CV Rick's Reviews

Outposts of Empire - Forgotten History

Simon Winchester made it his mission to visit the forgotten outposts of the British Empire.  A century ago the Empire spanned the globe, hundreds of islands, dozens of countries and protectorates and the sun truly never set on the territories.  But the Empire shrunk and collapsed in on itself yet straggling islands across the planet still lay claim or are claimed by the shadow of day's long gone.

Sure, as other people have said, it's a dated book.  But it was written in 1985 and reading it with that in mind it's a fascinating travelogue.  I loved the author's attempt to "invade" Diego Garcia accompanied by the disappointing story of how residents were evicted and the U.S. put in a major (nuclear) base.  The empire has done so many things in its best interest, unfortunately that doesn't always include protecting individual rights. 

I also learned a lot about St. Helena where exiles resided for decades (Napoleon, Mbelini - head of the Zulu Nation).  I knew nothing about the beauty of the island or of the mansion where Napoleon took his walks and dictated his memoirs, staff on hand and British Guards out of sight. 

The Pitcairn islands are the last refuge of Britain in the Pacific not even administered nearby, but instead thousands of miles away from Australia.  The resident population shrinking and forgotten.  The average British citizen doesn't know much about its current empire.  Maybe if you ask they'll say the Isle of Mann or the Faulklands.  But these Outposts are historic and present.  It's a great read.  I love learning the minutia of history:  the forgotten places, the discarded histories, and the neglected peoples. 

Dated?  Maybe, but is history ever dated and does travel lose its romance.

- CV Rick, March 2008

Is Malcolm Gladwell a Tipping Point?

This was a really cool book.  I was completely intrigued by the ideas, although I'm not completely sold. However, if anyone can describe the Tipping Point, it's Malcolm Gladwell.  That guy could explain quantum physics to the short-bus crowd and they'd understand.

Here's what it is: "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point."  But what it really tries to describe is that event we've all seen and wondered about, when small ideas or trends 'catch on' and become the big deal – the next big thing.  If we can understand what makes that change, what pushes it over the top, then we can manipulate the markets and get rich.  Unfortunately that's the book's biggest weakness as well. If everyone knows what it's going to take to push their idea or product over that threshold, then the boundaries move and the requirements change.  There's really only room for so many 'tipping point' ideas in the marketplace.  We can't all win in this capitalistic system, right? Not when the winners come on the backs of the losers.

So, the book describes tipping point events as epidemics and delineates them into three rules: The Law of the Few (where select people are the movers or leaders in these things), The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.  Each of this he masterfully illustrates with real world examples, from the ride of Paul Revere to Rebecca Wells' novel, Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

I loved the book and instinctively it all makes sense, but in the nature of things, the moving goalposts still bothers me.  It is no wonder that Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most sought-after public speakers in America – he tells a great story and makes you believe.  He might be his own tipping point.

- CV Rick, March 2008

The Largest Manhunt in U.S. History

The best history books read like novels - like dramas.  In fiction, the characters are great actors who have powerful motivations and take enormous risks for great gain.  Rarely does a real life story incorporate all those elements or contain grand characters.  Manhunt by James L. Swanson is a great story and would be regardless its genre, in this case it just happens to be true. 

The story is one we all know.  John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head while he was watching My American Cousin in his Presidential Box in Ford's Theater.  Perhaps we know much more about it, or perhaps you did, but I didn't.  I didn't know that after Booth's famous leap to the stage of the theater he gave a speech for the shocked, frozen audience.  I didn't know that he charmed his way past a road blockade after curfew and disappeared into the woods.  I didn't know that his compatriots failed in their missions to kill the Vice President, Andrew Johnson and the Secretary of State, William H. Seward.  The Seward attack was particularly gruesome and while it failed, several people were injured including the Secretary of State.

I didn't know that Booth was the nation's most famous actor and perhaps after Lincoln himself, the most recognizable person in the country.  I didn't know that Booth expected to be honored for his action, to extend the civil war and to rally the South to victory over the North single handedly.  I didn't know that Booth's flight lasted twelve days, including several days laying under a bush in the elements and cold beside a river unable to stand because the severe break. 

I also didn't know what a compelling story it could be and how an anti-hero like Booth could be the catalyst that turns a great man immortal.  The irony that Lincoln is revered like Booth could never dream is the result of his grandiose assassination.  That Booth is reviled as the worst example of traitor is the only true punishment for Booth, for whom adulation was the greatest reward.

This book is what history is and how it should be taught.  Bravo, Mr. Swanson.

- CV Rick, March 2008

12th Planet and a Race of Retards

There's a planet orbiting through the Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system which comes in close proximity to Earth every 3600 years.  On this planet is an advanced race of creatures who need gold and other valuables in order to create and maintain their atmosphere.  They came up with a solution – Earth.  It was to us that they did a South-Central style genetic drive-by.  With the seed material from Ape Men they genetically altered their DNA Structure with bits from their own to create HUMANS.  Then they tasked these humans to dig up all the gold and hold it for them for when they returned. 

Now, this explains all the “god sightings” throughout time.  Our creators swing past, take all the gold, steal some of us for labor, perform great miracles and tell us to behave because when they come back they'll be “judgment.”

It sounds like an interesting work of science fiction, if only it were. It's being marketed as nonfiction.  Zecharia Sitchin makes a claim to be an ancient languages scholar and an expert on the Sumerian language and religion.  If he is, it's a self-taught expertise for his actual training is as an undergraduate in economic history.  He ignores mathematical evidence that refutes the 3600-year elliptical orbit hypothesis, since such a drive-by would leave a trace in our own orbital pattern.

So, we're slaves to the Anunnaki overlords from the mother planet Nibiru. We're required to give them gold and tribute, and in turn they teach us a little about morality in the form of brutal, biblical, object lessons.  If amazon would let me swear in my review I would. 

Our Nibiruean masters live on a cold world – except in its 3600 year brief solar drive by – so they can't have plants or animals on their planet.  It's physically impossible – except that they have to have those things if we are a product of their DNA, don't you think?  I mean, wouldn't it be reasonable if we are made in their image, they can't be isolated from food and warmth?  Maybe if they needed our gold so freaking badly and maybe a burger and a veggie tray, they'd have left that nutty rocky world that no scientist can explain and they'd have moved in right here.  Then they could've created us and overseen the mining operations for themselves.  Right? Nope, they aren't that smart. 

And neither is anyone who believes this tripe.

- CV Rick, February 2008

Harry S. Truman

This is far and away the best Presidential biography I've ever had the pleasure of reading.  The subject, Harry S. Truman is a likable man who rose to the office of President in an unlikely manner and is the last common man to earn that office.  The Biographer is a fabulous storyteller who creates a tapestry of Truman's life that is complex in detail but simply explains his rise and the choices he made along the way. 

 

Reaching back to the earliest white Missouri settlers, McCullough mixes together the elements that formed the family into which Truman was born – poor, hardworking farmers whose luck was never good, misfortune piling upon misfortune.  From this Truman grew and became self-made time and time again. It always seems that Truman's about to thwarted in life, but instead he's just propelled in a new direction.

Things I really like about Truman – he was loyal.  He was loyal to his friends to a fault.  He was loyal to his country and his family.  To his wife whom he adored he was completely faithful.  He was humble, wondering always at his good fortune even when his business was crumbling, the farm worthless, and his mother-in-law (who thought he was never good enough for her daughter, even when he was president of the United States of America).  He took responsibility.  When was the last time we heard the Chief Executive say, “I made the decision and I stand by it.”  Truman stood by his decisions and took responsibility for those under him.  The Buck Stopped There. 

How did he come to prominence? - He joined the army late in life despite horrible eyesight, but he quickly found that men liked him and he could lead them.  As an artillery officer he commanded respect from large groups of men.  After World War I, he went back to Missouri and attempted to be a businessman, but failed.  During that time he caught the attention of local party bosses because of his ability to lead men and influence their decisions, and he earned a spot as a county judge.  From there he rose through the corrupt party organization of local boss, Tom Pendergast.

He wasn't a wealthy man – ever.  He was always worried about paying the bills and even when he was in the White House, he and his wife stuck to a strict budget to make ends meet.  Despite his humble circumstances he never sold out his principles for money.  He stayed true to himself.

Truman was the most progressive president we've had.  He proposed universal health care in the 40's. He pushed civil rights legislation, despite his own racism and antisemitism.  Under Truman the G.I. Bill came to be, which arguably created the modern middle class in America by improving and not abandoning the veterans. 

He dropped the bomb.  Yes he did.  He did it and he took responsibility for it and he believed that it was the right thing to do.  That's a point that can be argued ad infinitum.  But what he did do is keep the control of nuclear weapons in the hands of civilian authorities. Why?  Because it's not a military decision to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, it's a political one.  He was right about that.

I could go on, but I won't.  It's a startling work of nonfiction and I can't recommend it highly enough. 

- CV Rick, February 2008

Climate Change is Not in Doubt

Elizabeth Kolbert chronicles the true face of what so many refuse to believe to be real: Global Climate change. Far from being alarmist, she carefully assembles eye witness experts and scientific papers to such disparate topics as species migration, toad species extinction, ice sheet core analysis, and ice flow consistencies from all over the globe. It's as careful as her journalism and as sourced as a dissertation and rightly so, since it springs from the series of articles she wrote for the New Yorker on the subject.

The work isn't new and it isn't hidden, this is what has been available to all of us for quite some time. The earth is warming and the human contributions are no longer deniable. There are things that can be done, if only we are willing.

A truly striking theme in the book is the notice that scientists are being characterized as alarmist and extremist. When have scientists ever fit that bill? When have they thrown the scientific method to the wind and gone on the vagaries of belief as a crux of argument? They have not ever done that and they aren't now. As a group they agree on the principle elements - the earth is warming, humans contribute to that, and it's going to be a major and drastic change that no one is sure whether we can survive - provided nothing is done to stop it.

Never before have we been so threatened by simple profit motive. But who is out there to actually discredit science? Kolbert takes us carefully through the science and also through the opponents of the science to show that there is no real benefit in lying about the warming, but there is profit in denying it.

It's a valuable book, with beautiful material and illustrations. It's also a sad book which shouldn't be read by anyone who has already lost hope.

- CV Rick

Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace - Well Named

I feel remiss that I didn't read this book when it came out six years ago, but I'm glad I finally read it. Mr. Vidal brings some emotional life into what is normally a lifeless policy-wonk issue and I can't stress how important it is to absorb his message – that we've completely given ourselves to a foreign dictated by military industrial interests.  He emphasizes that our dealings around the world and at home are with people, and dehumanizing them serves no one's interests. 

In a particularly long study, the author introduces us to Timothy McVeigh the Oklahoma Murrah Building bomber.  I was in downtown Oklahoma that day and lost people to that tragedy, so it was hard for me to understand that Vidal wasn't condoning his actions or justifying them, but instead showing the reader that McVeigh had human motivations to do that horrible thing. Understanding, on their own terms, if you will.  It shows that we can sit down and learn from people when it comes down to a one on one because humans can relate at some level with every other human. Randy Weaver, David Koresh, and even Osama bin Laden have motivations that can be understood and when those motivations are understood, it's possible to reach those people before it escalates into violence, murder, or tragedy. 

Vidal takes us back to 1947 when Dean Acheson advocated scaring the hell out of the American people in order to justify a wartime military budget and in turn pumps corporate money from those interests into the political system, essentially buying elections.  He tells the story of a foreign policy out of control and nonsensical where money trumps humanity every time.  He tells the story of an empire driven by it's privatized industrial military without controlling it.

What is America “doing” in the name of its citizens, under the cover of democracy?  Vidal publishes pages of aggressive military intervention around the globe and posits the question – have we made things better, or worse?

Finally what Vidal does is ring a clarion call to Americans to stand up and ask questions – hard, probing questions.  Don't let the media run interference and don't let accountability be shirked.  It used to be our government and it's time to take it back.

- CV Rick, February 2008

Reclaiming Positions and Creating a Platform

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I thought it would be a lengthy stump speech, worth knowing but no revelations. What I found, however was a thoughtful plan, mapping out a direction for restoring common sense into the political process. Obama is a well-spoken, well-written, humble man who really knows how to articulate a message. He uses personal anecdote, history, Constitutional interpretation, and a healthy respect for the expertise of others in building a cohesive platform for success. Were it delivered consistently as well as he delivered his prose in this books, it would be the basis for repairing many of the rifts in the political landscape torn apart by extremism.

What really impressed me about his ideas was the respect he showed to the opposition. The book lacked the vitriol common to today's political discussion, more rightly called bucks in rut. He recognizes that most people don't live, eat, breath, and bleed politics. Most people have families and jobs and lives to live. Most people have dozens of important issues that are important to them and aren't nearly as extremist in their views as our dichotomous news media would have us believe. People want the opportunity for comfort, education, success, security, and happiness. Obama knows this and writes eloquently about it - it's not us vs. them, but it's us trying to succeed together.

His positions are clear - protect American jobs, regulate for safety with a mind toward capitalistic growth, health care for all, and a strong education system. He describes the process by which Republicans framed the debate, usurping issues and positions, claiming them as their own. He shows how this is false and declares the need to reclaim those arenas of discourse that Democrats have been thrust away from in public opinion. Democrats can be men of faith, most believe in God, most are Christians. Democrats are hard working motivated individuals and business owners who believe in a strong capitalist economic system so long as protections against abuses are in place. Democrats understand the need for both petroleum and petroleum alternatives and aren't trying to thrust us back into the 1800's.

He's right in this book and I'd have given him all five stars if there'd have been more passion in the words, more commitment to the change processes, and more leadership. Perhaps if he becomes president and afterward writes a memoir he'll speak of those passions and commitments more freely.

- CV Rick

The Famous can be Just as Petty as Anyone Else

As a voracious reader myself, I've heard of some of these feuds, but Anthony Arthur summarizes them competently in this volume, Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels – From Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe.  His scholarship is evident and he tells the stories in an interesting manner – kind of like talking to the smartest gossip on the block.   The book was a literary guilty pleasure.   

For me some of the feuds were more interesting than others.  I enjoyed reading about Hemingway and Stein, while I learned nothing new about Twain and Harte.  I thought the Wilson/Nobokov tiff was particular clever and filled with intellectual insults where they each struggled for the high road while dragging their relationship through the public gutter.  Capote and Vidal was anticlimactic and I suspect there's more to their feud than what's written here, because it didn't seem very satisfying as a “great feud.” 

I'd recommend reading the parts you're interested in and skipping the authors you care little about.  The prose is good and the material juicy.  Enjoy

- CV Rick

Debunking Through Isolated Case

Robert G. Williscroft wrote an interesting little book, The Chicken Little Agenda.  In it he attempts to “take on” environmentalists and pro-government liberals.  His methodology is the simple isolated case. 

For instance, he takes on the “Green Revolution” by relating the mistakes,  exaggerations, and intentional sensationalisms made during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill by environmentalists and by journalists.  Then he relates personal anecdotes from his experiences meeting or interacting with people he lumps together as “greens.”  Finally based on his personal examples and the Valdez he declares victory over all environmentalists claiming expertise on their motives, methods, and results.  Similarly he tackles the greenhouse effect on climate change, the ozone hole, and opponents of nuclear power. 

I understand that Williscroft had his own agenda to support and just like the opponents he presumably takes on, he had to cherry pick his research, but his book does a disservice by ignoring true scholarship and validity of research.  In order to make neat and clean conclusions, he pretended that all research and opinion was as invalid as his isolated examples.  Pretty sloppy if you ask me, which he didn't.

The rest of his book hinges on basic assumptions and isolated anecdotes eschewing scholarship in favor of agenda.  To say I was unimpressed would be correct. 

That isn't to say the whole of the text was offensive.  His experience and his stories are fun and competently written.  The book isn't a challenging read, and I was able to finish it in a couple hours.  It's just that his title was a bit too indicative – addressing an “agenda” with an “agenda” doesn't do service to the subject matter.

- CV Rick.