Historical and Political Musings
Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr, published by Princeton University Press, 2013 Polymaths of Islam: Power and Networks of Knowledge in Central Asia by James Pickett, published by Cornell University Press, 2020 I enjoyed both books and would highly recommend them to anyone interested in… Continue reading Book Review: Lost Enlightenment by S. Frederick Starr and Polymaths of Islam by James Pickett
We reached 101 followers on Spotify this weekend and so we produced this special episode to celebrate! We discussed the 6 books we used the most when writing our scripts for our episodes on the Irish War of Independence. List of Books mentioned: The Republic: the Fight for Irish Independence by Charles Townshend Vivid Faces… Continue reading Special Episode-6 Books on the Irish War of Independence
Rating: 5/5 Pros: A comprehensive exploration into the creation of Uzbekistan and its neighboring states A long overdue overview of an often-neglected region of the world Well-researched and detail heavy but still easy to read Cons: Need to know a little about the region before reading Is VERY detail heavy and needs to be reread… Continue reading Book Review for Making Uzbekistan by Adeeb Khalid
A History of God by Karen Armstrong, Gramercy Books, 2004 Pros: Fair and balanced look into the history of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Succinct summary of dense information Well-written Cons: Lot of information Can be dense and is a long read Could be organized differently This is a well written and fair book that covers… Continue reading Book Review: A History of God
Irish Civil War: Law, Execution, and Atrocity by Sean Enright, Merrion Press, 2019 4/5 A slightly dry, but fascinating read about the executions that took place during the Irish Civil War. Like his prior book on the Easter Rising Trial, Sean spends the first half of the book providing historical and legal context for the… Continue reading Review for the Irish Civil war: Law, Execution, and Atrocity
Fatal Path: British Government and Irish Revolution 1919-1923 by Ronan Fanning, Faber and Faber, 2013 4/5 A light and easy read about the British perspective during the Anglo-Irish War. I greatly enjoyed this book. Since I normally read about the conflict from the side of the IRA/Irish Nationalist’s, this book was enjoyable and provided needed… Continue reading Review for Fatal Path
African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 by Robert Gaudi, Berkley, 2017 I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while. I read African Kaiser by Robert Gaudi last year and, while it was an easy and enjoyable read, there was an element that didn’t sit right… Continue reading Thoughts on African Kaiser and handling colonialism
Book Review of Richard Mulcahy from the Politics of War to the Politics of Peace 1913-1924 by Padraig O Caoimh, Irish Academic Press 2019 Rating: 4.5/5 Pros: A long overdue biography on a vital founder of the Irish Free State and Irish Army Rich analysis that is easy to read Provides needed context on the… Continue reading Book Review of Richard Mulcahy from the Politics of War to the Politics of Peace 1913-1924
Syria: An Outline History by John D. Granger 4/5 This is a well-written book about a large swath of land in what is now known as the Middle East. Even though there is a modern-day equivalent of Syria, it is a small portion of what had been Syria until roughly the 20th century. The borders… Continue reading Book Review: Syria: An Outline History
Review of Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt by Rosalie David. Published by Penguin in 2002 4/5 This book, while different from what I had been expecting, was a well written and insightful read. It focuses on the development of the Ancient Egyptian belief system chronologically, focusing on the historical events that affected who and… Continue reading Book Review: Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt
A Peace to End All Peace: the Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin. Published by Owl Books 2001 4/5 This is one of those books that everyone reads for a foundational knowledge about the Middle Eastern policy during WWI. It is a well-researched and well… Continue reading Book Review: A Peace to End all Peace
The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Sean McMeekin. Published by Penguin Books, 2016 5/5 This is a well written, well researched study of the military situation of the Ottoman Empire before and during the First World War. It provides a refreshing perspective, focusing on the Ottomans themselves,… Continue reading Book Review: The Ottoman Endgame
Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian. Published by Vintage in 2009. This memoir was written by Grigoris Balakian, a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Balakian was an educated Armenian, having studied in Germany and spoke Armenian, Turkish, and German. He was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and wrote this memoir to chronicle what he… Continue reading Book Review: Armenian Golgotha
The Anonymous Soldiers by Bruce Hoffman. Published by Random House in 2015 This is a well written and well researched book that is easy to read, and is packed with information. While there is a lot in there, it’s not a ‘dense’ book. It is a definitely a book that needs to be ready multiple… Continue reading Book Review: Anonymous Soldiers
In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland. Published by Anchor in 201 I bought this book because I was blown away by Dan Snow’s interview of Tom Holland about this book, which can be found on HistoryHits. The two observations discussed in the interview that struck me were Holland’s claim that the Quran’s… Continue reading Book Review: In the Shadow of the Sword
The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia by Rene Grousset. Published in 1970 by Rutgers I picked this book up two years ago because I had a vague interest in the steppes and Central Asia and I’m really glad I did. While it is an old book, originally published in 1939, it… Continue reading Book Review: the Empire of the Steppes
Inside Central Asia by Dilip Hiro. Published in 2009 by Overlook Duckworth This book is a great overview of Central Asia from the rise of the Soviet Union to 2009. This book discusses Turkey, the Central Asian states, and Iran. It picks up where Rashid’s book left off. While Rashid focused mostly on Central Asia… Continue reading Book Review: Inside Central Asia
The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism by Ahmed Rashid. Published in 2016 by Zed Books I have recently been fascinated by Central Asia and this book is a fantastic review of that region immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union. The book itself is a piece of history and, although I bought… Continue reading Book Review: The Resurgence of Central Asia
The Year of Liberty: the History of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798 by Thomas Pakenham. Published in 1993 by Random House, Inc. I have been fascinated by the 1798 rebellion ever since I first discovered the band the Wolfe Tones and realized they were named after an Irish rebel. Needless to say, I… Continue reading Book Review: The Year of Liberty: the History of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille by George Thenault. Published in 2009 by Bibliolife I’m sure one can imagine my excitement when I saw this memoir in my local military library. George Thenault was the French commander of the Lafayette Escadrille from the very beginning to the moment it was swallowed by the American Expeditionary… Continue reading Book Review: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille
Portrait of a Revolutionary General Richard Mulcahy and the Founding of the Irish Free State by Maryann Valiulis Published in 1992 by University Press of Kentucky Richard Mulcahy is a criminally underappreciated Irishmen. Born in the 1890s and starting his career as a postal worker, he would eventually study to become an engineer, before taking… Continue reading Book Review: Portrait of a Revolutionary
Easter 1916 the Irish Rebellion by Charles Townshend. Published in 2015 by Penguin I’m going to start this review with a warning: Charles Townshend is one of my favorite historians. I have read few historians who can take complicated messes and break them down into short, easy to understand chapters within a chapter, while also… Continue reading Book Review: Easter 1916 the Irish Rebellion
Eamon de Valera: A Will to Power by Ronan Fanning. Published in 2015 by Faber & Faber Because of his many controversial decisions made during the rebellion, civil war, and his long presidency, it is hard to find an objective biography on Eamon de Valera. However, Fanning’s biography is the fairest and kindest book I’ve… Continue reading Book Review Eamon de Valera: A Will to Power
Modern Ireland 1600-1972 by R. F. Foster. Published in 1990 by Penguin Books This book is a concise review of the growth of modern Ireland from 1600 to 1972 that could be divided into two separate books. The first half is an economic and social study of an agricultural society and the second half is… Continue reading Book Review Modern Ireland 1600-1972
