Entries Tagged 'Reviews' ↓

The New Rules of War: Victory in The Age of Durable Disorder (© 2019) is a book written by a Harvard-trained scholar. You can verify that fact by the amount of footnotes in the back of the book. 

But don’t let that stop you! This is a book for anyone interested in the history of war—and the changes in the way wars are conducted in the Twenty First Century.

Sean McFate brings this book to life by telling numerous stories from history, starting as far back as centuries before the Bible, and leading up to the present.

The stories Sean tells to support his views of ancient and modern of warfare are also drawn from virtually every geographic area of the globe—even the oft-ignored Central Asian “istans,” i.e., Kurdistan and Turkistan, and Uzbekistan. [“stan” meaning ‘land’ in Persian] Continue reading →

In my experience, as a librarian, book reviewer, book publishing consultant, and back-of-the-book indexer over forty years, it’s quite to rare ever see a non-fiction book that delivers 100 percent on its title.

Commander in Cheat © 2019 by Rick Reilly, a noted sportswriter, who has been on ESPN, lives up to its grand title.

For example, on page 91-92 Reilly asserts “Despite all the people, protesters, and press, around, Trump still cheated…”—at an event at one of Trump’s own golf courses.

A photographer who was shooting Trump told the author about it: “And I see a Secret Service agent kick the ball out of the rough [where Trump’s drive had landed the ball] …and [the agent] kicked it into the short stuff.” 

Celebrities, caddies, and countless others attest to the extreme degree to which Trump cheats both on and off the golf course. 

They also comment on Trump’s complete lack of etiquette on the golf course.  Continue reading →

With the tragic outcome of the murders at the Pittsburgh synagogue this year, the mail bombs sent to prominent Democrats, and the upcoming midterm elections, it’s hard to focus on anything but our own country these days.

Nevertheless, there is another story of dark money flowing not just in America but in much of the world that, like Sean McFate’s political thriller series, is being portrayed by nonfiction authors and mystery book writers rather than our news media.

That story is about opioid addiction. Estimates in the United States alone are that 80,000 Americans died of overdoses last year. Opioid deaths are fast outstripping heart attacks as the number one cause of death here.

Today I’ll be writing about two of my favorite mystery series writers’ latest books about the political corruption and ethical dilemnmas raised by opioid epidemics happening in other countries.

These authors are Louise Penny and Donna Leon. Louise Penny’s series are set in Canada. Donna Leon’s series are set in Italy. Continue reading →