader benefits significantly from being able to have all of these primary sources summarized. Anybody looking for a pretty thorough analysis of the competition between these two nations historically and extrapolations about the future would do well to read it.
Content warning I talk about the plot a bit... nothing outlandishly spoiling
Do I recommend: Yes, if you like sci-fi, if you don't ... you should.
I was browsing the stacks at my library and looking for those lovely blue "Science Fiction" stickers found on volumes of that ilk. Many SciFi authors on the shelf are prolific and have over their careers produced many works which are on the shelves, but this one stood alone. Its clever title also stood alone in ALL CAPS.
I enjoyed the plot, the characters, the style of writing. It's all a fantastic modern work of art. It may be that K just hits my brain in the sweet spot or maybe it's a fantastic novel. Either way, I recommend it!
The plot centers around characters from one dimension very similar to our own who are marooned here in our world as refugees. Think the 1990's TV show "Sliders" but there are more than 150k of them and they can't go back. Their world, it's culture, the people, the technology are tenuously linked to this world by their memories, and the items they brought with them here. These refugees react in very human ways and the author explores their emotions and the limits of their adaptability to their new home.
Just started this one... a real page turner so far.
Although not quoted directly in this text, Art 1 Sec 1 of the Constitution of the PRC weighs heavily over this text. "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. "
This is a great primer for the way the party/state/economy of China functions and how the party maintains that "leadership" across the years.
Although not quoted directly in this text, Art 1 Sec 1 of the Constitution of the PRC weighs heavily over this text. "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. "
This is a great primer for the way the party/state/economy of China functions and how the party maintains that "leadership" across the years.
This text is a hyper detailed accounting of the events of the assassination of JFK and the days before & after. I was transported... and consequently I feel as though I can now share in some of the original emotion and shock of the world at this tragedy.
One of the great things about the text is the diagrams of the key locations which help you build a firmer mental picture of the events.
From New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove, the modern master of alternate history, a novel of alien contact set …
Journalist Adam Higginbotham’s definitive, years-in-the-making account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster—and a powerful …
Lots of details and insight. Worth the read.
A history of the first millennium of the Roman Empire.
Dr. Mary Beard ( DBE, FSA, FBA, FRSL) brings together in this small volume an immense amount of history. I have been exposed to a fair amount of Roman history in dribs and drabs over the years, but this narrative brings it all together from what we know of the kings, through the republic and empire until the 1.0 version of the empire created by Octavian ceased to be what it once was after a dozen first citizens.
My favorite piece of this is the up to date (to 2015) scholarship and archeology and what it tells us about the everyday human beings who lived in that world. A pleasure to consume
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a …
Angelou's quote about knowledge and action that I borrowed for the title of this review was not quoted during this text, (as far as I can recall) however it was on the top of my mind throughout my reading of it. Part of being able to make a just society is to educate the ignorant portions of that society to the the injustices inherent in it. This text does that. My own ignorance of the depth of inequality in the US, established and perpetuated by the self interest of the powerful as expressed through racist policy was vast. This compilation of great work inspires me to dig deeper, and to do more.
Angelou's quote about knowledge and action that I borrowed for the title of this review was not quoted during this text, (as far as I can recall) however it was on the top of my mind throughout my reading of it. Part of being able to make a just society is to educate the ignorant portions of that society to the the injustices inherent in it. This text does that. My own ignorance of the depth of inequality in the US, established and perpetuated by the self interest of the powerful as expressed through racist policy was vast. This compilation of great work inspires me to dig deeper, and to do more.
