Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

An Officer and a Spy

Posted on February 1, 2014 by smellincoffee

An Officer and a Spy© 2013 Robert Harris496 pages    In the late 19th century, the Dreyfuss Affair shook France when one Captain Alfred Dreyfuss, accused of selling French military secrets to the Germany General Staff.  Declared guilty, publicly disgraced, … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: artistic bears, Vikings, and l’affaire Dreyfuss (also snow, lots of snow)

Posted on January 29, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: Troubling news. I awoke yesterday to find ice falling from the sky, and would think the atmosphere broken if I were not so well-read, and had not heard of this thing called ‘snow’, which the falling ice eventually … Continue reading →

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Ship of Rome

Posted on January 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

Ship of Rome© 2009 John Stack368 pages             Three hundred years before it became an empire, the Roman Republic started its ascension toward power when it took on the Carthaginian state  for control of first the island of Sicily, and … Continue reading →

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The Bonobo and the Atheist

Posted on January 22, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Bonobo and the Atheist: in Search of Humanism Among the Primates © 2013 Frans de Waal313 pages  Frans de Waal has written extensively on moral instincts within the great apes, in books like Good natured and Primates and Philosophers. In The … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Punic war on the high seas, elephants,

Posted on January 20, 2014 by smellincoffee

Those intrigued by The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion may be interested in today’s episode of EconTalk, featuring an interview with the author on the book. The host referred to it as the most extraordinary … Continue reading →

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The First World War

Posted on January 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The First World War© 2000 John Keegan528 pages The dawning of the 20th century seemed to promise nothing but good tidings for the civilized world; telegraphy and steam were knitting it together,  economies were flourishing, and progress was on the … Continue reading →

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Toward a Truly Free Market

Posted on January 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

Toward a Truly Free Market: A Distributist Perspective on the Role of Government, Taxes, Health Care, Deficits, and More© 2011 John C. Medaille  282 pages  “I been a-wonderin’ why we can’t do that all over. All work together for our own … Continue reading →

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Starship Troopers

Posted on January 16, 2014 by smellincoffee

Starship Troopers© 1959 Robert Heinlein263 pages The worlds of the Terran Federation are under constant assault by the malicious Bugs, whose hideousness drives dogs insane and who don’t even have the decency to build their civilization out of buildings that … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

small is beautiful

Posted on January 14, 2014 by smellincoffee

small is beautiful: economics as if people mattered© 1973 E.F. Schumacher288 pages Get big or get out, said the Secretary of Agriculture to American farmers in the 1970s. But as the consequences of widespread industrialism and general upheaval began to … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: The Great War, politics, sex, and elephants

Posted on January 13, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: Hours ago I returned from my monthly visit to my alma mater’s library, where I found a host of interesting books. Although I’ve have plenty enough on my plate already, being knee-deep into The First World War by John … Continue reading →

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