Grand unified books thread

[Malthus]

And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

Life sucks for the Don Cossacks.  Then the First World War occurs and life sucks for the Don Cossacks.  Then the Russian Revolution happens and life sucks for the Don Cossacks.  Then the civil war happens and life really sucks for the Don Cossacks.

Even knowing the Sholokov won the Nobel Prize, I didn't go into this book with high expectaions.  Sholokhov was Stalin's favorite writer, (and a good friend of Stalin.)  Fortunately Stalin's taste in literature was quite a bit better than his taste in the visual arts; and the book is far from Socialist Realism.  The book doesn't portray the civil war as good versus evil; but instead captures the confusion of the era.  It's not at all clear that the Cossacks would have been any better off with the Nationalists or even a military dictatorship than they were with the Bolsheviks.  It raises the question "What place do a pastoral warrior people have in the workers' and peasants' revolution?"  It's probably only because Sholokhov was such a loyal party man and a friend of Stalin's that he could get away with any political question.

The book gives both a vivid picture of Cossack life as well as the landscape around the Don valley.  It also presents a number of Cossack folk songs; including one from which Pete Seeger cribbed the lyrics to "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"

The Stalin-approved version: "Where have all the Kulacks gone?" 

[Savonarola]

And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

It's on my shelf, but I've been fearing it wouldn't be as good as I'd hope it to be.

If you like Tolstoy, you'll probably like Sholokov.  It's similar to "War and Peace" or "Hadji Murat" in that it's about families caught up in the events of their time.  (Tolstoy makes being a Cossack sound much more fun than Sholokhov does, but Sholokhov was from the Don Valley, and Tolstoy's estate was near Moscow.)  It's also interesting from an anthropological point of view as it details the Cossacks at a time when their lifestyle had ended but was still in recent memory.  I liked it; but I went in with low expectations.

[Maladict]

If you like Tolstoy, you'll probably like Sholokov.  It's similar to "War and Peace" or "Hadji Murat" in that it's about families caught up in the events of their time.  (Tolstoy makes being a Cossack sound much more fun than Sholokhov does, but Sholokhov was from the Don Valley, and Tolstoy's estate was near Moscow.)  It's also interesting from an anthropological point of view as it details the Cossacks at a time when their lifestyle had ended but was still in recent memory.  I liked it; but I went in with low expectations.

That's good enough for me 

[KRonn]

I'm reading a book "Sapiens". It's similar to "Guns, Germs and Steel" and I find it quite good.

[Syt]

I've ordered both volumes of Robert Forczyk's Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front.

[Malthus]

I'm reading a book "Sapiens". It's similar to "Guns, Germs and Steel" and I find it quite good.

I found it very thought provoking, though not all of his sallies were hits to my mind.

I really, really liked the bit about how humanity's ability to believe in completely imaginary things have proved very useful for social evolution.

[Eddie Teach]

I've ordered both volumes of Robert Forczyk's Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front.

Trying to one up the neighbor?   

[Syt]

 

[crazy canuck]

Origins of Totalitarianism

When I first read this in University it seemed an interesting analysis of how it had happened in Germany and Russia but not that relevant when Liberal Democracy was on the ascendant.   But today it is a frightening read when one considers the parallels of what is happening in the US under Trump.

[FunkMonk]

Origins of Totalitarianism

When I first read this in University it seemed an interesting analysis of how it had happened in Germany and Russia but not that relevant when Liberal Democracy was on the ascendant.   But today it is a frightening read when one considers the parallels of what is happening in the US under Trump.

I've been assured that dictatorship and totalitarianism can never happen in America as long as the People have their God-given right to bear arms untrammeled and guns are freely available at your local convenience store or Wal-Mart.

[The Brain]

I also got a brand new book on Charles XII that I hadn't heard about until it showed up on Amazon: Charles XII: Warrior King (edited by Hattendorf et al.), part 4 of something called Protagonists of History in International Perspective. 20 scholars from 12 countries write about how Charles XII appeared in the eyes of various countries. Haven't started it yet, but it seems pretty nice, color pics etc. It wasn't cheap mind.

And I've finished it. Well worth a read for the descriptions of the way different countries dealt with the GNW. A few weird things though, one of the Swedes indicates that Charles started a war against Norway after his return to Sweden, and as a historian she must know that this is a lie. And the Danish guy writes "...an endless series of military conflicts, collectively known as the Great Northern War, in which Sweden was almost invariably the aggressor.". lolwut? Why write something like this?

[Threviel]

Well, the war mostly played out outside of Sweden.

[Valmy]

The GNW was designed as the Great Gangbang of Sweden, obviously this Dane feels some embarrassment at how well Denmark's scheme went.

[Valmy]

Well, the war mostly played out outside of Sweden.

Depends on what you mean by "Sweden". Sweden's 2019 borders or Sweden's 1700 borders?

[The Brain]

Well, the war mostly played out outside of Sweden.

How would that have a bearing on what was written?