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Grand unified books thread

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

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Josephus

Reading the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, which is a 90th anniversary edition containing essays from the past 90 years. REally cool contemporary stuff on Lenin, Hitler, The Cold War...etc.
Civis Romanus Sum

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

CountDeMoney

Quote from: Syt on December 31, 2011, 04:06:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 31, 2011, 02:03:50 AM
Man, it's weird reading about fighting raging through towns I've been to and/or traveled through.

Clearly you've never been to continental Europe. :P
lol

garbon

Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad

Nice for background only the early years of the Caliphate. However for a book that has a subtitl3 about the sunni-shia split it doesn't fare well. Ends roughly with the rise of the Umayyads.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

HisMajestyBOB

Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets and Life beyond Our Solar System

It's basically exactly what it says. It goes through the history of searching for extrasolar planets, the methods used, and the potential future.

Tim should definitely read this book.
Three lovely Prada points for HoI2 help

Kleves

#979
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam. George B. McClellan: colossal douche.
My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.

dps

Quote from: Syt on December 31, 2011, 04:06:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 31, 2011, 02:03:50 AM
Man, it's weird reading about fighting raging through towns I've been to and/or traveled through.

Clearly you've never been to continental Europe. :P

Or Boston, Trenton, Nashville, San Antonio, and too many other places in the US to mention.

Razgovory

What were people saying about Hitler and Lenin when they first came to power.  Terrific dancer?  Well manicured little beard?  The type of face you want to carve into every piece of stone and paint on every piece of paper in your country?
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

Quote from: Kleves on January 02, 2012, 03:44:51 PM
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam. George B. McClellan: colossal douche.
That's a great book!
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.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Josephus

Quote from: Razgovory on January 02, 2012, 04:44:42 PM
What were people saying about Hitler and Lenin when they first came to power.  Terrific dancer?  Well manicured little beard?  The type of face you want to carve into every piece of stone and paint on every piece of paper in your country?

Buy Foreign Affairs.  ;) The answer's a little too deep for a Languish sound bite.
Civis Romanus Sum

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Kleves

#984
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 02, 2012, 07:08:11 PM
That's a great book!
It is. I had just forgotten how much of a tool McClellan was. And am I the only one who has a hard time disliking Burnside?
My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.

HisMajestyBOB

Quote from: Josephus on January 02, 2012, 07:32:11 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 02, 2012, 04:44:42 PM
What were people saying about Hitler and Lenin when they first came to power.  Terrific dancer?  Well manicured little beard?  The type of face you want to carve into every piece of stone and paint on every piece of paper in your country?

Buy Foreign Affairs.  ;) The answer's a little too deep for a Languish sound bite.

I gotta download that edition on to my kindle.
I'm glad I didn't cancel my subscription. :)

I also have to start using that 100 years of National Geographic stuff I have. I read a few articles from pre-WWI and during it, but articles during the Russian Revolution would be pretty cool. During WWI is not quite as interesting as you'd expect, though it does make sense - it's hard to talk about the significance of, say, Gallipolli when you don't have hindsight.
Three lovely Prada points for HoI2 help

Ideologue

"Churchill's Master Stroke Promises Swift End to War."
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

Razgovory

Quote from: Kleves on January 03, 2012, 12:04:00 AM

It is. I had just forgotten how much of a tool McClellan was. And am I the only one who has a hard time disliking Burnside?

Burnside was a decent guy.  He knew he wasn't competent to run the entire army of the Potomac and to his credit tried to avoid the commission.  He wasn't a totally incompetent solider though, and suffered a lot of bad luck.  He did know his strengths and he probably would have served better as a mid ranking military bureaucrat rather then front line commander.
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

FunkMonk

Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

Josephus

"New state of Poland created. Will never be taken seriously."
Civis Romanus Sum

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011