Category Archives: Reviews

Rousseau and Revolution

Posted on August 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Rousseau and Revolution© 1957 Will and Ariel Durant1092 pages “…little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor, and of … Continue reading →

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Boomsday

Posted on July 30, 2017 by smellincoffee

Boomsday© 2007 Christopher Buckley336 pages By day, Cass Devine is a public relations specialist who labors to ensure her clients’ sh-tuff doesn’t stink. By night, she’s a  tax revolutionary, stirring the pot — blogging furiously and urging young people to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Mexican Frontier

Posted on July 27, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Mexican Frontier 1821 – 1846: The American Southwest Under Mexico©  1982 David Weber (University of New Mexico Press)440 pages In 1821, the people of Mexico declared their independence from Spain, recognizing that its Napoleonic straits meant that the mother … Continue reading →

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Crime, private and public sector

Posted on July 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

Let’s start the week off with two birds and one stone!     Earlier in the week I was finally able to get access to No Place to Hide, by Glenn Greenwald, on his encounter with Edward Snowden and the … Continue reading →

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Midnight’s Furies

Posted on July 21, 2017 by smellincoffee

Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition© 2015 Nisid Hajari352 pages Although greater India has rarely remained united in its long history, there was every reason to hope that it would emerge from the centuries of British dominion in … Continue reading →

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Redshirts

Posted on July 21, 2017 by smellincoffee

Redshirts: A Novel With Three Codas © 2012 John Scalzi 320 pages Audible presentation read by Wil Wheaton, runtime 7 hrs 41 minutes. “I’m not even supposed to be here! I’m just Crewman #6. I’m the guy in the episode … Continue reading →

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Consent of the Networked

Posted on July 20, 2017 by smellincoffee

Consent of the Networked; The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom© 2012 Rebeca MacKinnon352 pages A couple of weeks ago I read Who Controls the Internet, which covered in part nation-states’ role in reasserting national boundaries in cyberspace. Consent of the … Continue reading →

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Unsettled America

Posted on July 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

Last week I read Wendell Berry’s The Unsettling of America, on the subject of agriculture and culture. Its title is apt, because Berry believes that the triumph of industrialism — as it has turned farms into agribusinesses, and America from … Continue reading →

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The Job

Posted on July 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Job: True Tales from a New York City Cop © 2015 Steve Osborn 272 pages Steve Osborn grew up by his father’s side in a bar, standing on boxes to play pinball and idolizing the men his father hung … Continue reading →

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American Independence Wrapup & On the Horizon

Posted on July 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

Well, gentle readers,  July’s halfway marks the conclusion of my American Independence series, at least for another year. What ground did I cover this year? Revolutionary Summer, Joseph Ellis;  a history of the summer of 1776,  in which the States … Continue reading →

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