Reading Update #2 2008 - Non Fiction Special
Only second update for this year! Whoah, I need to either read or update more.
I do have a couple of other texts to update but I'll roll them over into the next entry - hopefully in a few weeks at the longest. In the meantime, enjoy a non fiction special!
Non Fiction
Science and Technology in Medieval Life by Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth.
An attempt to reclaim the so called 'dark ages' in Europe and show that the medieval era was actually a period of great thinking and technological advancement. Wigelsworth is clearly passionate about his subject and is right in his assertion that the middle ages are given a raw deal - they are characterised as an age of intellectual stagnation, both by its immediate successors and the people today. Advancements in warfare (if you term such things 'advancements'), agricultural technology, timekeeping, clothing, astronomy, shipbuilding and maps are all covered here. Did you know that chimneys, buttons and wheelbarrows are all developments of the middle ages? I thought not. I certainly didn't.
This book is heavily let down by its over reliance on text: in a work describing technology, pictures are a must. Science and Technology tends towards cumbersome descriptions that are often unenlightening when a simple picture would certainly be worth more than the thousand words spent (unsuccessfully) attempting to describe the object in question. What few pictures there are tend towards poorly printed photographs that show little and mean even less.
A book that would be probably be best for the teen market. Although the author himself had a college market in mind, the light nature of the content would be of limited value to college students in Australia, at least, if not elsewhere. A nice light read, but certainly only a starting point for those with a more serious interest.
2 stars
Cheap: the real cost of the global trend for bargains, discounts and consumer choice by David Bosshart.
This book puts me very much in mind of the yuppie works of the nineties - it is full of buzzwords and hyped up jargon that actually means very little. Instead, the same idea - 'cheap will ruin the world!' is expressed in endless combinations and with very little real explanation as to how it will do so (but with continued reference to US business schools in what seems blatant name dropping).
Much more useful would be a proper economic analysis of the effect that the search for bargains has had and will have on our business practices. It does not need to be in technical language to discuss significant issues such as exploitation of workers, devaluations of dollars, decline of quality and the increase of personal responsibility on the part of the consumer ('with great choice comes great responsibility!'). Instead, Bosshart opts for a sensationalised account that looks scary and impressive but is actually based on little substance. One to go on out into the charity pile.
1 star
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 1963
A republication of the famous Warren Commission - the original commission into the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, including detailed ballistics reports, eyewitness accounts, autopsies and their consistencies and inconsistencies, the movements of Oswald prior to the assassination and after, as well as thorough investigations of Oswald's death in police custody.
I found this report a fascinating read - partially because I know that there was a great deal of discontent with it when it was originally released until several years later there were further inquiries held. What fascinates me most is that initially there was little opposition to the report - it was only with the rise of conspiracy theories and the release of several films dealing with such that many people became dissatisfied with the initial explorations of events.
Personally I find much of the commission's report convincing and it demonstrates that much of the basis of conspiracy theories is invalid and based on misconceptions. Yes, there are unanswered questions and there is little investigation into any other suspects besides Oswald, but this can be attributed more to the fact that this is an abridged version of the report and these sections have (presumably, although I don't know for sure!) be removed.
4 stars
The St Valentine's Day Massacre, 1929
Yet another in the 'uncovered editions' this book aims to be a collection of primary sources regarding the notorious St. Valentine's Day killings in Chicago. Unfortunately, its primary material dates to the reopening of the case several years after the murders occurred and contains no primary material from the actual event itself - no newspaper clippings reporting the initial event (there are plenty on the anniversary) and no police correspondence about the initial event itself.
What the book does contain is primary material - but it is primary material that is of little interest to 'read' - but probably has some useful applications to those investigating the event. It revolves around the revelation in 1935 (six years after the massacre) that a prisoner claims that he knows the names of those who committed the massacre and is willing to reveal them in exchange for a deal. The names he eventually reveals however, are those of criminals either already dead or already under suspicion but unable to be prosecuted for lack of evidence.
The book collates snippets from newspapers and police correspondence about the case's reopening, showing a paper trail of contact between people and how the press dealt with the events several years after the fact, but I found myself disappointed - I would have expected a 'primary collection' to contain more about the actual Valentine's day massacre and the mob rather than the police's various attempts to discover if they have a reporter tapping their phone lines for a scoop six years after the fact. I suspect that this material was collated by someone with an interest but with little idea of what could actually be useful for understanding the event. The most interesting part of this was the introduction, which gave a recap of the massacre itself.
1 star
The World's Most Evil Gangsters: The Lives and Times of Infamous Mobsters by James Banting
The title says it all - we have a list of numerous gangster groups from across the world, with a heavy emphasis on American gangs, where the industry thrives most. It covers Capone and the Crips and the Bloods, and international crimes groups such as the Russian mafia and the Yakuza, Yardies and the Krays.
dulthar warned me that I wouldn't like this book (he read it first) as it was written in a rather confused manner (leaping topics and with dubious grammar at times) as well as being rather light on detail on the interesting elements and having more detail on the dull bits.
He was right. I can appreciate what the author was trying to do, however the execution falls down - because he can't follow a train of thought from beginning to end. The writing here puts me in mind of 'stream of consciousness' writing - where the author writes whatever comes to mind without editing to get the material out before rereading and editing later. Whoever edited this series is clearly not a careful reader. The book leaps back and forth, often not ever addressing the information it claims to deal with in the initial sentences of each chapter.
The book was further let down by it's repetitions of information (looking suspiciously like a cut and paste in parts) and how light it was on detail - the main aim here was clearly to convey the notoriety of gangsters rather than to define them precisely or factually report their movements. Probably a great read for a teenager looking for inspiration for a career in crime, but not satisfying to a fact-hunter like myself.
1 stars
Books so Far
Fiction - 6
Non Fiction - 8
The goal is 50 books overall, and I am this far along:
15 / 50
(30.0%)
I do have a couple of other texts to update but I'll roll them over into the next entry - hopefully in a few weeks at the longest. In the meantime, enjoy a non fiction special!
Non Fiction
Science and Technology in Medieval Life by Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth.
An attempt to reclaim the so called 'dark ages' in Europe and show that the medieval era was actually a period of great thinking and technological advancement. Wigelsworth is clearly passionate about his subject and is right in his assertion that the middle ages are given a raw deal - they are characterised as an age of intellectual stagnation, both by its immediate successors and the people today. Advancements in warfare (if you term such things 'advancements'), agricultural technology, timekeeping, clothing, astronomy, shipbuilding and maps are all covered here. Did you know that chimneys, buttons and wheelbarrows are all developments of the middle ages? I thought not. I certainly didn't.
This book is heavily let down by its over reliance on text: in a work describing technology, pictures are a must. Science and Technology tends towards cumbersome descriptions that are often unenlightening when a simple picture would certainly be worth more than the thousand words spent (unsuccessfully) attempting to describe the object in question. What few pictures there are tend towards poorly printed photographs that show little and mean even less.
A book that would be probably be best for the teen market. Although the author himself had a college market in mind, the light nature of the content would be of limited value to college students in Australia, at least, if not elsewhere. A nice light read, but certainly only a starting point for those with a more serious interest.
2 stars
Cheap: the real cost of the global trend for bargains, discounts and consumer choice by David Bosshart.
This book puts me very much in mind of the yuppie works of the nineties - it is full of buzzwords and hyped up jargon that actually means very little. Instead, the same idea - 'cheap will ruin the world!' is expressed in endless combinations and with very little real explanation as to how it will do so (but with continued reference to US business schools in what seems blatant name dropping).
Much more useful would be a proper economic analysis of the effect that the search for bargains has had and will have on our business practices. It does not need to be in technical language to discuss significant issues such as exploitation of workers, devaluations of dollars, decline of quality and the increase of personal responsibility on the part of the consumer ('with great choice comes great responsibility!'). Instead, Bosshart opts for a sensationalised account that looks scary and impressive but is actually based on little substance. One to go on out into the charity pile.
1 star
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 1963
A republication of the famous Warren Commission - the original commission into the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, including detailed ballistics reports, eyewitness accounts, autopsies and their consistencies and inconsistencies, the movements of Oswald prior to the assassination and after, as well as thorough investigations of Oswald's death in police custody.
I found this report a fascinating read - partially because I know that there was a great deal of discontent with it when it was originally released until several years later there were further inquiries held. What fascinates me most is that initially there was little opposition to the report - it was only with the rise of conspiracy theories and the release of several films dealing with such that many people became dissatisfied with the initial explorations of events.
Personally I find much of the commission's report convincing and it demonstrates that much of the basis of conspiracy theories is invalid and based on misconceptions. Yes, there are unanswered questions and there is little investigation into any other suspects besides Oswald, but this can be attributed more to the fact that this is an abridged version of the report and these sections have (presumably, although I don't know for sure!) be removed.
4 stars
The St Valentine's Day Massacre, 1929
Yet another in the 'uncovered editions' this book aims to be a collection of primary sources regarding the notorious St. Valentine's Day killings in Chicago. Unfortunately, its primary material dates to the reopening of the case several years after the murders occurred and contains no primary material from the actual event itself - no newspaper clippings reporting the initial event (there are plenty on the anniversary) and no police correspondence about the initial event itself.
What the book does contain is primary material - but it is primary material that is of little interest to 'read' - but probably has some useful applications to those investigating the event. It revolves around the revelation in 1935 (six years after the massacre) that a prisoner claims that he knows the names of those who committed the massacre and is willing to reveal them in exchange for a deal. The names he eventually reveals however, are those of criminals either already dead or already under suspicion but unable to be prosecuted for lack of evidence.
The book collates snippets from newspapers and police correspondence about the case's reopening, showing a paper trail of contact between people and how the press dealt with the events several years after the fact, but I found myself disappointed - I would have expected a 'primary collection' to contain more about the actual Valentine's day massacre and the mob rather than the police's various attempts to discover if they have a reporter tapping their phone lines for a scoop six years after the fact. I suspect that this material was collated by someone with an interest but with little idea of what could actually be useful for understanding the event. The most interesting part of this was the introduction, which gave a recap of the massacre itself.
1 star
The World's Most Evil Gangsters: The Lives and Times of Infamous Mobsters by James Banting
The title says it all - we have a list of numerous gangster groups from across the world, with a heavy emphasis on American gangs, where the industry thrives most. It covers Capone and the Crips and the Bloods, and international crimes groups such as the Russian mafia and the Yakuza, Yardies and the Krays.
dulthar warned me that I wouldn't like this book (he read it first) as it was written in a rather confused manner (leaping topics and with dubious grammar at times) as well as being rather light on detail on the interesting elements and having more detail on the dull bits.
He was right. I can appreciate what the author was trying to do, however the execution falls down - because he can't follow a train of thought from beginning to end. The writing here puts me in mind of 'stream of consciousness' writing - where the author writes whatever comes to mind without editing to get the material out before rereading and editing later. Whoever edited this series is clearly not a careful reader. The book leaps back and forth, often not ever addressing the information it claims to deal with in the initial sentences of each chapter.
The book was further let down by it's repetitions of information (looking suspiciously like a cut and paste in parts) and how light it was on detail - the main aim here was clearly to convey the notoriety of gangsters rather than to define them precisely or factually report their movements. Probably a great read for a teenager looking for inspiration for a career in crime, but not satisfying to a fact-hunter like myself.
1 stars
Books so Far
Fiction - 6
Non Fiction - 8
The goal is 50 books overall, and I am this far along:
15 / 50
(30.0%)