Merely mortal Mandy?

How you hear things in politics depends where you stand. Mandy heard things from"the heart of New Labour" not as a dispassionate third man but as a fully committed protagonist. In the ceaseless jockeying for power between Blair and Brown he sides with Tony and paints Gordon as curmudgeonly, unco-operative and clever. Yet as PM Gordon needed Mandy's help and brought him back to prominence for an unprecedented third time, which only goes to show Mandelson's skill as a slippery smooth manipulator who played characters and events to his own advantage - that is, he would say, to the advantage of his country and his beloved New Labour. No wonder Bush called him"Silver Tongue".<br />This is a gripping tale from the days of making Labour again electable after the misuse of Union power and the countrywide Thatcherite drift to the Right up to the nail-biting horse-trading of the coalition a few months ago. It gets down to the specifics of wielding power from the viewpoint of Mandy's monstrous ego, yet with brief acknowledgements that he is merely mortal, though more mortal than most. I liked the passages on his childhood after being"born into Labour" and I liked his affection for his Brussels posting.<br />It could have been written with more colour even though there are colourful characters on every page and the Blair/Brown contest gets a bit repetitive. But as a personalised diary of the minutae of important political events it stands out as a must read.<br /><br />

Great Read

At Home: A Short History of Private Life Great Read or at least as much as i was allowed to read before my husband saw it and took it off me He loves it too

Seems a bit obvious, with hindsight!

I well remember my Latin master saying 'Boys, money is only of token value and stands for goods received or services rendered' This was in the 40s and well ahead of Adam Ferguson's book. (Was he in my Latin class?) So as for the book, I admit to being disappointed until I read the last two pages. For further reading I suggest 'What Happens Next?' - also available from Amazon U K

Re[A]d Plenty

`The original is unfaithful to the translation.' [Jorge Luis Borges]<br /><br />Having finished Francis Spufford's new book in one hit, I feel like what I imagine a fat person feels like, after polishing off a whole tub of ice-cream. I want more. But there is no more, which I think is the point.<br /><br />I'm sure many literary types will disagree with me, when I say that what I read, what I feel, is that same feeling that I got, when I read `The Kingdom of This World' by Alejo Carpentier. Magical realism, historical-fiction, call it what you like, only make sure you describe what is on offer, in Red Plenty, as original.<br /><br />Being just a layman, I mostly have to borrow words, and the best way I can describe what I read, is to use somebody else's, about another book :<br /><br />"The Kingdom of This World is full of startling imagery and baroque detail which attest to Carpentier's vision of the marvelous in the real. At the end of the novel, Ti Noel, an African slave who has suffered under both the French rulers and the black King Henri Christophe, finds temporary sanctuary in the roofless ruin of a French plantation mansion he himself had helped destroy. The ageing Ti Noel is depicted amidst the tumble-down walls of the mansion, strangely attired in a (looted) European-style green-silk dress-coat with lace ruffles, and a crushed straw hat. Ti Noel uses a pile of encyclopaedia as a seat whilst chewing on sugar cane and chattering away, mainly to himself. Accompanying these images, which carry both irony and pathos, Carpentier offers a sober meditation on the abuse of political power and the tyranny of all ethnic elites in Santo Domingo. When the mulattoes now in control of the island begin intimidating the black population yet again into forced labour, Ti Noel feels he has lost heart `in this endless return to chains, this rebirth of shackles, this proliferation of suffering' (p.108)."<br /><br />[Serendipity - The Kingdom of This World by Katy Wimhurst]<br /><br />Gordon Brown promised an end to `boom and bust', as if he could possibly suppress human nature, nature itself, in fact. The chapter describing the fall of Kruschev, well, I'll let you decide for yourself. Both men had good intentions.<br /><br />If you decide to read Red Plenty as either fiction, or non-fiction, you will almost certainly not agree with my view, if however, you try to imagine reading a book written 50 years before the events it covers, rather than the reverse, who knows . . . plenty more space for reviews. I'll leave this review, with a word of advice to the current Chinese Politburo :<br /><br />`Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent ? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.' <br /><br />[Jacob Bronowski]

Bomb Disposal: Is PTSD the inevitable cost of surviving this role?

I was interested to read this book having seen the author speak in a short TV programme in a very clear, modest and detailed way about his experiences in Iraq as a bomb disposal officer. The book did not disappoint. It gave a very clear explanation of his interest in following his father into the Army and showed how his upbringing prepared him so well for such a career. His father showed him how important commitment and thoroughness were as values to live by.<br /><br />His own interpretation of commitment to his career was to volunteer for what was the most dangerous role on offer. It is also the most protective role, of others, that a serviceman can volunteer for. In that regard Captain Ivison's book shows how the protective bond that soldiers develope leads some to that capability of taking on the most dangerous job going, even when the odds are so heavily stacked against you, that some might be tempted to say"you are mad to do this".<br /><br />But, what do we, who look on as civilians from afar know about this? It is hard for us to understand it when we are befogged by political controversy over the Iraq and Afghan wars. We can learn in this book that the Services give their 100% and more in the tasks they are set by Politicians. We will realise when considering this account that they deserve the same degree of scrupulous honesty in the decision making that preceeds the order to go to war. Likewise we realise that they deserve to be supplied appropriately and to do less is damaging and hurtful to their best efforts.<br />Above all this book is a very personal account of one man's suffering of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. How it developed in the author is outlined in a gripping and frightening account of the run up to the most challenging task he faced in Iraq. You are left exhausted by his description of how he felt psychologically after he left his colleagues, to whom he had been so inextricably joined. His story shows that despite the Services and their Medical Teams awareness of PTSD there remains a hesitancy to respond to a hero's cry for help. We come away from this book and ask"Could I ever risk myself for others as this man did?" No, will be our reply.

Engrossing, but...

Most reviewers have understandably, and rightly, focussed on the grand themes and the author's interpretation of events and conflicting political philosophies. I read the book at least in part, however, simply to refresh my knowledge of basic historical facts about the postwar era, and I still hope to use it as reference material to meet that same end. What disappointed me, however, was to discover some very basic errors about rather trivial matters which must call into question the overall standard of research and the veracity of what is presented. <br /><br />For example, on pages 482/3 we are told that the Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast in 1970 and, in an uncomfortably lengthy rant about its shortcomings, that it was a 'hopelessly dated format' that would have been 'out of date fifteen years earlier'. Which is somewhat ironic given that it was first broadcast in 1956! We can deduce that Prof Judt obviously isn't a Sandie Shaw fan.<br /><br />In another rather bizarre diatribe, this time against the UK's present-day 'Heritage' industry, he cites what he perceives as the sanitised presentation of the early history of the pottery industry by reference to Josiah Wedgwood, complaining that (schoolchildren) .."...would search in vain for evidence of how the pottery workers lived or why the region was called the Black Country". Which, of course, it wasn't; the 'Potteries' and the 'Black Country' are distinct entities divided by a broad expanse of rural Staffordshire.<br /><br />On page 299 he tells us that"Englishmen were the first to conquer Everest, with the help of an appropriately colonial guide", a statement which I imagine might cause some consternation amongst denizens of New Zealand and Nepal.<br /><br />It could just be that Prof Judt is weak on the softer, 'cultural' issues, but my confidence in the rather more weighty 'facts' and obscure minutiae about rather more remote areas, as presented in his book, has been rather seriously dented. <br /><br />The worst - and most amusing - of several rather sloppy 'typos' appears on page 339, where we learn that in the early 1950s there were"just 89,000 private cars in Spain: one for every 314,000 persons" - so, that's about 28 Billion Spaniards having to thumb a lift...<br /><br /><br />

pure brilliance

Everyone should have a copy of this book. It is, on the whole, easy to read, captivating and thoroughly interesting! Highly recommended. If you don't love it straight away then keep revisiting it and you will eventually get into it!<br />

History for historics.

I love my history which is why I adored Berlin at War. This book works on all levels - be they social history, military history or just the plain odd. The book is rammed full of interesting little snippets of info - such as the explosion of halitosis in Berlin, the rations Berliners ate and the grey atmosphere of the city as a whole. Moorhouse, rather than condemning or ranting at Berliners, merely shows the reader what it was like - living on the doorstep of a fascist dictatorship and yet still having normal feelings of love, hate and fear. For me it made Hans Falladas book Alone in Berlin (Penguin Modern Classics) even more poignant. A great literary work of art.

life of the grafters

For history buffs this is a very good new perspective on the code breakers life at Bletchley.secrecyandhardwork

HISTORY, FACT AND FICTION

I see that there is a claim that this book was extensively researched so maybe the author had better look to his research sources.<br />For starters, the name"Zulu Rising" is a joke. The Zulu were defending themselves, their land and state against an unjustified invasion, and it certainly was no"rising".<br />The claim is made that the book was extensively researched, where, in the local pub perhaps?<br />For instance how much time did he spend at the Killie Campbell facility (the most comprehensive historic archive for the region in existance)? Some of the comments seem to be written from a position of ignorance. The"Last minute attempt at peace talks" were more like an attempt to reason with the utterly unrealistic demands of the British ultimatum (and I would like to see the evidence for the assertion that there was a meeting immediately before the battle leading to a delay), but there is no evidence that I am aware of that this was the cause of any delay. The"Frenzied honour stabbings" were no such thing. The Zulu warriors would disembowl their fallen foe, both as an aid to decomposition and as a sort of mark of respect (and don't judge them by today's standards, this was not all that long after the times that some offenders in England were hung drawn and quartered.)<br />There are loads of other statements in the book that do not stand up to a test against facts.<br />Also, do not forget that this was a a war that can be argued as totally unjustifiable, quite apart from the fact that it was an invasion of a sovreign state (all the actions, with the exception of Rorkes Drift, were fought inside the borders of Zululand). This was the last and greatest defeat of a modern army by an aboriginal force and that the battle (and the war) was charactised by gross incompetance at all levels in the British chain of command, right up to the top of the tree.<br />In my opinion this is a good case for the assertion that the course of history is dictated be those who write it rather than by the facts.<br />A novel it might be, a historically correct reference it is not.

What can I say?

Well what can I say? It is one of the best books I have ever read. It made me laugh, cry and 'experience' the situation. I have nothing but respect for what Patrick did. Moreover, it is the first of its kind which was intellectually stimulating and written by someone who understands the English language. Overall, I would put it up there with 'Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu' as an accurate, stimulating and thoroughly engaging experience (the terms 'book' or 'read' are demeaning). <br />Negative points? The whinge at the end about the RAF in the Falkland Islands. A dichotomy occurs - a major dig at the RAF in the Falklands but rescued by Harriers, resupplied by Chinooks and delivered by Hercules in the rest of the book. Fair enough I am ex-RAF but why do all books of this genre descend into the authors chance to settle scores at the end? Is it a script that the publishers want or has the author just taken the shine off of the rest of what is, IMHO, one of the best war books in the last two decades? Or is it that the author whilst having an experience that few would want or if they did would not want anything else has an accurate and well written explanation at a microscopic level but has no understanding nor willingness to understand anything but a small tactical battle?<br /><br />Wow. That seems like a whinge. Never mind, I would encourage everyone to buy and read this book. Patrick has lived more in one six-month tour of Afghanistan than most of us do in a life-time. I envy him. Moreover, his ability to express his experiences and his eloquence in doing so bring us REMFs closer to the battle than we have any right to claim and provides us with a degree of experience that we would never otherwise achieve.<br /><br />Thanks Patrick. Please do not get disenchanted by this and I would encourage you to write some more.<br />

Look for a better version of this otherwise worthwhile book

"The Art of War" is a classic. Sun Tzu was a master. This particular translation is frustratingly poor. It is nothing more than a public domain translation of Sun Tzu's writings. Many of the translations are awkward and riddled with typos and English grammatical errors. It reads as if it were translated by a Chinese university student with a good, but not perfect, command of the English language. There are no footnotes to explain the occassional untranslatable bits and there is no attempt whatsoever to put the work into its proper historical and cultural perspective. Not even a forward or introduction by a second rate scholar. I believe the publishing company just pulled a free translation off of the web without even bothering to proof read it, made a simple cover (for which they did file a copywrite), and proceeded to sell it on Amazon.com. Very dissapointing.

A worthwhile essay

This book is really a long essay - it can be read in an afternoon. Due to the author's infirmity, it was dictated rather than written, which may contribute to its rather meditative feel. It is a discussion of social democracy - what it gave us, how it was taken from us, and why we should still see it as an objective we should pursue. On page 224 (the book is double spaced) the author says - `Incremental improvements upon unsatisfactory circumstances are the best that we can hope for .........Others have spent the last three decades methodically unravelling and destabilising them: this should make us much angrier that we are' - I think he could have been rather more specific about who these `others' are (although the `Austrians' - Hayek, von Mises etc. have previously got a mention in chapter three, along with the usual suspects), what has motivated them and how in practical terms they can be resisted and rolled back. But perhaps I am expecting the book to be more substantial than it aims to be or indeed could be.<br /><br />Altogether, an interesting read.<br />

Easily one of the best books I have ever read

Wow, I got this book with some sceptism after starting to read the Origin of Species, due to the content being fairly traditional and me being a kipper undergraduate in Biology, which I confess does not bode well for the future. However I quickly realised the true genius of Richard Dawkins and the simple logic that his work conveys. The fact that this book itself is a generation old but still very applicable in the fastest changing science is a testament to the quality of his research and logic thinking. However, what I find most effective in this book is his use of similes and everyday comparisons as a method to describe genes and survival machines and I certainly feel that the content, while easily read, is of high quality and certainly at University level. I have found it useful as a reference tool or as a way of getting clearer information than my lecture notes.<br /><br />Highly recommend it, it is, quite seriously a high opener, I have learned a new way of thinking. In a way, I may not read the God Delusion, in the simple fact that he is such a convincing writer, I would be quite worried he would convince there is no god. which I don't really want to have , since I feel that everybody needs something to hang on to in the unknown.<br /><br />Fantastic book, should be introduced in school. <br /><br />Stay classy,<br /><br />JL

Very interesting

Interesting, well-written and detailed. My only objection, as always with Weir, is her referencing. She gives only the book, not the page, and so it's impossible to verify her information or find the full quotes. Sometimes she just writes LP - Letters and Papers has over twenty volumes!