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- The Origins of the Second World War by A.J.P. Taylor — 1 comments
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Al Singh
Author's posts
Sep 18 2013
The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor
The writing and the research of this book is first rate, but still, reading endless accounts of the orgy of mass rape committed by the Red Army in 1945 is quite disheartening. Stalin from the beginning intended that the Soviet army would reach Berlin before the Western Allies, but he deliberately misled Churchill and Eisenhower …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/09/18/the-fall-of-berlin-1945-by-antony-beevor/
Sep 04 2013
An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson
This book goes a long way toward dismissing the notion that America’s triumph in World War II was inevitable. Operation Torch in North Africa was full of mistakes and setbacks for the Allies, with generals blaming each other for failures and British and Americans viewing each other with contempt and mistrust. The French, contrary to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/09/04/an-army-at-dawn-by-rick-atkinson/
Aug 30 2013
Dickens, Dali, and Others by George Orwell
Aside from a couple of masterpieces that everyone is familiar with, most of Orwell’s fiction is not very good. His essays, however, are nothing short of brilliant. Most of these were written shortly before, during, or shortly after World War II, and even though the subjects are mostly literary his arguments are quite political, in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/08/30/dickens-dali-and-others-by-george-orwell/
Jun 19 2013
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The biography of Steve Jobs is a study in how a complete asshole can nevertheless be a powerful force for good in the world. It is also a study in successful executive management and business leadership. Jobs was not an engineer; he did not personally design or build any of the hardware or software at …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/06/19/steve-jobs-by-walter-isaacson/
Jun 18 2013
Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez
This book offers a story relevant to current political issues as well as a peek into what the warfare of the future may look like. Americans are by now used to drone warfare; that is, drone warfare conducted by US. But what happens when the United States government is no longer the sole operator of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/06/18/kill-decision-by-daniel-suarez/
Jun 15 2013
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
In this memoir, which one gathers is at least semi-non-fictional, Orwell takes a voluntary excursion into poverty to see how the other half lives. He accepts most of the miseries of dire poverty with literary good humor, but all of this in the end is grist for his socialist mill. He seems genuinely indignant that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/06/15/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london-by-george-orwell/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/04/21/a-distant-mirror-by-barbara-tuchman/
Apr 14 2013
The House of Medici by Christopher Hibbert
Could the Italian Renaissance have flourished without the Medici to finance it? This book supports Will Durant’s argument that art may be the flower of civilization, but money is the root. Yet apart from a few shining stars in the Medici family, the story is mostly one of decline that illustrates how utterly useless Europe’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/04/14/the-house-of-medici-by-christopher-hibbert/
Apr 13 2013
A Republic, Not an Empire by Patrick Buchanan
Whatever the merits of Buchanan’s arguments may be, and I believe they are considerable, this book is a refreshing trip through American history. His arguments for non-interventionism seem particularly wise and prescient in light of the fact that this book was written before the Iraq War. And he has caused me to think of World …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/04/13/a-republic-not-an-empire-by-patrick-buchanan/
Mar 22 2013
Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?
Pat Buchanan makes a lot of sense, and on many points I am in agreement with him. But on one point I disagree with him profoundly. Christianity is not the sole property of white people of European descent; the Kingdom of God is open to people of all nations. Like Buchanan, I am concerned that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/03/22/suicide-of-a-superpower-will-america-survive-to-2025/