Bryan
I leaned so much about the futility of World War 1 and the making of the modern Middle East. It is told through the perspective of 4 important characters in the formation, including T.E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronson, William Yale and Kurt Proeffer. Each was representing a different interest. The story probably could have been improved if they were able to continue more story through Proeffer's character, especially later in the book. I also would have enjoyed hearing a French and Turkish point-of-view fleshed out. All-in-all, it was a very good detailing as to why things are as they are today. There is also an interesting discussion of how things likely were to have been the same, even if Lawrence & Faisal Hussein would have succeeded. Very interesting read and now more likely that I will actually start to read, “Seven Pillars,” which had been on my shelf for some time.
I really enjoyed this book and the author's stories about his travels in the Middle East. I absolutely love CIA officers' accounts of their tours. The one impression I did get, however, is when any manager tries to spin how they made mistakes, but they really weren't responsible or weren't listened to. All in all, though, it was a great book.
I love Anthony Bourdain! If you thought the cooking industry was glamorous, you are wrong. That doesn't mean that these chefs aren't creative geniuses. It is a tough business that has chewed up and spit out plenty of dreamers. At the end of the day, this is a story about people who love food and bring pleasure to our mundane lives with this rich trade.
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
I found this to be a very easy read and very entertaining. I think the most sad part of book is near the end when he discusses his contract work and helping out veterans following injury, since this is how he was ultimately killed after retiring from the service. His editor could have done a better job about not repeating things and organizing his thoughts, but it was very enjoyable.
Really interesting story of the common person's experiences in post-American war in Afghanistan. What happened? Why did it happen? What could America and NATO have done differently? Is this a war that was destined for failure?
This book follows three different Afghans, starting in the months following the American invasion: a housewife, a Taliban commander and a regional strong-man. The journalist (Anand Gopal) chronicles their stories (heart-breaking in their own ways). One thing I will say is that I never thought I would ever be sympathetic to the Taliban character, but there were even parts where I was rooting for him; not against the Americans, mind you, but against opposing Taliban commanders.
The story got a little bit jumpy as it transitioned from one person to the next. In one instance the author was detailing the story of one character in 2008 and then transitioned to another person's story in 2005.
Other than that, I thought the author did an excellent job of describing the environment and America's general ignorance (on a military and public level) of the consequences of our actions there. Anyone who is at all interested in South Asia or the war in Afghanistan would be benefitted by reading this. I have done a fair bit of reading on the topic and even I was surprised by a number of the author's revelations, assuming they are true.
Ever since I was told in Catholic school that Jesus was not likely born on December 25th, I have had an interest in knowing more about the historical Jesus of Nazareth. Obviously there is plenty to read about the religious figure, Jesus Christ, but there is next to nothing about the actual person. I found it interesting to break down the symbolism of the gospel writing. Mr. Aslan does a very good job of describing what Palestine was like from 100 BCE to 100 CE and explaining how that affected the narrative in the gospels. He also delves into all of the literature written about Christ, not just the canonized gospels. He describes who wrote them, when they were written and why they were written. I would not suggest this book if you believe history played out exactly like what was written in the New Testament and your mind cannot be changed. I would recommend this for anybody with an historical curiosity.
This was probably the last of Tom Friedman's books that wasn't a tribute to how smart he is and can't be summarized in 5 words or less. The Lebanon portion was really excellent. The Israel piece was a bit more difficult. What i did find very intriguing about this part was that as a Jewish man moving to Israel, he was surprised and disappointed at how Western and secular the country was. As he stated, though, it has turned into a secular state just as Theodor Herzl had imagined.
The first part of the book details Friedman's working in Lebanon from 1979-84 during the War with Israel. The second part details his time in Jerusalem between 1984-1988.
One of the more interesting aspects is that this addition has another section entitled, “From Jerusalem to Washington” which follows the peace process in the early to mid 90's. it is fascinating how much hope there was of a settlement at that time, only to see it slip through the fingers of the participants. What a shame.
Most interesting passage, to me at least, was where Dr. Houston suggests exercise is not about burning calories. That is simply a side effect. The real story is about hormones and how different exercises affect these hormones. Short answer: running for an hour is bad and lifting weights, particularly full body participation is very good. Further, in order to burn fat, you must build muscle. Can't build muscle (and in fact you burn muscle) doing long, steady cardio.
Very interesting review of this author's thoughts on the turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Found the discussion of the main players to be very interesting and was surprised that people like David Bengurion and Chaim Weitzmann were not more prevalent in this book. I am not sure I entirely agree that 1913 was the year which was most important in this conflict, nor that Jerusalem was the most important area, but fascinating nonetheless.
She does spend a good deal of time setting up the scene prior to 1913 and how some of the actions that ocurred played out years later, including in the present day. I would say this gives a very specific look at a small part in the overall conflict without giving context to other issues in this theater.
Having said that, I believe I read somewhere that this is one in a series of books which pick datelines and Ms. Marcus needed to stay within some boundaries.
First, an enormous amount of history was covered this book. It effectively starts with the rumor of Joseph of Aramethia's supposed evangelism in England in the 1st century and how this legend helps to bind England to Palestine. It continues all the way up to the Balfour Declaration, which was former prime minister's Lord Arthur Balfour's letter to Baron Walter Rothschild, who was a leader of the British Jewish community. This book was originally written in 1953 and therefore misses out on much of the Arab-Israeli wars.
I found the content to be voluminous and certainly appreciated an in-depth view of what has transpired between Britain and Palestine over such a large period of time. However, I would have liked to have heard more about what was happening in Palestine between the original Hebrew exit and the Crusades and then again, between the end of the final crusade and the British mandate.
Unfortunately, this book largely misses the exodus, the fall of the Roman empire in Palestine, the Byzantine empire, Mohommad's conquest of Jerusalem, the Ummayads, the rise of the Mamluks and the Ottomans.
The other aspect that was somewhat troubling started in the introduction where Ms. Tuchman explains how after researching this topic she comes down unequivocably on the side of the Jews in this conflict. This is not a great way to start a supposed unbiased view on a topic so filled with controversy, even in the 1950s. This view was apparent throughout as she constantly referred to the Jews as the rightful owners of biblical Canaan, which stretched from the Sinai Penninsula through the Euphrates River. She also looked at all Arabs throughout the Levant and Iraq as 1 homogenous people and comparing the inheritance of the Jews to the inheritance of all of the Arabs.
I would definately recommend this book as a comprehensive view of the relationship between Britain and the Jews to establish the the nation of Israel, with these caveats in mind.
This book completely changed my perspective about EIT, or enhanced interrogation techniques. I believed, hook, line & sinker all of the misinformation from the CIA, et. al. regarding the intelligence obtained using these methods. While I have not been supportive of the methods, I was convinced that the information we were gathering was in fact due to torture. From reading this book, however, I learned that all of the intelligence we supposedly gained from torture, was actually gained from traditional interrogation methods and claimed, secretly of course, that this was obtained from these methods.
There were significant redactions of information Mr. Soufan claimed to have been public testimony or information in the public domain. It was actually humorous in parts due to the fact you knew Mr. Soufan was speaking of himself and he had to redact the pronouns I and me. After finishing the book, it became apparent the CIA was attempting to exert payback on Mr. Soufan.
I recommend this book for anyone interested in the investigation into the 1998 US Embassy bombings, the 2000 Cole attack, September 11th or the prosecution of terrorists captured in the wake of these events.
On October 23, 1983, two men nearly simultaneously detonated car bombs killing 241 American servicemen, of whom 220 were Marines and 58 French servicemen in one of the deadliest days in American combat history since World War 2. I have known of this for a large part of my life, but wanted to get an understanding of the particulars. Why were we there in the first place? Who was responsible for the bombing? If we were part of a multi-national force to protect the Lebanese from the Israelis and Syrians, why were our servicemen targets?
All of this and much more was answered in this epic tome (752 pages). It was not just the size of the book that made this difficult, but Mr. Fisk's writing style has him jumping around quite a bit. In one chapter he is discussing the Chabra and Chatila massacres, in another he is discussing the seige of Beirut. Then he is discussing the kidnapping of journalist Terry Anderson. This can make for a difficult read, especially with all of the unfamiliar towns and names that are included.
It was also difficult because of how the abject slaughter of war is described. Mr. Fisk was on the scene shortly following many of these disasters and his ability to describe eyewitness testimony from those who survived, as well as his own observations surveying the results of the massacres is second-to-none. It was difficult to comprehend how people could actually live through this.
Having said all of that, this was probably one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It has completely changed my understanding of the politics of the region. I will never look at the word “terrorist” in the same light again.
If you have an interest in the region and its politics, I would highly recommend this book.