Historical and Political Musings
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
Last week, I attended a fantastic given by Michael S. Neiberg at the Pritzker Military Museum and library about his latest book the Treaty of Versailles: a Concise History (which I also read) and I thought I'd write about the experience. Mr. Neiberg modeled the structure of his lecture on the structure of his book,… Continue reading Treaty of Versailles
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
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
Yesterday, I was going to write a blog post about the 100th year anniversary of the WWI armistice and of Poland’s independence, but I couldn’t find the right words. I wanted to celebrate with Poland (lord knows they deserve it), while also properly reflecting on the war that killed 7 million civilians and 10 million… Continue reading Thoughts on World War I
Since it is Halloween, I thought it would be fun to write a post about the five notorious historical figures who have either inspired supernatural creatures or were confused for supernatural creatures. 6. Bela Kiss-the Vampire of Cinkola Bela Kiss was a Hungarian soldier who fought during WWI, a serial killer, and-possibly-a vampire. A man… Continue reading 5 Notorious Historical Figures with Supernatural Connections
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
I recently finished Hamid Ismailov’s book the Devils’ Dance, which is about Abdulla Qodiriy’s last days in a Soviet prison and the book he was working on before his arrest. The book mentions several Uzbek writers who I was unfamiliar with, so I decided to do a little research. This was what I was able… Continue reading Qodiriy, Fitrat, and Cho‘lpon
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
