Grand unified books thread

[Valmy]

Also let me just point out that despite Edward VI desperatly wanting to get rid of Mary as he was dying he never actually just had her arrested and executed. Mary was also oddly hesitant to just take out Elizabeth.

If either of those sisters had been distant cousins instead I doubt Edward or Mary would have hesitated a second.

[The Brain]

A general point is that I'm not sure that political culture in the 16th century (most of the controversial Tudor stuff having been brought up) was necessarily identical to political culture in the 15th century. Political culture changes over time. The Tudors did some stuff that I think would have been seen as beyond the pale by most 15th century monarchs, so it may not always be meaningful to make straight comparisons between the two eras.

[The Brain]

Got another sweet shipment of Lance & Longbow stuff. Their miniatures wargame rules Poleaxed 2 for late medieval battles, their The Gentry & Peerage of Towton (two volumes), and some other stuff.

I also got some nice non-book stuff (from a different supplier) that is slightly relevant: two replica WotR metal badges, the Boar and the Bear & Ragged Staff.

[Admiral Yi]

Picked up the first two volumes of the Wolf Hall trilogy.  The present tense is kind of jarring, but let's see how it goes.

[Sheilbh]

Big fan of them - I think they're some of the best novels about politics I've read.

(Also as an aisde I love that Hilary Mantel has called her upcoming book of essays and articles Mantel Pieces )

[Savonarola]

I finished a book on Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo and the painting of the Detroit Industry murals in the Detroit Institute of Arts.

I learned that Edsel Ford had probably never seen Rivera's work before he came to Detroit.  He was talked into funding the mural's by the then director of the DIA.  The murals were controversial when they were first displayed in 1933; however it's suspected that Edsel had a friend at the Detroit Free Press write the first negative article about the works in order to draw in crowds.  If so it worked, the controversy was dubbed the "Battle of Detroit" by the Detroit papers at the time and the murals brought in several hundred thousand people in the first year.

I also learned that Henry Ford was a popular man in the Soviet Union (where Rivera had visited.)  Rivera recounted a story where he visited a Soviet worker's house, the worker had on display four pictures: Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Henry Ford (one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong...).  The worker explained that the latter three had laid the foundation for the modern world that would be achieved through Stalin's political genius.

Kahlo hated the United States and especially Detroit; though she started seriously painting when she lived there.  Rivera loved it, especially the industry.  He thought Henry Ford had the soul of a poet.  Henry was interviewed near his Highland Park plant soon after the murals were released.  When asked about them he said something to the affect that Edsel was the artist of the family; that (he said as gesturing at the assembly plant) is my type of art, the future.  I thought that's something an Ayn Rand hero would say.

I also learned that Edsel Ford donated a million dollars to assist Jewish settlers living in (what was then called) Palestine.

[Sheilbh]

I've bought so many books in lockdown and read so few. But I have watched an incredible amount of trash 

Resolve to fix this and make a dent in the reading piles. Starting this weekend!

[Barrister]

It's pitiful how few books I read simply for pleasure.

But now that the boys are all kind of past dad reading them a story book before bed we've introduced a new routine.  10-15 minutes before their bedtime we all (myself included) pick a book and read to ourselves.  It's kind of nice.

[Josephus]

Finished Don Quixote.

I never knew that this was actually two books, written about 10 years apart. The second book is actually better than the first, which has a lot of boring digressions. What's interesting is that in between the first and second book, some other writer wrote an unauthorized sequel before Cervantes, which Cervantes actually uses in his second book. Don Quixote is mystified that there is a "badly written history" out there about him, and sets about proving that author wrong. Probably the first example of meta-writing.

[11B4V]

Starting Crucible of War.

[Savonarola]

Finished La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) and then discovered the author, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, died last week Friday.

Celedhring (or anyone else whose been there) is Els Quatre Gats worth seeing, or just a tourist trap?

[Gups]

Picked up the first two volumes of the Wolf Hall trilogy.  The present tense is kind of jarring, but let's see how it goes.

I'm re-reading Wolf Hall. First time round it took me about a hundred pages before I realised the "he" was always Cromwell, after that it flowed very easily.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm re-reading Wolf Hall. First time round it took me about a hundred pages before I realised the "he" was always Cromwell, after that it flowed very easily.

Thanks for the heads up.  I hadn't caught that.

[11B4V]

Grumbler you a navy guy. What's your recommendation on the book Six Frigates?

[grumbler]

Grumbler you a navy guy. What's your recommendation on the book Six Frigates?

Great book. Popular history in the vein of Ryan or McCullough (not scholarly like, say, Wilmott) so very readable.  I didn't see any significant flaws, errors, or unreasonable conclusion.  Highly recommended.