The Book Thread

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Vrede too
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Re: The Book Thread

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Did a lot of reading with all my TV and internet out.

Started with a 2001 Jimmy Carter book in honor of billy.pilgrim:
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Birth to WW2, very readable :clap: :-||

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https://www.amazon.com/Last-Place-Earth ... ref=sr_1_1
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition.
Makes no difference that we know the ending, still revelatory and gripping. :clap: :clap: :clap: :-||

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Short, fun chapters on each :thumbup:

Random thought while reading, not spelled out in the book: The Marlboro Man killed more people than anyone who ever lived, including Hitler.
“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
-- Howard Zinn, 2004
1312. ETTD

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O Really
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Re: The Book Thread

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If you liked "Last Place on Earth" you'd probably enjoy "Erebus" by Michael Palin.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36992483-erebus

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Vrede too
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Re: The Book Thread

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O Really wrote:
Fri Oct 18, 2024 9:10 pm
If you liked "Last Place on Earth" you'd probably enjoy "Erebus" by Michael Palin.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36992483-erebus
Cool. 2 you may like:

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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/endura ... 1101567042

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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-l ... 0312422608
“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
-- Howard Zinn, 2004
1312. ETTD

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Vrede too
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Re: The Book Thread

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A Perfect Harmony: The Intertwining Lives of Animals and Humans Throughout History (1996)

A Perfect Harmony: The Intertwining Lives of Animals and Humans throughout History is an informative, insightful history of animal domestication through the ages, by late ASPCA president Robert Caras, author of numerous fine works on pets and wildlife. As Caras defines it, domestication is "the shaping of a species by man, using selective breeding to replace natural selection." By studiously reviewing the origins and probable methods of domestication and the ancestry of all manner of animals, from goats and horses in the Stone Age to camels and elephants around 4000 B.C., to ferrets and cats in more recent years, Caras explains how "animals have played a vital role in man's evolutionary course."
Humanity's relationship with animals both domestic and wild is a topic not often discussed as a part of history. It is a vital aspect of human history, however, as the domestication of animals had a monumental impact on human affairs, making much of human progress possible-exploration, travel, agriculture, and the birth of industry. Caras is the current president of the ASPCA as well as a prolific author of articles and books on pets and wildlife. Here he offers a unique, and sometimes surprising, discussion of our continuing life with animals. Devoting each chapter to a particular species-goats, sheep, dogs, cattle, elephants, etc.-he introduces the reader to the unique characteristics of each species and gives a brief history of its development. The book is well written and researched and is logically organized. As there is little literature on this topic, A Perfect Harmony will be of interest both to curious lay readers and scholars in the field.-Deborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll., Rochester, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
—Publishers Weekly
Fascinating, science based - archeology, ecology, genetics, biology, historical accounts from cave paintings to modern documentation. Short, easy to digest chapters with an engaging writing style. Not at all preachy despite the ASPCA author, just the facts.

One example: Goats are one of the first animals domesticated - nomadic food, milk, fiber and skins. It's thought that they denuded much of the eastern Med - Greece, Middle East, Egypt and other north African nations and even some of the Sahara. Places that never recovered. :shock: :(
“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
-- Howard Zinn, 2004
1312. ETTD

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Whack9
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Re: The Book Thread

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Really good book.

How Democracies Die:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/353 ... racies-die

Written back in 2017 during the first Trump administration. They certainly have no love for DT, but also don't hold back on criticisms of the democrats in the aiding erosion of political norms.

Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.

Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved.
Also spoiler alert: we've already blasted past the other exit ramps.
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Re: The Book Thread

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Nuclear War: A Scenario

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182 ... uclear-war

It's no exaggeration to say this is one of the most unnerving books I've ever read. I highly suggest it.

I've always had a lot of assumptions about policy regarding nuclear weapons. This book shows how a rogue state launching a nuclear weapon at the United States might play out, and how once that precipice is crossed there's no stopping it.

Most of the books takes place within the first 25 minutes of launch and the 70 or so minutes following the first strike.
There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.
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Vrede too
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Re: The Book Thread

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Whack9 wrote:
Tue Jan 07, 2025 1:42 pm
Nuclear War: A Scenario

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182 ... uclear-war

It's no exaggeration to say this is one of the most unnerving books I've ever read. I highly suggest it.

:problem: :angry-banghead:
Wiki: Reception

... Interviewing Jacobsen herself, Kathy Gilsinan of Politico writes that "Nuclear war would be bad. Everyone knows this. Most people would probably rather not think through the specifics. But Annie Jacobsen, an author of seven books on sensitive national security topics, wants you to know exactly how bad it would be."

Mike Riggs writing for Reason magazine wrote that the book is a "disaster porn thriller"....
:o


I just started reading:
Salt: A World History (2002)

Any town in England that ends in "wich" produced salt.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wich
:think: I never knew.
“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
-- Howard Zinn, 2004
1312. ETTD

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Whack9
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Re: The Book Thread

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Vrede too wrote:
Sun Jan 26, 2025 9:46 am
Whack9 wrote:
Tue Jan 07, 2025 1:42 pm
Nuclear War: A Scenario

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182 ... uclear-war

It's no exaggeration to say this is one of the most unnerving books I've ever read. I highly suggest it.

:problem: :angry-banghead:
Wiki: Reception

... Interviewing Jacobsen herself, Kathy Gilsinan of Politico writes that "Nuclear war would be bad. Everyone knows this. Most people would probably rather not think through the specifics. But Annie Jacobsen, an author of seven books on sensitive national security topics, wants you to know exactly how bad it would be."

Mike Riggs writing for Reason magazine wrote that the book is a "disaster porn thriller"....
:o


I just started reading:
Salt: A World History (2002)

Any town in England that ends in "wich" produced salt.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wich
:think: I never knew.
Not a book, but while we're on the topic of salt, you might be interested in this documentary. It was very well done:

My Name is Salt

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3276852/
Year after year, for an endless eight months, thousands of families move to a desert in India to extract salt from the burning earth. Every monsoon their salt fields are washed away, as the desert turns into sea.
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Vrede too
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Re: The Book Thread

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Whack9 wrote:
Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:21 am
Vrede too wrote:
Sun Jan 26, 2025 9:46 am

I just started reading:
Salt: A World History (2002)

Any town in England that ends in "wich" produced salt.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wich
:think: I never knew.
Not a book, but while we're on the topic of salt, you might be interested in this documentary. It was very well done:

My Name is Salt

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3276852/
Year after year, for an endless eight months, thousands of families move to a desert in India to extract salt from the burning earth. Every monsoon their salt fields are washed away, as the desert turns into sea.
It does look interesting, and heartbreaking? IMDb RATING 7.7
Tomatometer 89%, Popcornmeter 90%
Since the book covers the globe and hundreds of thousands of years of salt harvesting it may discuss these people or ones just like them.

Neither the book nor doc have anything to do with the Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber action thriller, Salt. :wave:
“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
-- Howard Zinn, 2004
1312. ETTD

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Whack9
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Re: The Book Thread

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Vrede too wrote:
Tue Jan 28, 2025 8:17 am
Whack9 wrote:
Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:21 am
Vrede too wrote:
Sun Jan 26, 2025 9:46 am

I just started reading:
Salt: A World History (2002)

Any town in England that ends in "wich" produced salt.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wich
:think: I never knew.
Not a book, but while we're on the topic of salt, you might be interested in this documentary. It was very well done:

My Name is Salt

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3276852/
Year after year, for an endless eight months, thousands of families move to a desert in India to extract salt from the burning earth. Every monsoon their salt fields are washed away, as the desert turns into sea.
It does look interesting, and heartbreaking? IMDb RATING 7.7
Tomatometer 89%, Popcornmeter 90%
Since the book covers the globe and hundreds of thousands of years of salt harvesting it may discuss these people or ones just like them.

Neither the book nor doc have anything to do with the Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber action thriller, Salt. :wave:
Yeah it's not an over arching history of salt. More of a slice of life type of documentary of a life most probably aren't even aware exists. No narration from what I remember. Heartbreaking, yes. The people featured no doubt live a tough life.
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Whack9
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Re: The Book Thread

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An interesting glimpse at despotism unfolding while everyone mostly shrugs:

"In the Garden of the Beasts"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Garden_of_Beasts
Set in Berlin in 1933-1934, the book tells the story of America’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany, William E. Dodd, and his daughter Martha, as they experience the rising terror of Hitler’s rule. At first Martha is enthralled by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich, with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another, including with the surprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. Her father resolves not to prejudge the new government, but soon the shadows deepen. Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance—and ultimately horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder unmasks Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.
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Re: The Book Thread

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The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/592 ... -democracy

The nitty gritty details about how Hitler and his crew subverted the Weimar Republic through political maneuvering and how they were aided and abetted by those who could've stopped him in his tracks.
The Death of Democracy – Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic. Dr. Benjamin Carter Hett will discuss how the Nazi Party came to power and how the failures of the Weimar Republic and the shortsightedness of German politicians allowed it to happen.
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