Recently Mentioned Books

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 :

The author is Anna Keay and the subtitle is Britain Without a Crown , of course covering the 17th century British interregnum without a king.  Here is one relevant bit:

5. Elizabeth Bowen, Eva Trout .  Bowen has to be one of the most underrated writers of the twentieth century.  No human ever has told me to read one of her books!  Yet this one is a subtle knockout.

4. Joseph Sassoon, The Global Merchants: The Enterprise and Extravagance of the Sassoon Dynasty .  A fun read, I had not known the family was Iraqi-Jewish, or so heavily involved in the opium trade in 19th century China.  The author, by the way, is a distant relation to the main family tree, but it turns out he can read all the relevant languages for deciphering the family archives (and hardly anyone else can).

3. Elizabeth Popp Berman, Thinking Like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy .  A useful book, and many people should read it, that said I have some caveats.  Was “equality” ever the standard?  Why isn’t there more public choice/political economy analysis in here?

2. Christopher Prendergast, Living and Dying with Marcel Proust .  Unlike most of the secondary literature, this book actually makes In Search of Lost Time sound like it is worth reading.

1. Charles Clover, Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism .  An excellent look at all the icky ideas that have been circulating around Russia for the last few decades.  This book also brings the relevant characters to life, for better or worse.  Recommended.

Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake, Restarting the Future: How to Fix the Intangible Economy elicited this blurb from me: “How does the concept of intangible capital help explain some features of what has gone wrong in our world? How is the concept of intangible capital key to fixing what has gone wrong and improving our world? This is the go-to book for those and other critical questions for boosting economic growth.”

There is also Penelope J. Corfield, The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th-Century Britain .

John Davis, Waterloo Sunrise: London from the Sixties to Thatcher is mostly a social history.

I liked Meghan O’Rourke, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness .

3. Stanislaw Lem, The Invincible .  One of the better Lems, reminds me of a Star Trek episode, with shades of gray goo hypotheses and an East Bloc ending.