This book's full title is "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants" by Malcolm Gladwell. I have read his other books. I must admit I was intrigued with them at first, but I was very disenchanted with What the Dog Saw, that I did not even review the book.
I bought this book because I had enjoyed some of the others books Malcolm Gladwell had written. But then I saw an interesting and very negative review in CanTech on Malcolm and this book. There is also another very negative review in Economist. There is an interesting review of this book at Kottke.org.
I do not believe that his popularity confers any great responsibility on him. It would seem to me that he is just trying to make a living by bring to light some suggestive research on various topics. I got bored with his last book called "What the Dog Saw", but found this one an enjoyable and easy read. I know that it is not great reading or great research.
I pretty much take it for what it is. I see no harm in it if you take it for what it is and that is probably just pop science. Malcolm Gladwell brings up interesting little tidbits about human behavior.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Gladwell. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Beware the Dragon by Erik Durschmied
This book's full title is "Beware the Dragon, China: 1,000 Years of Bloodshed". I found this book quite fascinating to read. I also found it very easy to read. The book starts in 1218, so it does not quite cover 1,000 years. Also, Durschmied starts the book off with the attacks on Europe by the Mongols. The Mongols were not Chinese and they did not control China until after the first attacks in Europe happened.
After the Mongols attacks on Europe and the Middle East, he goes on to talk about the advantage Europeans took of China after they discovered it. This was hardly China's fault. The next was about Japan's conquest of China. He does go on to talk about China's conquest of Tibet and there certainly China was awful and still suppresses the Tibetan people.
He also covers the USSR and China relationship, including the Chinese attack on the USSR at their mutual border supposedly over an island in the Ussuri River. He also relates China's effort to contact and make diplomatic relations with the US in 1971. He does cover a fair bit of ground in his book.
I know from reading history that China was not well liked by the peoples of around them, especially South East Asia when China was powerful. However, this was not much different that the South American's attitude to America.
There is a great book review in 2008, which this book was written, in the Guardian by John Gittings. He reviews not only this book but a number of "Dragon" books written in 2008 just before the China Olympics. Telegraph by Nicholas Shakespeare is a critical review of this book. I must admit I found the book interesting and easy to read, but I understand his criticism.
Erick has an entry in Wikipedia. There is not much in the way of videos for Durschmied. However, there is a TVO film of "Finding Fidel: The Journey of Erik Durschmied" he started his extraordinary career by interviewing a young Fidel Castro on the eve of the Cuban revolution.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Durschmied. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
After the Mongols attacks on Europe and the Middle East, he goes on to talk about the advantage Europeans took of China after they discovered it. This was hardly China's fault. The next was about Japan's conquest of China. He does go on to talk about China's conquest of Tibet and there certainly China was awful and still suppresses the Tibetan people.
He also covers the USSR and China relationship, including the Chinese attack on the USSR at their mutual border supposedly over an island in the Ussuri River. He also relates China's effort to contact and make diplomatic relations with the US in 1971. He does cover a fair bit of ground in his book.
I know from reading history that China was not well liked by the peoples of around them, especially South East Asia when China was powerful. However, this was not much different that the South American's attitude to America.
There is a great book review in 2008, which this book was written, in the Guardian by John Gittings. He reviews not only this book but a number of "Dragon" books written in 2008 just before the China Olympics. Telegraph by Nicholas Shakespeare is a critical review of this book. I must admit I found the book interesting and easy to read, but I understand his criticism.
Erick has an entry in Wikipedia. There is not much in the way of videos for Durschmied. However, there is a TVO film of "Finding Fidel: The Journey of Erik Durschmied" he started his extraordinary career by interviewing a young Fidel Castro on the eve of the Cuban revolution.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Durschmied. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Invisible Armies by Max Boot
This book's full title is "Invisible Armies, An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present". I must admit that I found this book a fascinating read. It is well written and a very good and easy read. The Romans were defeated by barbarians or irregular troops. Nomadic empires could inflict catastrophic costs on established states.
In fact irregular fighting goes back to tribal warfare. There seldom anything new under the sun. One thing that I did find very interesting is when Max Boot talked about the French in Algiers compared with the English in Malaysia.
Max Book has his own web site. He has written some very interesting articles. One article is about the case form cutting off aid to Egypt and another is a blog entry about what is being done to protect the Copts in Egypt.
There is a short review of this book on the Foreign Affairs web site. There is a much longer and more interesting review at the New York Times by Mark Mazower.
Gary Rosen of the Wall Street Journal does a short interview (6 minutes) with Max Boot Max Boot. Also Max Boot gives an interesting speech at Pritzker Military Library. He talks after introduction for about 35 minutes and then there is Q & A period.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Boot. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
In fact irregular fighting goes back to tribal warfare. There seldom anything new under the sun. One thing that I did find very interesting is when Max Boot talked about the French in Algiers compared with the English in Malaysia.
Max Book has his own web site. He has written some very interesting articles. One article is about the case form cutting off aid to Egypt and another is a blog entry about what is being done to protect the Copts in Egypt.
There is a short review of this book on the Foreign Affairs web site. There is a much longer and more interesting review at the New York Times by Mark Mazower.
Gary Rosen of the Wall Street Journal does a short interview (6 minutes) with Max Boot Max Boot. Also Max Boot gives an interesting speech at Pritzker Military Library. He talks after introduction for about 35 minutes and then there is Q & A period.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Boot. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Big Shift by Bricker, Ibbitson
This book's full title is "The Big Shift, The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business and Culture and What it means for Our Future". This book is by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson. I seldom read books on Canadian Politics as politics in general do not interest me all that much. However, I had realized when Harper first got elected that it was because Ontario voted with the West.
For most of Canadian history I knew that for a government to get into power, it had to have votes by Ontario and Quebec. When Ontario and Quebec voted together you got a majority federal government. But things have been changing with the rise of the Bloc Quebecois and the rise of the West. The West has been wanted to get in for a long time. With Harper they did get in.
I found interesting that 20% of our populations were immigrants. This is quite high. However, what is more interesting is where these immigrants are with 3% in Nova Scotia, 11.5% in Quebec, but 28% of population of in British Columbia and Ontario. With some 70% of our population living in urban areas, it is hardly a surprise that a large portion of our immigrants also live in urban areas.
The Literary Review site of Canada has a review of this book by Yuen Pau Woo. I have read quite a bit of Canadian History and I also do not remember any elite group being called "Laurentians" either in the form of Laurentian elite or Laurentian consensus. I find this the best review. She questions some of the assumptions of the book and I think she is right to do so.
The iPolitics Site also have a very interesting and insightful review by Colin Horgan. There is also a review in the National Post by Mark Kennedy. This is more a review of what the books says rather than an assessment of what the book says.
John Ibbitson and Darrell Bricker on their book at Canadian Bar Association cba.org. This is a question and answer type interview. There is a short interview of Bricker on City News.
And, finally, what I found a very interesting part of the book was about the Atlantic Canadian Reality Distortion Field by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson. It talks about how Atlantic Canada thinks that the money transfer from west to east via Employment Insurance is very Canadian and logically and see nothing wrong with part time workers collecting money from the plan every year. This is a very worthwhile read.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Bricker. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
For most of Canadian history I knew that for a government to get into power, it had to have votes by Ontario and Quebec. When Ontario and Quebec voted together you got a majority federal government. But things have been changing with the rise of the Bloc Quebecois and the rise of the West. The West has been wanted to get in for a long time. With Harper they did get in.
I found interesting that 20% of our populations were immigrants. This is quite high. However, what is more interesting is where these immigrants are with 3% in Nova Scotia, 11.5% in Quebec, but 28% of population of in British Columbia and Ontario. With some 70% of our population living in urban areas, it is hardly a surprise that a large portion of our immigrants also live in urban areas.
The Literary Review site of Canada has a review of this book by Yuen Pau Woo. I have read quite a bit of Canadian History and I also do not remember any elite group being called "Laurentians" either in the form of Laurentian elite or Laurentian consensus. I find this the best review. She questions some of the assumptions of the book and I think she is right to do so.
The iPolitics Site also have a very interesting and insightful review by Colin Horgan. There is also a review in the National Post by Mark Kennedy. This is more a review of what the books says rather than an assessment of what the book says.
John Ibbitson and Darrell Bricker on their book at Canadian Bar Association cba.org. This is a question and answer type interview. There is a short interview of Bricker on City News.
And, finally, what I found a very interesting part of the book was about the Atlantic Canadian Reality Distortion Field by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson. It talks about how Atlantic Canada thinks that the money transfer from west to east via Employment Insurance is very Canadian and logically and see nothing wrong with part time workers collecting money from the plan every year. This is a very worthwhile read.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Bricker. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
The Conquest of the Ocean by Brian Lavery
This book's full title is "The conquest of the Ocean: An Illustrated History of Seafaring" by Brian Lavery. Brian Lavery has his own web site.
This book has little outside of how the western world interacted with the ocean. It briefly talks about the Polynesian and the Pacific Ocean and Zheng He of Chinese fame. But I doubt of anyone in the western world has not heard of these sailors. One thing I did learn that I had not heard much about was the US military attacks by ship in the War of Independence. This was quite an interesting part of the book.
The book is easy to read and has lots of nice illustrations. You can learn things about boats and ships you may not know. It is a good book for what it covers. Brian Lavery is a naval historian.
There is a number of book reviews on this book at Good Reads. Most readers liked the book and lots commented on the lovely illustrations. There is also a review on the Literature works Literature Works site. Most of the reviews I found were quite short.
Some even mention some of the books short-comings, like on History Extra site. They mention that most of the book covers the period from 1450 to the present.
On YouTube there are short videos of Brian Lavery discussing points about his book. Go to the first one and you should be able to access the rest from that page. You can also access these videos from DK's YouTube site.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Lavery. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
This book has little outside of how the western world interacted with the ocean. It briefly talks about the Polynesian and the Pacific Ocean and Zheng He of Chinese fame. But I doubt of anyone in the western world has not heard of these sailors. One thing I did learn that I had not heard much about was the US military attacks by ship in the War of Independence. This was quite an interesting part of the book.
The book is easy to read and has lots of nice illustrations. You can learn things about boats and ships you may not know. It is a good book for what it covers. Brian Lavery is a naval historian.
There is a number of book reviews on this book at Good Reads. Most readers liked the book and lots commented on the lovely illustrations. There is also a review on the Literature works Literature Works site. Most of the reviews I found were quite short.
Some even mention some of the books short-comings, like on History Extra site. They mention that most of the book covers the period from 1450 to the present.
On YouTube there are short videos of Brian Lavery discussing points about his book. Go to the first one and you should be able to access the rest from that page. You can also access these videos from DK's YouTube site.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Lavery. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Thinking the Twentieth Century, Judt, Snyder
The co-authors of this book are Tony Judt and Timothy Snyder. The book is written as a discussion between Tony Judt and Timothy Snyder. It is obviously a very left wing view of history, but it is a lively and interesting discussion. However, the discussion is about mostly Europe. It does touch on US, but mainly it is a discussion of Europe, so the scope is rather narrow.
I had not known about the Europe too much in the 20th century and the fact that it took until 1970 for Western Europe to get back to the same level of prosperity that they had in 1914. Basically, Western Europe suffered a 60 year decline marked by 2 world wars and unprecedented economic depression.
The book also dwells a bit on the European Jewish question. Tony Judt is Jewish and he grew up in Europe so this is not a surprising subject. Mostly nothing in the book is new and surprising to me. However, I have read a lot of history, so this maybe why.
The Guardian has a great review of this book .
See Timothy Snyder talk about this book at Cornell University. This lecture is part of a series of talks at the university called Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series at Einaudi Center's. It is rather long at 1 hour and 20 minutes. Timothy Snyder starts to speak about 8 minutes into this video. Timothy Snyder's lecture last until just after 51 minutes and then there is questions and answers period.
There is an interview with New York Times Journalist Tony Judt . It is quite interesting and is just over 7 minutes long. There is also an interesting question and answer period at Boston College in 2007.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Judt. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
I had not known about the Europe too much in the 20th century and the fact that it took until 1970 for Western Europe to get back to the same level of prosperity that they had in 1914. Basically, Western Europe suffered a 60 year decline marked by 2 world wars and unprecedented economic depression.
The book also dwells a bit on the European Jewish question. Tony Judt is Jewish and he grew up in Europe so this is not a surprising subject. Mostly nothing in the book is new and surprising to me. However, I have read a lot of history, so this maybe why.
The Guardian has a great review of this book .
See Timothy Snyder talk about this book at Cornell University. This lecture is part of a series of talks at the university called Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series at Einaudi Center's. It is rather long at 1 hour and 20 minutes. Timothy Snyder starts to speak about 8 minutes into this video. Timothy Snyder's lecture last until just after 51 minutes and then there is questions and answers period.
There is an interview with New York Times Journalist Tony Judt . It is quite interesting and is just over 7 minutes long. There is also an interesting question and answer period at Boston College in 2007.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Judt. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Cooked by Michael Pollan
This book's full title is "Cooked - A Natural History of Transformation". This is an absolutely wonderful book as all Michael Pollan's books are. You do not need to be a cook to thoroughly enjoy this book. All you need is a sense of wonder and an appetite for food. He interestingly divides in book into cooking methods of fire, water, air and earth. Michael Pollan has an interesting approach to food that makes his books must read books.
Here is the Facebook page for the Skylight Inn run by Pete Jones. Here is a site that shows a picture of the Skylight Inn as described in this book.
In 'Cooked,' Michael Pollan Reclaims Culture of Cooking, an interview on PBS News Hour on YouTube. This is a longer (over 1 hour) video of Michael Pollan talking about food at UC Berkeley. Michael starts talking about 3 minutes into the video. Michael Pollan talks about Deep Agriculture YouTube by Fora.TV. This is also a rather long video of over 1 hour.
Michael Pollan: A plant's-eye view at TED. This is an older video, dated 2008, but a wonderful point to be made about life.
Michael Pollan Takes on Cooking video is at THNKR. Michael and a number of people talk about this book "Cooked". Navigating the Supermarket Aisles with Michael Pollan and Michael Moss by The New York Times. This video is showing a short conversation between Michael Pollan and Michael Moss at a supermarket. (They found Yoghurt with more sugar in it than pop has!)
10 Questions with Michael Pollan is a Times video about food. This was done just after Michael Pollan published his book "Food Rules".
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Pollan. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Here is the Facebook page for the Skylight Inn run by Pete Jones. Here is a site that shows a picture of the Skylight Inn as described in this book.
In 'Cooked,' Michael Pollan Reclaims Culture of Cooking, an interview on PBS News Hour on YouTube. This is a longer (over 1 hour) video of Michael Pollan talking about food at UC Berkeley. Michael starts talking about 3 minutes into the video. Michael Pollan talks about Deep Agriculture YouTube by Fora.TV. This is also a rather long video of over 1 hour.
Michael Pollan: A plant's-eye view at TED. This is an older video, dated 2008, but a wonderful point to be made about life.
Michael Pollan Takes on Cooking video is at THNKR. Michael and a number of people talk about this book "Cooked". Navigating the Supermarket Aisles with Michael Pollan and Michael Moss by The New York Times. This video is showing a short conversation between Michael Pollan and Michael Moss at a supermarket. (They found Yoghurt with more sugar in it than pop has!)
10 Questions with Michael Pollan is a Times video about food. This was done just after Michael Pollan published his book "Food Rules".
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Pollan. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
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