69 replies to this topic

[Vrana]

Datepalm, on 02 March 2012 - 03:41 AM, said:

My recent nonfic...

Read 1493, the followup to 1491, by Charles Mann - I didn't think it was quite as interesting - it's a very, very broad examination of globalization as starting with columbus. A few interesting moments that one doesn't normally think of as 'Globalization', like Japanese in 17th c. Mexico and the like, but overall it felt more like a loosely connected series of long articles that something entirely coherent.

Got around to Bloodlands too (Timothy Snyder) , and found it depressing and annoying. Boils down to a really long list of dead people. The argument, as far as i can tell, is that being Ukrainian in the 30's and 40's really, really sucked. OK, I agree.

Berlin Baghdad Express, by Sean McMeekin, about the German-Ottoman collaboration during ww1. I loved it, but then it's about trains and the Ottoman empire and ww1, all together, ie, all my non-fiction crack subjects. Includes actual examination of the hilliness of the Ottoman empire. Could have used more on the actual train, but fascinating anyway.

Interesting, Bloodlands was on my list, though I'm a lot less tempted now. If ww1 and trains aren't your personal source of crack (me, Indian contemporary history and pre-colonial africa), would you still recommend the McMeekin one? Well written enough?

[Memory Lane]

Datepalm said:

Read 1493, the followup to 1491, by Charles Mann - I didn't think it was quite as interesting - it's a very, very broad examination of globalization as starting with columbus. A few interesting moments that one doesn't normally think of as 'Globalization', like Japanese in 17th c. Mexico and the like, but overall it felt more like a loosely connected series of long articles that something entirely coherent.

I found it a lot drier in tone, as well. The book is mostly worth reading for the information on how China shaped the world-wide silver trade, as well as the role of Malaria and Yellow Fever.

Mann made a particularly interesting point about how Africans' genetic resistance to Malaria actually became a liability to them, since it meant that they survived as slaves in hot, humid tropical conditions that killed Europeans by the thousands (that poor Scottish colony attempt in Panama).

[Datepalm]

Vrana, on 02 March 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

Interesting, Bloodlands was on my list, though I'm a lot less tempted now. If ww1 and trains aren't your personal source of crack (me, Indian contemporary history and pre-colonial africa), would you still recommend the McMeekin one? Well written enough?

Definitely. It's well written and a colorful read, with all the weird schemes and characters and little known episodes of ww1.

Aspect Bass, on 02 March 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

I found it a lot drier in tone, as well. The book is mostly worth reading for the information on how China shaped the world-wide silver trade, as well as the role of Malaria and Yellow Fever.

True. I found the chapters on ecology and agriculture in contemporary China interesting as well. Actually, most of it was pretty good individually, on a "did you know" basis, but the central argument is a bit vague (Globalization has been around for a while and that like totally cool?) and not entirely convincing. Its a better point that globalization is, and was, a process that wasn't necessarily  entirely in relation to Europe, but I already knew that.

[Memory Lane]

I'm not sure that Mann has a central unifying argument in 1493, in the way that he had one in 1491. A lot of it is basically Mann identifying and talking about facets of the post-Americas conquest globalization wave that have been neglected in much of popular history, like the fascinating history of the Maroon Communities of escaped slaves.

[Curethan]

Did anyone mention Tom Wolfe The Right Stuff or James Gleick's Chaos yet?
The Brain that changes itself also impressed me.
All fascinating and engaging books imo.

Edited by Curethan, 07 March 2012 - 12:12 AM.

[Revan Baratheon]

The Shawshank Redemption

[haLobEnder]

I'm head-deep in The Evolution of God by Robert Wright at the moment. Great anthropological look at the historic roots of the Judeo-Christian Yahweh figure that shows that the distinction between monotheistic and polytheistic belief is not nearly as clear-cut as 3000 years of Western religious tradition would lead you to believe. Though I think the subject matter likely to scare off many religious folk, I'd recommend everyone check out this book as it provides some much needed historical context on a subject matter that is all too often relegated to the realm of the purely abstract.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I see people have already recommended Jared Diamond and Bill Bryson.

For those who are looking for something like Bryson; funny and yet informative, Farley Mowat is excellent.  Never Cry Wolf is my favorite.

I love sailing and enjoy ready historical voyages so Tim Severin is a must read.  The Brendan Voyage and the Ulysses Voyage are the best ones (and I've read most of his books).

Stephen Bown's book on Captain George Vancouver, Madness, Betrayal and the Lash is a fascinating read as well as Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World is a great account of Magellan's voyage around the world.

Simon Winchester's geological/sociological books are just awesome.  I'm a geologist and his books on the Krakatoa eruption and the 1905 San Francisco earthquake are fantastic.  The geology is toned down so non-geologists can understand it along with the social changes that were happening at the same time makes them really interesting reads.  Books are called Krakatoa, A Crack on the Edge of the World.

Other really good books that I've recommended:

History of the World in six Glasses by Tom Standage
Last Time around the Cape Horn by William Stark
Pilgrim in the Palace of Words: A Journey Through the 6000 Languages on Earth (for fans of linguistics)
Ghost Ship by Brian Hicks. The best book I've seen detailing the mystery of the famous ship Mary Celeste and the best explanation of that mystery.

[Bronson]

Hiroshima by John Hersey

A Night to Remember  Walter Lord.

Edited by Bronson, 22 October 2012 - 04:56 PM.

[Memory Lane]

The Great A & P and the Struggle for Small Business in America by Marc Levinson. It can get a bit dry at times, but it's an absolutely fascinating book, and wonderful for looking at the nature of the grocery and food distribution businesses in the late 19th and early 20th century. There's a serious "We've been here before" factor, when you read the arguments being used against the A & P that are basically the same arguments used against Wal-Mart now. It's also a reminder that creative destruction can be merciless to companies that don't keep up, since the A & P (a great innovator in the use of new technologies in the retail and distribution of food) got completely ravaged by newer companies using better innovations in the mid-twentieth century.

I'm also looking for a book on GMOs in agriculture I once read, and it will make the list if I can find it. It was very detailed and interesting, and made the point that skepticism about GMOs in agriculture didn't mean skepticism of GMOs in general - the author pointed out that the Germans basically banned GM crops but used GMOs extensively in medical research.