This is not a bad book. It is just a fairly predictable and vapid one. In an unbalanced way, it elevates cowboys as some sort of life example for the This is not a bad book. It is just a fairly predictable and vapid one. In an unbalanced way, it elevates cowboys as some sort of life example for the rest of us, though it borrows essentially from Hollywood for its illustrations of this fact. Which is problematic at best.
I'm not against the book. It advocates good things, for the most part. But it does so in a surface way. There is no depth here and precious little application. It strikes me like a business man had an idea to go into ethics and is building an entire organization on too skinny of a foundation.
It is a very pretty book, and what it says is good. There's just so much it doesn't say. ...more
I've long been interested in economic history and production. I've read most of Mark Kurlansky's work, for example, on salt and cod and paper, etc. CoI've long been interested in economic history and production. I've read most of Mark Kurlansky's work, for example, on salt and cod and paper, etc. Conway's work here is along the same lines, though entirely up to date. Though not as searing as Siddarth Kara's Cobalt Red, Conway does a good job convincing the reader that each of these items is vitally important. He does show by showing us how much they are used in how many technologies, crafts that we could not live without. Indeed, that seems to be the main thrust of his book. In an age in which we are increasingly disconnected with the physical world, Conway yanks us back into it, and forces us to reckon both with what we didn't know and what we thought we did. If he at times forces/stretches the importance of a commodity, he can be forgiven.
Perhaps the greatest thing I appreciate about the book is how even-handed Conway is with climate change. Although he assumes it is happening, and has to be dealt with, he is unsparing in bringing in aspects that the climate change nazis want to ignore. Facts, as someone has once said, are stubborn things. All in all, a rather good book. If you want to understand our supply chains, and the pressing economic and technological issues of the day, this book will go far toward enlightening you. ...more
This book came to my attention via the accompanying PBS series. I haven't watched the series; I have now read the book. Rather good. Miller shows us tThis book came to my attention via the accompanying PBS series. I haven't watched the series; I have now read the book. Rather good. Miller shows us the breadth and depth of the air war over Europe during WWII. In the process, he discusses various technologies such as aircraft design and history, weapons, flight suits, and bombing. He deals evenhandedly and well with the moral questions of bombing a civilian populace, and shows us how fierce those debates were even back in the day. He discusses all types of strategy from single combat all the way up to the strategic differences between the British and the Americans. He traces the arc of the development of that grand strategy, and how the Americans finally hit on a winning combination of targeting fuel and transport. Nor does he leave out prisoners, ending his book with a lengthy section on how the Germans (and the Swiss, that was an eye-opener) treated airmen, and then develops that naturally into their liberation at the end of the way.
Having said all that, I must needs also add this book is not just a big, albeit detailed, picture. He leavens it throughout with numerous stories of individuals, of their fear, sorrow, pain, courage, and heroism. He displays almost as deft of a touch in this aspect of the work, and for this deserves true praise.
Just this side of excellent. If you're a WWII buff you're sure to find it a treat. ...more
I've read Reju before, and I had heard good things about this book. To put it bluntly, I was rather disappointed. It isn't that Reju gives bad advice I've read Reju before, and I had heard good things about this book. To put it bluntly, I was rather disappointed. It isn't that Reju gives bad advice here, it is that Reju gives simplistic advice. This is the kind of a book you give a new Christian, but it sells itself as the book to solve the problems endemic in the single populations of evangelical churches. If that is indeed the case then those populations have practically zero biblical teaching.
In essence, Reju discusses ten specific kinds of men a Christian woman shouldn't date. He fluffs out this set of instructions with story illustrations. Along the way, he gives basic advice like go to church, be pure, trust God. If there is one particular area in which the book shines it is in the latter thought. He dwells repeatedly upon the wisdom of waiting, and of trusting God, and of examining your own heart to see if your godly desire for marriage has become an ungodly idolization of it. He also has one section I've never seen in a book anywhere of most helpful practical advice on how to break up.
So, not bad advice, just basic advice. Stuff kids should be taught by their parents when they are in junior high. But, apparently, according to all the blurbs on the cover, this is revolutionary stuff.
What a delightful discovery this book was. I've read thousands of history books. Eckert wrote history in such a way that it seems a series of connecteWhat a delightful discovery this book was. I've read thousands of history books. Eckert wrote history in such a way that it seems a series of connected short stories ala Louis L'Amour. And he did a staggeringly good job of it. This particular work traces the settlement of Kentucky and Ohio, and the Indian wars in which they were birthed. Eckert does this via a focus on two individuals primarily, Simon Kenton on the American side, and Tecumsah on the Indian side. In the process we see religion, warfare, technology, torture, economics, geo-politics, geography, massacre, and nature. Most of all, we see the human interest side of it all. What a generation that was, a generation of struggle and loss and triumph.
I finished it this morning. As I sit here, the superlatives that come to mind are many. I will resist the urge to spill them across the page. I read fifty books, give or take, in a typical year. Suffice it to say, it is the best book I have read so far this year. Simply superb. ...more
I always cringe a little bit when I know I'm about to write an unflattering review for an author who is a good man. Such is the case here. In no way dI always cringe a little bit when I know I'm about to write an unflattering review for an author who is a good man. Such is the case here. In no way does this review reflect his wider ministry, but the fact is this is not a well written book. The wording is clunky. He includes enormous sections of quotations from diaries and histories, sections that would have been better summarized. There are some rather large (and telling) gaps in the life of the subject such as practically scream, "This is a puff piece biography rather than a serious one." In short, it is a badly written, badly designed biography.
...but it is still the best biography on Myron Cedarholm simply b/c I don't think another one exists. And since I wanted to learn more about the man I read it. I did learn more about the man, and about the various ministries that he led/birthed, and that knowledge gives me some insight into the DNA and interplay of various Minnosota and Wisconsin fundamentalist institutions. I also came to largely respect Myron Cedarholm, and appreciate his contribution to the work of Christ in the previous century.
The subject was a good man. The author is a good man. But this isn't a good book. ...more
This is not my first Holland book, but it the best one I've read, earning a rare five star review. I've spent many hours reading about the Roman EmpirThis is not my first Holland book, but it the best one I've read, earning a rare five star review. I've spent many hours reading about the Roman Empire in the last ten years. I desire to understand the times in which Jesus and the Early Church operated. Covering precisely the century in question, this work is clear, detailed, and beyond interesting, 'tis actually compelling. For example, the chapters on the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of Pompeii are the best I have read anywhere. We see the narrative arc, the political and religious leaders, the wars and civil wars. But we also see the common man, the way he lived and worked and amused himself. This is history as history should be written, no agenda, detailed and yet interesting, the big picture and the little one.
Wood's highly regarded history of the early Middle Ages period in Britain is a solid book. Any historian of that era must extrapolate and Wood's does Wood's highly regarded history of the early Middle Ages period in Britain is a solid book. Any historian of that era must extrapolate and Wood's does so, but not unfairly. He uses chronicles, hordes, wills, and other physical and documentary evidence to establish his story arc. Originally published some years ago, this edition has been updated to reflect recent discoveries and the things which flow from it. He really has only one flaw; the book is rather boring. Perhaps I would have read with more interest if I were English, I don't know, but my mind wandered constantly. Good book, probably deserves better than a three star rating. Comprehensive, sourced, thorough without being bogged down, just not very interesting. ...more
In the 90s, I used to haunt libraries like a ghost. Barnes and Noble too. I would read everything not nailed down because I love to read and because IIn the 90s, I used to haunt libraries like a ghost. Barnes and Noble too. I would read everything not nailed down because I love to read and because I was broke in those days. For years, I read Time, Newsweek, etc. while never purchasing a copy. In those years, I frequently came across some profile or other of General Electric and/or Jack Welch. He was the most respected CEO in America, and GE was the biggest company in America. Fast forward 25 years, and GE is a broken up shell of itself.
There's a story in there, and when I came across Cohan's book it intrigued me. I've read the stories of the downfall of MCI and Enron, amongst others, but those had fraud connections. GE, for the most part, did not. What happened?
Cohan answers the question methodically, in the best sense of the term. He walks us through the rise of GE, and the hidden land mines silently waiting beneath those glittering valuations. He is honest and fairminded in dealing with Welch and his immediate successor, Immelt. He did his homework and it shows in how he tells the story, skillfully weaving the various threads together or perhaps I should say showing us how they unraveled. Bad decisions? Some. Hubris? Of course. Failure to predict how badly some future unknown would impact them? Absolutely. Inability to respond flexibly? That too.
I find business books interesting, the historical ones, anyway. This book is interesting in the least, and even enlightening in spots. GE brought good things to life for generations, but in the end, it revealed the truth: Nothing man builds can survive long term, nothing, for everything human is faulty....more
