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Grand unified books thread

Started by Syt, March 16, 2009, 01:52:42 AM

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The Brain

It wasn't war. Congress hadn't declared it.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

crazy canuck

Quote from: The Brain on May 14, 2015, 11:47:30 AM
It wasn't war. Congress hadn't declared it.

And neither had either of the UK or Argentines iirc. 

The Brain

A good thing about war is that you don't have to declare it.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

The Brain

They should have nuked Buenos Aires.

Do you want to know more?
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

The Brain

Women want me. Men want to be with me.

11B4V

Quote from: The Brain on May 14, 2015, 11:00:14 AM
I'm reading The Falklands War - The Full Story, by The Sunday Times Insight Team. Well-written page-turner, and very nice for someone like me who remembers the war but never really read anything about it since. The book having been written in 1982 gives it an immediacy that is nice.

One thing that I don't really understand about the war. Did the Argentinians not expect the UK to strike back? If so how the hell did the UK put itself in a position where it wasn't absolutely 110% fucking obvious to everyone that they would defend their territory and inhabitants? Or did the Argentinians expect the UK to strike back and that they would defeat the British in serious combat? Almost as weird.

Ah yes, The Empire Strikes Back.

Foolish Argies
"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

crazy canuck

I read 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline over the weekend.  It provides a great summary of the late Bronze Age world and the various theories for why it collapsed.  If you are at all interested in this time period I highly recommend it. 

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10185.html

The Minsky Moment

Oh yeah highlighted that one for later.,

Lots of theories, not so much good evidence though.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

crazy canuck

That is one of the things I most enjoyed about the book.  He doesn't have a pet theory he is advocating.  He spends most of the book explaining how little we really know, how some of the theories were based on conclusions we now know to be incorrect and how no one theory does an adequate job explaining what happened.

I also liked his approach of providing an overview of the civilization that was lost before discussing the various theories of how it collapsed.

Queequeg

Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."


Malthus

Book recommendation request from you history nerds: is there a good English-language bio of Admiral Yi? I mean the Korean fighting dude who kept defeating the Japanese, not the esteemed Languish poster.  ;)
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

crazy canuck

Quote from: Malthus on May 25, 2015, 03:09:13 PM
Book recommendation request from you history nerds: is there a good English-language bio of Admiral Yi? I mean the Korean fighting dude who kept defeating the Japanese, not the esteemed Languish poster.  ;)

I am no help.  If it was not for our esteemed fellow poster I would not have known about the other Yi.

Razgovory

I have a file on the other Yi.  He's not that interesting.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

jimmy olsen

#2639
Quote from: Malthus on May 25, 2015, 03:09:13 PM
Book recommendation request from you history nerds: is there a good English-language bio of Admiral Yi? I mean the Korean fighting dude who kept defeating the Japanese, not the esteemed Languish poster.  ;)

Watch this movie. It was a big hit here last year. Might not be completely unbiased though. ;)
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/05/world_war_i_veteran_the_last_of_the_great_war_s_soldiers_speak.html

Also, some folks here might be interested in this, a book of interviews of the last doughboys.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/05/world_war_i_veteran_the_last_of_the_great_war_s_soldiers_speak.html
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
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1 Karma Chameleon point