book reviews

Reviews for political die-hards of books about politicians, civil rights, Supreme Court rulings and the ever-changing Swamp.

Albert Camus' 'The Plague' Versus COVID-19
Dear Vocal Readers, Oh, what an absolutely mad time we live in. As the Corona Virus brings more and more victims into its clutches we have seen normal life crumble around us. Many students, including myself, are no longer allowed to go to school and are instead opting to do classes online. Stores are closing early and some have had to take breaks simply to have enough time to restock shelves. But it's at a time like this that I'm reminded of my favorite novel.
By Kacie6 years ago in The Swamp
Black Swan and the Historical Revisionism
But at least in the case of black swans, humans easily admit that “oh, maybe I don’t know what I don’t know”. Today is different.
By Pious6 years ago in The Swamp
Ten Great Books on Politics
I graduated with a college degree in English. Not English Education, nothing in marketing, nothing in social media, just general good old fashioned English.
By Heather Wilkins6 years ago in The Swamp
'Talking Brook: Yaron Brook Show: Middle East & War'
Dr. Brook enters into the matrix once again. speaking about the Middle East and a little economics. He explains that Kurds remain in Syria. Kurdistan is the freest region and “more hospitable to markets and property rights than Turkey.” Dr. Brook says that Turkey funded and aided ISIS. Betrayal against the Kurds continues to be a hot button issue for Dr. Brook. Trump, to Dr. Brook, represents a zero sum game with no strategy or “America First.” World War I, Vietnam and slavery crop up in the talk as President Trump says that going into the Middle East was the worst decision made in this country. Dr. Brook points out to his audience that there will be people who say that Trump is playing “4-D chess.”
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in The Swamp
Genocide Is a Cheese Sandwich
Genocide. The word is loaded with portent, carries tremendous emotional weight, and, the way it is bandied about now, has become almost meaningless.
By Grant Patterson6 years ago in The Swamp
'Our War' by Craig DiLouie
Our War by Craig DiLouie is a novel about a civil war that breaks out when a corrupt president refuses to leave office after impeachment.
By Walter Rhein6 years ago in The Swamp
Jefferson and Hamilton
American historian Claude Gernade Bowers, born Wednesday, November 20, 1878, in Westfield, was the ambassador to Spain (1933-1939) during the FDR administration. As an ambassador, Bowers successfully kept the United States out of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Immediately following his ambassadorship to Spain, he was assigned to fill the ambassadorship to Chile (1939-1953).
By Shain Thomas6 years ago in The Swamp
Japanese Internment
Farewell to Manzanar is an autobiographical memoir of Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston, one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans who were forced into internment camps in the 20th century by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December of 1941. At the age of seven, young Jeanne and her family were evacuated to Manzanar—an internment located in Owens Valley, California.
By Sophie Jiwoo7 years ago in The Swamp
The Dream and the Nightmare of 'Red Plenty'
The Cold War has receded into history. With it went the Soviet Union, the communist superpower born out of the Russian Revolution of 1917 that collapsed in 1991. Making sense of it has been a difficult proposition at best. Going some way to fill in the gaps for a popular audience is Francis Spufford's Red Plenty with its compelling look into the era of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, that time when the dream of Red Plenty seemed within grasp.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in The Swamp
'Everything You Love Will Burn'
By the time this book was completed, its author, Vegas Tenold, had spent six years living among extreme white nationalist groups in America.
By MissRuth Green7 years ago in The Swamp
Book Review - 'Governing the World: The History of an Idea' by Mark Mazower
Governing the World: The History of an Idea is an illuminating and insightful history regarding the shaky yet continuous rise of internationalism that began with the Concert of Vienna in 1815. Mazower's look at the emergence of global governance continues up until the wake of the Eurozone crisis with regards to the present needs of reforming the European Union in the wake of unpopular austerity measures and burdensome bureaucratic regulations from Brussels. His book addresses 'globalization' different from previous books I've read in the past with regards to focus on 'ideas' themselves and the rise and fall of those ideas throughout the 19th and 20th centuries led by primarily politicians and philosophers such as Kant, Metternich, Mazzini, Marx, Lenin, Bentham, Wilson, the Roosevelts, etc. among many others who were driven in defining what the international system should look, act, and be like.
By Ben W7 years ago in The Swamp
'Rising Out of Hatred'
I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) of a new book coming out titled: Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eli Saslow. Now, that is a pretty loaded title. I mean white nationalism? Whoa. Not something usually on my radar.
By Rachel Kass7 years ago in The Swamp