2019-focus - Book Reviews

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

I've been trying to learn more about the Communist takeover of China as part of my 2019 reading theme on Rebellion. "Wild Swans" is a memoir about three generations of women in a Chinese family in the mid-20th century. The story begins with Jung Chang's grandmother who was a concubine

4-stars

Infidel

Buckle up, my friends. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel" is a staggeringly controversial memoir that forcefully condemns "multicultural" appeasement of Islamic immigrants in Western countries because of their unequal treatment of women and subordination of individual liberty. A fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and Harvard's Kennedy School, a member of the

4-stars

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution

"Valiant Ambition" shows how dicey the revolution was and how frequently both the British and American sides screwed things up. Philbrick guides us through Revolutionary War debacles and Arnold's steps towards treason.

5-stars

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

Gurri explains how the internet and social media make the failures of government policies overwhelming apparent and are eroding the legitimacy of our ruling institutions and elites, opening our society up to a nihilist death spiral.

annual-focus

2019 Focus: Rebellion

The American Revolution seems to have turned out pretty well so far. The Russian.... well maybe not so much. The Chinese? Seems like the jury is still out. What accounts for these differences? What inspires a man to take up arms in the first place?

5-stars

Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror

Lenin's philosophy can be summed up as "the ends justify the means" and Sebestyen's excellent biography forces us to confront the terrible consequences of this idea.