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Al Singh
Author's posts
Apr 06 2012
Hollywood by Charles Bukowski
Before I discuss the book, a word about Bukowski. Bukowski has a way of making it seem that a life of sin is good for your soul and that people who live virtuous lives are dull people with dead souls. I am rather skeptical of this philosophy, but every time I read about his adventures …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/04/06/hollywood-by-charles-bukowski/
Mar 06 2012
‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
It is refreshing to read a novel about vampires in which vampires are scary monsters and not romantic sex symbols. This book is a good creepy read, and even though it is only the second novel King wrote, it is clearly one of his finest. The only flaw is that it goes on for a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/03/06/salems-lot-by-stephen-king/
Feb 20 2012
Napoleon by Frank McLynn
This is the best and most balanced biography of Napoleon I have read so far. It contains much excellent scholarship and critical commentary; however, it also contains a lot of amateur Freudian analysis that is pure rubbish. While I am neither a warmonger nor an imperialist, I find it hard to read a biography of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/02/20/napoleon-by-frank-mclynn/
Feb 15 2012
Christianity and Culture by T.S. Eliot
This collection of essays was written on the eve of World War II, but the question it poses is highly relevant for our time, particularly for people like me: what role, if any, should Christianity play in a modern democracy? In what way is Christianity connected to contemporary culture, and in what ways should it …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/02/15/christianity-and-culture-by-t-s-eliot/
Feb 02 2012
A Brief History of the Cold War by Colonel John Hughes-Wilson
The author argues that the Cold War’s beginning was not in 1945 but in 1917. Some of his other judgments are even more controversial. He reveals that the Cuban missile crisis was not the only time during the Cold War when the United States went on DEFCON 3 alert, he believes Diem’s assassination in Vietnam …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/02/02/a-brief-history-of-the-cold-war-by-colonel-john-hughes-wilson/
Jan 09 2012
A History of Warfare by John Keegan
This is Keegan’s best work. In most of his works he analyzes the science of warfare; in this book he also analyzes the psychology and culture of warfare. He takes exception from the beginning with Clausewitz’s dictum that war is politics by other means, and shows with ample evidence from history that war often is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/01/09/a-history-of-warfare-by-john-keegan/
Jan 07 2012
The Spanish Inquisition by Joseph Perez
The author is obviously a committed Catholic. In this book he soft-pedals the Spanish Inquisition, arguing that it was bad, but really not as bad as all that. He argues that originally the aim of the Inquisition was not to eliminate Jews but merely to eliminate Judaism…a distinction that Jews will probably not appreciate. He …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/01/07/the-spanish-inquisition-by-joseph-perez/
Jan 05 2012
The Reformation by Diarmaid McCulloch
The first time I read this book I didn’t think much of it, but on rereading it I found it a rich source of information, analysis, and commentary. If there is a single theme throughout this history, it is the way in which a passion for God usually leads to a ferocious hatred of anyone …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/01/05/the-reformation-by-diarmaid-mcculloch/
Nov 03 2011
Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran by Elaine Sciolino
I cannot praise this book too highly. I have read other books on modern Iran, but this book gives a much more detailed, complex, and fascinating look at what life in Iran is actually like. The author paints a picture of a vibrant and spirited people struggling desperately against a hated theocracy, and a theocracy …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/11/03/persian-mirrors-the-elusive-face-of-iran-by-elaine-sciolino/
Oct 25 2011
War and Our World by John Keegan
This is a very thoughtful and rational analysis of a very diabolical subject. Keegan acknowledges that war has evolved into something so terrible that it is to be avoided at all costs, but at the same time argues that war and preparedness for war remain unfortunate necessities in the fallen world in which we live. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/10/25/war-and-our-world-by-john-keegan/