2012 Reading
Jim Frederick: Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
No heroes here. Just the monotony of a combat zone and no leadership. Depressing read, but vital. (****)Keith Lowe: Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II
The Washington Post said, ""A superb and immensely important book" Yes. But Jeezus it was hard to read. Gut wrenchingly dark. (*****)Alan Furst: Mission to Paris: A Novel
Is Alan Furst.not among the best writers today? What a treat! Haven't heard of him? You have now. (*****)Scott Kelby: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Substantial and Smart. Kellby writes software books way better than most. Not too cute. Not too bland. And jam packed. (****)Paul Johnson: Napoleon: A Life
Paul Johnson's breezy and fun read. From Napoleon's Artillery passion to his totalitarianism. Excellent! (*****)Mary Platt Parmele: A Short History Of Russia
A completely enjoyable ride. (Written in the 1920's). A rhetorical painting! Flawed but a picture window into Russia's past! (****)Dan Raviv: Spies Against Armageddon
Just get it now. Read and see those who live life with purpose.David Stahel: Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East (Cambridge Military Histories)
Stahel sees German failure in Russia as early as August 1941! Fascinating read. Best if you've read Alan Clark's Barbaroosa first. Not Yet on Kindle & expensive (****)Andrew Keen: Digital Vertigo: How Today's Online Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us
Social Media as the "Borg". Keen puts the Net Social Utopians under a harsh light. A book for thinkers. (****)Guy Kawasaki: What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us
Social Media is more than just showing up. It's a way of thinking. Kawasaki explains the concept. (****)Nicholas Wapshott: Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics
You read Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Paul Samuelson in college? (Ok throw in Max Weber for fun too!) Then get this for a treat! (*****)Stanley Fish: How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One
"Writing" matters now more than ever. Most of us don't do it well enough. An excellent book! (****)Daniel Silva: Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon)
Want a weekend of pure fun? Follow international affairs? Just read it! (****)Sean Parnell: Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
Powerful combat reality that most Americans (and even non-combat soldiers) cannot fathom. Read it. (*****)Walter Isaacson: The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made
If you're a student of the Post WWII era and the Cold War this one adds fantastic depth! In the twentieth-century tradition of an informal brain trust of internationalists who tried to figure out how to make the world work. What would these "Elites" do now? (*****)
