Recently Mentioned Books

Also, it is not contemporary but I weakened and bought the 30-CD Fela Kuti box .

Michael Hurley, The Time of the Foxgloves .

Courtney Barnett, Things Take Time, Take Time .

Brittany Howard, Jaime .

Finneas, Optimist .

Iceage, Seek Shelter .

Poppy, I Disagree .

The author is Richard Overy and the subtitle is The Last Imperial War, 1931-1945 .  There are two categories of Richard Overy books, the good and the tremendously good.  So far this book falls into the latter camp, noting that some of the introductory material (while fine) was excessively familiar to me.  The eventual focus is on North Africa, the Turkey-Persia region and the Caucasus, how Japan ran its new colonies, how the British empire started collapsing, and much more along those lines.  Th...

The subtitle is How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It , and here is one bit:

That is from the forthcoming Seth Stephens-Davidowitz Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life .  From such reasoning you can divine the relative import of genetic factors for success in various sports.  Here are the derived calculations, with the number indicating “Percent of Same-Sex Siblings Who Are Identical Twins” (when both make the Olympics, or achieve some other status):

The author of the book is Peter Neumann, and the subtitle is The Republic of Free Spirits .  It is not captivating (Germanic style, then translated), but I found it valuable nonetheless.  Which other contemporary work covers this remarkable assemblage of talent?

Jeevan Vasagar, Lion City: Singapore and the Invention of Modern Asia is a decent first book to read on Singapore, although mostly it was interior to my current knowledge set.

Ben Westhoff, Little Brother: Love, Tragedy, and my Search for the Truth is a very good narrative by a very good author.

There is a new reissue, with a new and good introduction, of Orlando Patterson, The Sociology of Slavery: Black Society in Jamaica, 1655-1838 .

5. Caroline Elkins, Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire .  Yes, the empire truly was based in unacceptable levels of violence, and at its very core.  This excellent book is the very best demonstration of those propositions.  Historically thorough, and covers more than just a few cases.

4. Sarah Weinman, Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free .  The murderer is Edgar Smith and the conservative is William F. Buckley — how could anyone have been fooled by these remorseless criminals?  A good look at what had been becoming a forgotten episode.  A tale of self-deception to the nth degree.

3. Ian Barnes, Restless Empire: A Historical Atlas of Russia .  One of the very most useful books for understanding Russian history — about half of this one is maps!  Changing maps over the ages.  These are the maps that Putin looks at, you should too.  A high quality book in all regards.

2. Elizabeth Wilson, Playing with Fire: The Story of Maria Yudina, Pianist in Stalin’s Russia .  She converted from Judaism to Orthodox Christianity, and her career spanned from the 1920s through 1970.  She was at times out of favor, other times Stalin’s favorite pianist.  Called a “holy fool” by many, this is an excellent biography that brings its subject to life.  And her playing was full of depth , albeit with often creaky sound..

1. Alan Bollard, Economists at War: How a Handful of Economists Helped Win and Lose the World Wars .  A useful book on a much underrated topic.  Keynes, Kantorovich, and Leontief receive the most attention, though the book also covers of Takahashi Korekiyo of Japan.  My main complaint is the absence of Thomas Schelling.

That is from the new and excellent Can Legal Weed Win?: The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics , by Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner.

That is from Laura Engelstein, Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War 1914-1921 , which as noted yesterday is quite a good book, especially for viewing the Bolshevik Revolution through the eyes of what became the broader Soviet empire.

That is from Laura Engelstein, Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War 1914-1921 , which is in general a very useful book.

3. Cambridge Economic History of China is coming out , there is also volume two .

3. Cambridge Economic History of China is coming out , there is also volume two .

From Dominic Lieven’s Russia Against Napoleon :