What Book Are You Reading? Volume 9

[Sicarius]

At the moment, I read "The betrayed fleet".

 

[Imperialmajesty]

The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card and In Death Ground by Steve White and David Weber.

 

[Dachs]

Finished Transformation of European Politics, boldly moving forth into Franz Szabo's The Seven Years War in Europe (already finding him a bit partisan for my tastes, but then again I suppose it's better than Duffy's Friedrich II hero-worship) and Peter Wilson's The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy. Haven't finished Strachan yet because I left his book in my apartment when I went home for the long weekend.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I just ordered three books of a four-book series called "The Industrialization of Soviet Russia." The books are as follows:

The Socialist Offensive
The Soviet Collective Farm, 1929-1930
The Soviet Economy in Turmoil, 1929-1930
Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931-1933

The fourth book I did not buy because the cheapest I can find it is more than $100.

 

[Tycho Brahe]

Anne Rice: The Tale of the Body Thief

Slightly disappointing.

 

[Pokurcz]

The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card and In Death Ground by Steve White and David Weber.

The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card is a greate book! I still remember whole blotches of it after more than ten years.

 

[Babbler]

I've read a couple of books that I've now forgotten about now .

Right now, I'm reading Right Honourable Men by Micheal Bliss, a book of mini-biographies of the important Prime Minister of Canada (Macdonald, Laurier, Borden, Meighen & Bennett, Mackenzie King, King again, Diefenbaker, Pearson, Trudeau, Mulroney and Chretien) .

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Just finished The Russian Civil War by Evan Mawdseley, now moving on to Social Construction of International Politics by Ted Hopf.

I've totally changed my mind about what I'm reading. Now its Geoffrey Hosking - The First Socialist Society: a History of the Soviet Union from Within. Its basically a history of the USSR, but it ignores international politics and, for the most part, national leaders. You might call it a conglomerate of people's history, cultural history, and domestic policy. Should be really cool.

The Savage Wars of Peace, Max Boot

Kind of boring, but a good book. Talks about alot of America's lesser known conflicts and "small wars." Some good tie ins to whats going on today.

Have you ever read Bellavia's book House to House? My friend keeps recommending it to me every time we start talking about Iraq or really any infantry type of situation. I've read a few pages when I picked it up one day, and it looks really cool.

On another note, I also have a book called A Savage War of Peace, but its about the 1954-63 Algerian War.

 

[Cutlass]

Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future. by Will Bunch

http://www.amazon.com/Tear-Down-This-Myth-Distorted/dp/141659762X

Spoiler :

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In an attempt to challenge the legend that has sprung up around Ronald Reagan's presidency over the past decade, Bunch, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, argues that the Reagan myth is dangerous because, unlike other American presidents held up as heroes, like Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, reverence for Reagan did not emerge organically. Rather, the GOP hatched the Reagan myth, feeding it to the news media for purposes that were essentially partisan in nature... pulling off a maneuver that was unprecedented in American history. The result has been a simplified reconstruction of Reagan, from far from universally popular president to the man who ended the Cold War and spurred unprecedented economic growth. Bunch contends Reagan was responsible for neither, at least not singlehandedly. Instead, he claims that the 40th president's real achievement lay in his ability to compromise, an element of his leadership conservatives have ignored since he left office. Neither Bunch's arguments nor his prose are powerful enough to do more than slightly tarnish Reagan's halo, but his book capably puts into perspective an imperfect but fascinating administration. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
*Starred Review* The Ronald Reagan who won the cold war, cut taxes, shrank the government, saved the economy, and was the most beloved president since FDR is a myth, Bunch says. The cold war fizzled out primarily because of Soviet economic collapse. Reagan cut taxes just once, in 1991, and thereafter raised them yearly. He vastly expanded the government and burdened the economy with enormous deficits. Moreover, his approval ratings were just average, reflecting his divisiveness as a political figure. Bunch also shows that however tough-talking, Reagan was a negotiator who achieved nuclear arms reductions by talking with Soviet leader Gorbachev and got into the Iran-Contra mess because he wouldn’t send combat troops abroad. In practice, especially of foreign policy, he was a pragmatist, not an ideologue. The truculent jingoist of the myth was concocted after Alzheimer’s silenced the man and the would-be juggernaut launched by the GOP’s 1994 election triumph crashed and burned before a Democratic president who shrank government and the deficit, balanced the budget, and even racked up surpluses. Bunch names the leading, venal mythmakers and shames the myth exploiters, too. Anyone interested in America’s immediate future should read this book. --Ray Olson

 

[Munch]

Currently reading The Storm, by Vince Cable. It's good bedtime reading as I find financial matters terribly dull.

Read Matter by Iain M Banks recently and liked it alot, so I picked up two of his other books Excession and Use of Weapons last week. Reading Excession now and enjoying it.

Matter has a slow first two-thirds but a rapid resolution. Some might not like the slow build up but I didn't mind it, it was quite cool watching the characters' paths come together in preparation for the finale.

I'd be interested in hearing what you think about Excession. I have read what I think are the first four Iain M Banks books in order of publication (he also writes under the name Iain Banks, but only when he isn't writing sci-fi): Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons and Against a Dark Background. I didn't realise when I bought the latter, but it is the only one of those four which does not involve The Culture. I went through the whole book anticipating their arrival in some way, to make contact with the society in the book, but in vain. Aside from that, it was quite an uninteresting book with a protagonist that I just couldn't care about at all. The other three I've read are good, the weakest being The Player of Games and the best being Use of Weapons, which I thought was very well put together and hugely entertaining. Glad to hear you've still got that one to enjoy, please let me know what you think about the books you've got, as it should give me an idea whether or not to buy Excession and Matter

The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor & Hitler (new shorter edition) by Ian Kershaw.

I bought The Battle for Spain recently, not realising quite how massive it is. What do you think of it? I haven't started it yet.

 

[Leonel]

Does Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel count?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I bought The Battle for Spain recently, not realising quite how massive it is. What do you think of it? I haven't started it yet.

I also own it. I have since discovered Beevor's political leanings, and I'm considerably less inclined to read the book now.

 

[Ulyaoth]

What are his political leanings? Wikipedia just says he's criticized for talking about rapes of German women.

 

[Munch]

I also own it. I have since discovered Beevor's political leanings, and I'm considerably less inclined to read the book now.

I've heard bad things about him but I don't think that alone is sufficient reason for me not to read the book. I won't really know whether he is particularly distasteful until I read some of his thoughts.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

What are his political leanings? Wikipedia just says he's criticized for talking about rapes of German women.

He's anti-Soviet. Enough so to be willing to present the facts in a dishonest light and embellish them when he doesn't think they're sufficiently anti-communist.

 

[Gilder]

I finished John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat. It was a fairly entertaining read, nothing too deep, and a little fun.

 

[Julian Delphiki]

I bought The Battle for Spain recently, not realising quite how massive it is. What do you think of it? I haven't started it yet.

It's well written book but I have to admit that subject is not overly interesting for me. Spanish Civil war is something that I know little of though, so I will finish it.

Hitler book down, now also reading The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization by Brian Fagan.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

I'd be interested in hearing what you think about Excession. I have read what I think are the first four Iain M Banks books in order of publication (he also writes under the name Iain Banks, but only when he isn't writing sci-fi): Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons and Against a Dark Background. I didn't realise when I bought the latter, but it is the only one of those four which does not involve The Culture. I went through the whole book anticipating their arrival in some way, to make contact with the society in the book, but in vain. Aside from that, it was quite an uninteresting book with a protagonist that I just couldn't care about at all. The other three I've read are good, the weakest being The Player of Games and the best being Use of Weapons, which I thought was very well put together and hugely entertaining. Glad to hear you've still got that one to enjoy, please let me know what you think about the books you've got, as it should give me an idea whether or not to buy Excession and Matter

I'm still reading it, but I think I like Excession a bit more than Matter. It's a much tighter book, and you spend more time actually in the Culture. With Matter you spend alot of time, especially in the first half, in a roughly medieval civilization, which you may find disappointing if you want Culture stuff. Again, the first two-thirds to three-quarters of Matter are very slow, meandering, essentially following the main characters as they wind slowly toward eachother. It's not at all lean and mean, but as I say I didn't mind it, possibly helped by the fact that it was my first Iain M Banks book, and I enjoyed the setting and the style. Excession is much more classically SF, with spaceships and AIs and aliens and so on, so far at least. I like both, but they are definitely quite different angles on the Culture universe.

I'm looking forward to starting Use of Weapons as well, I thought it was a cool sounding title.

 

[Masada]

I'm about to start "The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History" by David Fischer. Economic history is one of the only good areas of economics. So, needless to say, it is also one of the least prestigious areas.

Yes, life sucks.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

He's anti-Soviet. Enough so to be willing to present the facts in a dishonest light and embellish them when he doesn't think they're sufficiently anti-communist.

So would you not read an author who was Anti-Nazi?