Recommend a Book

Origins: How the Earth Made Us by Lewis Dartnell.

A broad sweeping book, in the style of "Guns, Germs & Steel" on the interaction between human evolution, history and the planet's geological forces.

Some random tidbits of information:
Had the King of Portugal sponsored Christopher Columbus rather than Spain, the voyage would have been doomed as it would have set forth from the Azores - where the wind blew towards Europe. He set sail from Spanish Canaries, where the wind blew towards the America.
How the silver mined in Spanish South America was shipped back to Europe, and then traded to China and India for spices and silk, and funded the building of the Taj Mahal.
There was no grass during the time of the dinosaurs, it hadn't evolved yet.
There was no fire until 600 million years ago as not enough available oxygen in the atmosphere - also a necessary component for animal life.
 
I often wonder about these books, while they contain lots of interesting info. sometimes the authors ability to interpret it does not keep up, or they just fall to the temptation of making a neat point which the info. does not support.

Jared Diamond for example makes a point about the potato not providing as much nutrition as wheat per kilo. Which is perfectly true. He misses the point that potatoes produce more nutrition per acre and so are a much more valuable food crop. Growing space being a constraining resource which weight is not.

The discovery of the new world might have been delayed a few years, but the improvements in shipbuilding and especially in navigation would have brought some other explorer there soon enough.

That South American silver indirectly funded the Taj Mahal, I can see might be true. However that didn't provide any extra resources to the Mughals, and as they weren't importing either the materials or the labour I cannot see how the silver made any difference to their building projects.
 
I'm reading https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Enlightenment-Central-Conquest-Tamerlane/dp/0691165858 (The Lost Enlightenment; Central Asia's golden age). Fascinating book and reinforces my view that the history we teach our children is ridiculously Eurocentric.
I never heard of the city of Myra which, in the 12th century was the biggest city in the world. At the time London had a population of 18,000. Myra had a population on a half a million.
 
Purple said:
I'm reading https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Enlightenment-Central-Conquest-Tamerlane/dp/0691165858 (The Lost Enlightenment; Central Asia's golden age). Fascinating book and reinforces my view that the history we teach our children is ridiculously Eurocentric.
I never heard of the city of Myra which, in the 12th century was the biggest city in the world. At the time London had a population of 18,000. Myra had a population on a half a million.
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Interesting list...
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/dec/06/world-largest-cities-mapped-through-history-data-viz

I have never heard of Myra (or is it Merv?) but I have recently been reading about the 'Great Silk Road', for what it's worth... it has a chapter in Origins.
 
So, I'm going on my holibobs soon.

So far I have:

The new Tiger Woods book
Michelle Obama "Becoming"
The Spy and the Traitor
Bad Blood

I usually get through 5 books so looking for a recommendation!

I also bought The Second World War by A. Beevor. I've started reading this and it's very good but it's a bit big to be lugging around..
 
I'm tempted to read the James O'Brien book "How to be right .." but I think I need more escape from the toilet flush of Trumpism and Brexitism.
 
BBC podcast series, Noise a Human History.
www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Noise: A Human History

Prof David Hendy on the role of sound and listening in 100,000 years of human history.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Ventures all over the place, but 'ear opening' in that it really does get you thinking about sound and noise and the things we take for granted in our 'soundscape'.
 
Ceist Beag said:
I managed to finish Tinker, Tailor.... and agree Leper that I really didn't enjoy the writing of le Carré. I found it complex for the sake of complexity and really did not enjoy it, it was a real struggle to complete it in the hope that it might improve ... it didn't.
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A godawful film as well....I happened to see it in Leicester Square (where cinema is more expensive), so not impressed a'tall a'tall.
 
Betsy Og said:
I think you're thinking of tea bagging
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With your knowledge of such and Purple's on going reference to "toilet porn" - I'm wondering if there should be another forum under the "The Depths" which could be set up (with exclusive access only of course!!) :D
 
Jazz01 said:
With your knowledge of such and Purple's on going reference to "toilet porn" - I'm wondering if there should be another forum under the "The Depths" which could be set up (with exclusive access only of course!!) :D
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There is, but you need to be invited first ;):cool:
 
When I was a kid in a rowing club, tea bagging was tying a rope under someones arms and dunking him in the river.
 
Just started reading “Normal People” by Sally Rooney.

Loving it so far and can’t wait to dive into “Conversations with Friends”

Marion
 
I have just completed The 3rd Brigade (History of the Volunteers/IRA in South Tipperary 1913-1921 written by Denis G Marnane with Mary Guinan Darmody).

Terrific read and a page turner if ever there was one. Sections beg re-reading and to be honest, some of it is pretty intense and you are glad to re-read when required. The structure of the book is excellent and you get a detailed account of the towns and villages of counties Tipperary, Limerick and Cork and what the RIC, Black & Tans and Auxiliaries were. The true experiences of Dan Hogan, Sean Treacy, Dan Breen etc are covered and fact is separated from fiction where necessary.

The factual accounts of the Soloheadbeg Ambush, the rescue of Dan Hogan at Knocklong railway station, raids on several RIC stations plus other military engagements are reported in detail. Nothing is left to chance, occupations of those involved, peoples' mindset, geographical conditions, public thinking etc are covered in detail.

Myths (or lies) created by some IRA fighters are challenged. The book is concerned with facts and these are hammered home from the detailed Introduction to the final page.

I got the book as a present; it cost €30.00 and if it cost three times that, it would be still great value.
 
Newbie! said:
I've just run out of books to read and I cant find the old thread with book recommendations so I'm just looking for some thoughts from other posters.

I don't like chick-lit and in this case I don't want non fiction. Previous books that I've loved for A thousand Splendid Suns or the Bookseller of Kabul and although they're not particularly good books, I love the pageturner quality of crime or suspense like Dan Brown. Any thoughts?
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The Kite Runner
 
en.wikipedia.org

A Splendid Exchange - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

One of those sweeping grand histories of a topic, this time of how "Trade Shaped the World" by William Bernstein.

A great overview, touching upon such diverse topics as the carrying capacity of camels, the spread of Muslim traders around the trade routes of the late Middle Ages, the exotic appeal of spices to Renaissance Europe, why different sections of society favour free trade v protectionism.
 
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