Synopsis: The late entrepreneur historian Stephen Ambrose recounts the WWII experiences of E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from domestic training to the seizure of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. A very American history book.
My Take: I found “Band of Brothers” to be a deeply frustrating book to read. On the one hand, the story of Easy [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Non-Fiction'
“Band of Brothers”, Stephen Ambrose
November 26th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Non-Fiction, War
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“Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist”, Tyler Cowen
August 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Economics, Non-Fiction
Synopsis: The greatest economics writer in the blogosphere switches medium to offer an extended treatise on the use of economic principles to improve the non-economic aspects of your life. Utility is maximised.
My Take: Tyler Cowen’s blog, Marginal Revolution, is hands down one of the best blogs on the ‘net. Not because he is the best [...]
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“Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004″, Hendrick Hertzberg
August 19th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Non-Fiction, Politics
Synopsis: A thematically arranged collection of Hendrik Hertzberg’s political essays for the New Yorker and the New Republic stretching from the mid-1960s to the end of the Bush Era. Reading political journalism with the benefit of hindsight is fun!
My Take: Hendrik Hertzberg is like an over-sized red-velvet armchair in the corner of The New Yorker’s [...]
Tags:Hendrick Hertzberg
“The Know It All; One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Man in the World”, AJ Jacobs
August 17th, 2009 · No Comments · American, Non-Fiction, Trash
Synopsis: Socially maladjusted US nerd consumes all 44 million words in the Encyclopaedia Britannica then provides an alphabetical cliff’s notes of the experience. The sum of the parts is less than the whole.
My Take: I am a bit of a sucker for condensed knowledge. It’s a deeply shallow (if that’s possible) way of learning, [...]
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“What Does China Think”, Mark Leonard
August 14th, 2009 · No Comments · Asian, Chinese, Non-Fiction, Philosophy
Synopsis: An idiot’s guide to the various streams of contemporary Chinese policy debate. When you view the world through the eyes of China’s intellectuals
My Take: Those who know me know that I’m a bit of a Sinophile. While the human rights record of the Chinese government is obviously indefensible and deserves public attention and debate, [...]
Tags:Mark Leonard
“Henry and June”, Anais Nin
August 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Literature, Non-Fiction, Over-Rated
Synopsis: Married woman meets famous writer and falls in love. Then falls in love with writer’s wife. Then falls in love with cousin. Then her psychoanalysis. Then diarises sexual awakening.
My Take: Yes, I admit have particular preferences when it comes to my reading habits. I read more than my share of modern Asian fiction, Kennedy [...]
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“McMafia”, Misha Glenny
August 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Crime, Economics, Non-Fiction
Synopsis: Guns, Drugs and Women – Misha Glenny travels from Eastern Europe to South America, Africa, Israel, India, Dubai, Canada, China and Japan tracing the globalisation of crime since the early 1990s. The globalised economy may well be ‘Flat’, but it also casts one hell of a shadow.
My Take: Misha Glenny is probably the only [...]
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“We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families”, Philip Gourevitch
July 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment · African, History, Non-Fiction, Policy, Politics
Synopsis: Philip Gourevitch, a staff writer for The New Yorker spends two years travelling in Rwanda in 1995-97 and produces an illuminating, if not always objectively rigorous, account of the Rwandan genocide, its causes and its aftermath.
My Take: Philip Gourevitch’s account of the collective insanity of late 20th century Rwanda is a moving account.
Not simply [...]
Tags:Philip Gourevitch