Tag Archives: History
Daniel Yergin’s superb new book: a brilliant survey of energy issues
A review of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, by Daniel Yergin. @@@@@ (5 out of 5). A survey of virtually every significant aspect of energy in today’s world, touching on every energy source, every significant energy-related technological development of recent decades, and every major location of energy resources, including a short history of each element. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
1491: Astonishing new evidence about the Americas before Columbus
A review of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann. @@@@@ (5 out of 5). There is persuasive evidence that the Americas before Columbus were far more heavily populated, the leading civilizations far more sophisticated, and their origins far further back in time than earlier generations of scholars had suspected. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
Hedy’s Folly: Nazi generals, wireless torpedoes, and “the most beautiful girl in the world”
A review of Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, by Richard Rhodes. @@@ (3 out of 5). Hedy Lamarr, a stunning film superstar of the 1930s and 40s, invented a secret weapon for the United States during World War II. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
Mass media, genocide, and the fate of the world
A review of Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World, by Maria Armoudian. @@@@@ (5 out of 5). In Kill the Messenger, political scientist and radio broadcaster Maria Armoudian ably examines the central role of mass media in human affairs over the course of the 20th Century. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
Economics through the lens of personality: an accessible history
A review of Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius, by Sylvia Nasar @@@@ (4 out of 5) It’s well known that Thomas Carlyle, a 19th century British historian, is credited with first calling economics “the dismal science.” What’s … Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
Murder in Tel Aviv: A superb novel digs for roots in Israel’s modern history
A review of The Debba, by Avner Mandelman. @@@@@@ (5 out of 5). David Starkman, a naturalized Canadian citizen, was a trained killer for the Israeli armed forces who carried out black missions in Arab capitals in the 1960s. When he learns of his father’s murder in Tel Aviv, Starkman is suddenly pulled back into the ethically murky environment he had fled seven years earlier. Continue reading
Filed under Trade Fiction
1493: When the Old World met the New, and nothing was ever the same
A review of 1493: Uncvovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C. Mann. @@@@@ (5 out of 5). One after another, this brilliant book brushes away a host of cherished myths that have grown up in the shadows of history. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
One remarkable man, and the origins of the CIA
A review of Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage, by Douglas Waller. @@@@@ (5 out of 5). Donovan was a law unto himself both in his (often-public) private life and in his extended role during World War II as the founding director of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. He went head-to-head with many of the most powerful, stubbornest, and most manipulative figures of the age, including Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevent, Douglas MacArthur, Chiang Kai-Shek, and J. Edgar Hoover — and, more often than not, came out the winner. Continue reading
Filed under Nonfiction
Third World development: A reading list
Listing 14 books that cast light on the realities of foreign aid and social change in the world’s developing countries. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Africa, developing nations, economic development, foreign aid, History, India, overseas development assistance, Third World