Milo and the Calf

Tag: books

  • Review: Kolchin’s American Slavery

    Ed. Note – this is one a 100 or so book reviews I wrote for a now long defunct livejournal. I’m posting it, and many others like it for my own records and hopefully your enjoyment. Name Your Link Peter Kolchin If you’re going to read one overview book on the history of slavery in…

  • Review: Diamond’s Guns Germs and Steel

    Ed note: A version of this review was originally published on a now long defunct livejournal.   Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Jared Diamond There is a whole industry of books that explain why the world is the way it is. They are all by definition reductive and fail to grasp…

  • Review: Oshinsky’s Worse Than Slavery

    Ed note: this review originally appears in a now long defunct livejournal. Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice David M. Oshinsky This is the must read book on the faailures of reconstruction and the horrors of the Jim Crow era. When I was reading it, there were times I…

  • Review: Iron’s A People’s History of the Supreme Court

    A People’s History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped OurConstitution: Revised Edition Peter Irons A pretty well done progressive view of the Supreme Court. This one hits all the necessary rules (Dred Scott, Korematsu, Brown and so many more) while also covering some lesser known rulings like…

  • Review: Brecher’s Strike!

    Ed Note: This review was orginally written for a now long defunct livejournal account. I’m reposting it here as part of a project to collect all my various writings in one place. Strike! Jeremy Brecher Strike! is one of those texts that is much better as a research aid than it is as something to…

  • Review: The Davinci Code

    Ed Note: This review originally appears in a now defunct livejournal account in 2007.   The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown challenges, to forget. Sometimes what you need after a hard week is Jack Reacher setting the world right and getting the girl. There is nothing to be embarrassed about in enjoying that. There may,…

  • Review: Burrough’s Barbarians at the Gate

    One among many reviews originally published on livejournal in 2007 and now reposted here for posterity. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco Brian Burrough I am a connoisseur of the business bestseller. I read ‘em all, and this one is among the best featuring conniving and scheming on a massive scale. Extremely…

  • Review: Kostova’s The Historian

    Ed note: This review was originally written in 2007 for a now long defunct livejournal account. The Historian Elizabeth Kostova A retelling of the Dracula story, this time by a pretentious writer looking to hit it big with a “literary thriller”. Generally, this is the kind of book I cannot resist. I love nothing more…

  • Review: Mill’s Utilitarianism

    Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill How do you review a basic text of every undergraduate ethics course*? It seems silly. “Utilitarianism – pretty decent if you’re into canonical texts of the western philosophyical tradition” Look, if you want to be well read, you have to read this one, kids. You don’t have to like it, but…

  • Review: Sedgwick’s Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century

    Ed note: this review was written years ago for a now defunct livejournal account. Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century Mark Sedgwick I never said I had refined tastes. Anytime a book has got “secret” and “intellectual history” in the subtitle, I am definitely interested. Hell, I’ll…