I read Churchill and Orwell because I am a fan of the author, Thomas E. Ricks. Ricks is best known as a military historian who wrote Fiasco and The Generals, both of which I highly recommend. This book is a bit of a departure for Ricks but the topic seemed interesting. Churchill and Orwell is a dual biography of two British men who had similarly parallel lives during WWII-era Great Britain. I was surprised to find how much the two men had in common, especially […]
Chief of Staff Reading List #14
So, if I am completely honest with myself, I read this book months ago and had to find a summary to jog my memory. Thus, I can’t say it was great but after reading the summary, I remember finding it interesting. Rise and Fall of Nations is another selection from the Army Chief of Staff reading list. I think I understand why it was added to the list but it really feels more like it was added because it’s the kind of book that people […]
If Douglas Adams knew about ICP…
So, this book was really fun. It kept popping up as recommended to me and I kept it on the back burner until my good friend called me to say that I had to read it next. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that this friend picked up his phone and called me about it. Not a quick text. Space Opera necessitated a phone call. That is about as high a recommendation as I can imagine in 2018. My friend then told me […]
The Future is going to suck
Altered Carbon sat on my night stand for just over two years. A very good friend of mine recommended it to me years ago and I bought it on sale and started it right away. The first think I realized is that this was not a read before bed book. It required more attention to detail to fully appreciate it and I really liked that. Unfortunately, that meant that it languished on the night stand for a long, long time. I finished it a couple […]