50 million dead. Western civilization shattered. The Second World War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_world_war) boggles the mind on every level. Of the hundreds of histories on either the whole, parts, or aspects of this recent conflict which should you choose? This is one that I really ‘enjoyed’ if that term is appropriate. Roberts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Roberts_(historian)) sheds great illumination. His style […]
The standard publisher’s summary is very good on this one – Ever since the attacks of 11th September western leaders have described a world engaged in ‘a fight for civilization.’ But what do we mean by civilization? We believe in a western tradition of openness and freedom that has produced a good life for many
Civilization by Roger Osborne Read More »
Joseph Campbell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell) was the great comparative mythologist of the twentieth century. In this book (1949), from an astonishing range of examples, Campbell constructs the ‘monomyth’, a universal structure found in mythologies, folk tales, and fairy tales across the globe. This is the “Hero’s Journey”. In addition, Campbell explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Read More »
Many attempts have been made to define exactly what makes us uniquely human. The use of tools? The use of language? A sense of morality? The practice of religion? But one of them has always been that humans tell stories. There is no known culture that does not possess sets of narratives which are handed
The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker Read More »
A man-made plague has swept the earth, but a small group survives, along with the green-eyed Crakers – a gentle species bio-engineered to replace humans. Toby, onetime member of the Gods Gardeners and expert in mushrooms and bees, is still in love with street-smart Zeb, who has an interesting past. The Crakers’ reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy,
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood Read More »
It’s 1948 in Los Angeles, and Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins needs to make a mortgage payment. Too bad all he has in his pocket is lint. Along comes a savior, looking like a devil and talking like a devil, but offering Easy the precious cash he needs. The man has one simple request: find the woman
Devil in a Blue Dress Read More »
Detroit is no place for virgins, or gentlemen. Walker, who is neither, follows the 50-year-old trail of a stolen manuscript across the bleak landscape of a dead city, coming face to face with the man who murdered his partner 20 years ago. Loren D. Estleman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_D._Estleman and http://www.lorenestleman.com/) published this in 1999. Loren D. Estleman 306
The Hours of the Virgin Read More »
When Aaron Crown is finally imprisoned for the decades-old murder of Ely Dixon, it is to Dave Robicheaux that he proclaims his innocence loudest. Dave isn’t keen to get involved, but then a filmmaker seeking to prove Crown’s innocence is murdered and the mob accuse Dave of taking a pay-off. First published by Burke (http://jamesleeburke.com/index.html)
A Portuguese bank is founded on the back of Nazi wartime deals. Over half a century later a young girl is murdered in Lisbon. It’s 1941 and Klaus Felsen, SS, arrives in Lisbon and the strangest party in history where Nazis and Allies, refugees and entrepreneurs dance to the strains of opportunism and despair. Felsen’s war
A Small Death in Lisbon Read More »
