**spoiler alert** Great book covering the life of the junior british officrs in WW1 from their public schools draft, the journey from Britain to Franc**spoiler alert** Great book covering the life of the junior british officrs in WW1 from their public schools draft, the journey from Britain to France and Flanders , the entrance in the trenches, trench life , troop composition , morale, trench dangers, death , cammarederie, injury, billets , fun on leave and the eventual end of the war, getting back to civiliam life, wounds phisical and psichological and adendum.
This book is about the young britsh generation which was lost in WW1; young lords, knights, barons which attended the public schools like Eton, Oxford, Cambridge, imbued with the valors of honor, courage, fairplay , the creme a la creme, the most patriotic, and with high ideals part of the British society , THE ones that died in the largest proportion in WW1 compared to any other military rank.
They were the ones in the first line, the ones who had to jump over the trench parapet and run towards the noman's land straught into german machine guns and shelling, to inspire the regular soldiers to follow them .
The germans were prioritizing them over any other rank since they represented the core of the british doggedness and valor.
A whole generation of elite boys wiped out in just 4 years. It is said by many , this was a reason Britain lacked the skill to navigate the turbulent politics of the 30's.
Awesome read, penetrating all aspects of these young men short but glorious life....more
**spoiler alert** Tin minte, cum, la orele de istorie ni s-a vorbit despre glorioasa campanie din Carpati din 1916 , cum romanii au trecut muntii sa e**spoiler alert** Tin minte, cum, la orele de istorie ni s-a vorbit despre glorioasa campanie din Carpati din 1916 , cum romanii au trecut muntii sa elibereze Transilvania...si, mai tin minte si cum in toamna aceluiasi an , unitatile nemtesti blocate in acea vara pe frontul de vest (Marna, Somme, Verdun) s-au intors pe melagurile noastre si i-au pus pe ai nostri in retragere.
Apoi aflam, cum si bulgarii deschideau front in sudul munteniei si, cum, incet incet, frontul romanesc incepe sa dea inapoi....tot drumul (toata Campia Romana) pana in Moldova , abandonand totul (inclusiv Capitala).
Ce nu mi-sa spus este modul in care s-a desfasurat aceasta retragere.
Aceasta carte zugraveste toamna-iarna lui 1916 in care s-a desfasurat aceasta retragere ce reprezinta fara doar si poate, un dezastru national, care, cumva s-a tinut sub covor pana de curand.
Stefan Zeletin face parte din armata 1 romana, cea care a fost incartiruita in Moldova si trimisa in zona Pitesti sa stabilizeze frontul sa opreasca inaintarea nemtilor si sa ajute unitatile armate din muntenia. Armata aceasta a devenit ulterior protagonista acestei retrageri.
Nu a fost o retragere, a fost o fuga continua, in care nu s-a mai tinut cont de ordine , de pregatire militara, o fuga datorata incompetentei si nesimtirii statului major fata de propria armata.
S-a ajuns in situatia in care soldatii au fost nevoiti sa fuga sute de kilometri de dusman, cazand si murind de foame prin santuri, jefuind casele oamenilor din disperare.
Obositi de la zile intregi de marsuri de noapte, fara oprire (spre a nu fi incercuiti) , jegosi , fara arme, sau cu arme, dar, folosindu-le pe post de bate, fiindca nu primisera cartuse la ele, cu moralul distrus, rupti de regimentele si batalioanele lor , incontinuu hartuiti de mitraliere si obuzele dusmane, totul in timp ce statul major nu incearca in nici un fel sa asigure coeziunea , sa asigure ca rezervele acopera retragerea liniei intai , ca artileria acopera infanteria.
In mod normal, cand linia intai e strapunsa, rezerva si artileria trebuie sa ii acopere retragerea. In acest episod al Romaniei, artileria si rezerva ori de cate ori primeau stirea ca frontul e strapuns, erau primele care plecau, lasand linia intai intr-o continua fuga,dezolare si confuzie.
Nu numai ca plecau dar de cele mai multe ori nici nu dadeau de stire unitatilor de pe front.
Inchipuiti-va regimente intregi din linia intai dupa o zi epuizanta de lupta, plecau in mars organizat spre (initial) un anume sat crezand ca rezerva lor a pregatit o pozitie fortificata. Cand intrau in sat nu era urma de roman, dar dadeau piept cu mitralierele germane proaspat instalate pe acoperisurile caselor.
Soldatii ai sergentii erau obligati sa sada in pozitii ziua si sa fuga noaptea pe drumuri laturalnice si paduri spre a nu fi incercuiti. Si asta s-a intamplat pe intreaga distanta de 320 km , distanta dintre Pitesti si Focsani ! Zi de zi !
Singura deviza a statului major era : "inapoi pe front ca altfel pun artileria pe voi nenorocitilor', apoi pleca.
Stefan Zeletin estimeaza ca armata romana a pierdut usor peste 120 000 oameni in aceasta retragere, o majoritate covarsitoare datorita foamei si a oboselii , nicidecum a gloantelor dusmane.
Este surprinzator ca, cumva, ajungand armata la Focsani , in decurs de numai cateva luni, sub ajutotul misiunii franceze in Moldova , a reinviat din propria cenusa , si a oprit inaintarea germana in vara lui 1917 (glorioasele lupte de la Marasesti , Marasti si Oituz).
Romanii, sunt un neam brav si muncitor, doar ca, cumva ajungem mereu sa fim prinsi cu chilotii in vine in marile intemperii ale istoriei, si cumva, fix in acele momente, cand avem nevoie de o mana forte, de o calauza, cineva care sa preia fraiele, ajungem sa fim condusi de diversi "ilustri" anonimi. Pana la urma sub frica distrugerii totale, ne redresam si cu fatalitatea dar si ingeniuitatea balcanica razbim, luam deciziile bune, iesim cumva la suprafata, dar cu mari costuri, mai ales cu costuri care puteau fi evitate..... Apoi din aceste experiente nu tragem invataminte, dupa aceste episoade nu ne invatam minte....revenim iar in aceeasi mirobolanta ignoranta si indiferenta...si ciclul se repeta....more
**spoiler alert** This book sparked my interest for travelling to the North Far East region of Asia especially along the border with Russia.
Erika does**spoiler alert** This book sparked my interest for travelling to the North Far East region of Asia especially along the border with Russia.
Erika does a terrific job adding geopolitic facts regarding the relationships of Russia with its neighbouring countries across the centuries.
I loved the chapter about the region of Manciuria and its uneasy history with both Japan and Russia.
Probably the most interesting was the Chinesse city of Harbin , city build mostly underground in case the nuclear holocaust would start , a city where one could spend its entire day underground and not see the light of day , also the city where japoanese had done Mengele-style experiment just before WW2.
I definetly want to visit the chinese far west province of Xianjiang , the home of Uighurs, turcik people getting discriminated and sent to concentration camps and their resistance via muslim apartenence.
I also enjoyed Erika-s journey in Kazakhstan , i understood the intricate ethnic composition of the population (russian minority in the north and Kazakh in the south) hence the leader moved the capital from Almaty to Astana to better oversee the russians. Also important sites like the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur where Yuri Gagarin took off an Sputnik satelites made history.
I now have a more clear understanding of which regions are populated by turcik ethnical groups and where do the chinese start.
The Caucasus chapter was incredible , Georgia's fight and resistance against Russia , and how its border gets moved by a few meters everyday in the province of Abkhazia, or how Suhumi was a leader worldwide in medicine , having thousands of monkeys for testing. Armenia is also covered with its Nagorno Karabakh troubles
Ukraine is covered very well including the Donbass region (from both Russian and Ukrainian side).
The baltics were impresive , especially Lithuania and the utopia that the russians in Latvia are living.
Another very interesting part of the book was Finland complex history with Russia and also with Germany right before and during WW2. Being first under swedish rule , then its borders moved around , fighting Russia , then declaring itself friend of Russia.
A well made book full of juicy details, plenty of dialogues with the locals around the main subject of the book : how do you view Russia, how has Russia shaped your mentality and how has Russia influenced the state of affairs of your country along the centuries.
Its really incredible and many times shizophrenic how Russia's former subjects see its former big daddy.
Wonderdul book, well researched, i recommend it wholeheartedly !...more
**spoiler alert** Volumul de fata este fara doar si poate o resursa impresionanta ce acopera situatia geopolitica a Europei rasaritene a secolului XV.**spoiler alert** Volumul de fata este fara doar si poate o resursa impresionanta ce acopera situatia geopolitica a Europei rasaritene a secolului XV.
Cred cu tarie ca titlul cartii este gresit ca induce in eroare cititorul si mai mult decat atat creeaza asteptari cu privire la subiectul principal si anume, Batalia de la Codrii Cosminului (1497) dintre Moldoveni si Poloni.
M-am delectat citind despre actorii europeni rasariteni ai vremii precum Ungaria , Boemia, Polonia , Hanatul Crimeii, Tarile Romane si bineinteles Imperiul Otoman. Imi sunt prezentate relatiile dintre acestia , organizarea interna a regiunilor, diplomatie , arme , tactica militara, si multe altele, si totul jucand rol de initiere de intelegere a situatiei pentru Marea Batalie ce avea sa aiba loc la Codrii Cosminului din 1497.
Inteleg ca nu au ramas multe izvoare istorice , dar sa citesc o intreaga carte ca sa ajung la punctul culminant, Batalia de la Codrii Cosminului si sa aflu ca este tratata sumar in 2 pagini e un pic dezamagitor.
Cu toate acestea lectura a fost placuta desi pe alocuri s-a vorbit mult prea.mult despre chestiuni non esentiale (particularitati ale unor personaje secundare ale vremii).
Batalia in sine e un macel , o ambuscada, si ilustreaza inca o data caracterul romanesc. Romanasii nostri in frunte cu Fane Babanul fac o tipica "romaneasca", atacand trupele poloneze in padure, asta DUPA ce tocmai semnasera tratat de pace si libera trecere (retragere) pentru oastea polona.(polonezi ce nu venisera ce-i drept cu ganduri pasnice pe meleagurile noastre).
Am gasit deosebit de interesant faptul ca Fane Babanul isi bagase coada de foarte multe ori in Tara Romaneasca impunand domnii lui pana in momentul in care boierii Valahi i-au zis sa plimbe ursul intr-o epistola deosebit de colorata ca limbaj.
Stefan al nostru a fost un diplomat de cariera, a stiut cand sa lupte contra turcilor, a si platit tribut (primul din Moldova) cand a fost cazul si poate cel mai interesant , a si folosit trupe otomane pentru a ataca Sudul Regatului Lituano-Polonez precum si in Batalia din Codrii Cosminului.
Tara Romaneasca si Moldova s-au luptat deosebit de des la jumatatea secolului XV datorita unor dispute de granita, defapt Stefan al nostru din cei 47 ani de domnie , doar 13 i-a petrecut luptand cu otomanii , 11 luptand impotriva Tarii Romanesti.
Armata formata din tarani liberi este doar un vis de adormit copii... Oastea lui Stefan era una profesionista alcatuita din boieri care aveau sarcina sa pregateasca si sa echipeze contingente armate proportionale cu avutia lor.
Am apreciat bogatia de informatie si varietatea surselor interne si mai ales externe de care s-a folosit autorul pentru a elabora cartea de fata. Cu toate acestea punctul culminant al cartii este unul mediocru in timp ce tot ceea ce vine inaintea sa este deosebit de interesant....more
**spoiler alert** The book covers the controversial life of irish patriot Roger Casement a man that gained the highest prestige and esteem while servi**spoiler alert** The book covers the controversial life of irish patriot Roger Casement a man that gained the highest prestige and esteem while serving as a diplomat and investigator for the British crown in regards to abuses and atrocities done by Belgians in Congo and then Peruvians in Peru on local populations all in the name of "progress and civilisation" (rubber production), the same man which would then become one of the strongest fighters for Irish freedom and turn its back to England , and would eventually travel during WW1 to germany trying to recruit irish Prisoners of War to form an army which would fight along Germany and thus be helped to gain independence. The irish prisoners would not agree to fight alongside those that bombed them in the trenches and thus Roger suffers a great delusion. A revolt in Ireland would start nonetheless which would end in bloodshed but would galvanize the irish spirit in the years to come. Not gaining the germany support he would get caught in Ireland trying to stop the revolt , then suffer a huge campaign in which he would get discredited, prosecuted and sent to death for high treason. Due to being a homosexual and noting in his diary many of his escapades as well as fantasy encounters his memory, name and deeds would be censored by Irish authroities (catholic country) until decades later when his name would be cleared and declared both a national hero of Ireland but also a hero against slavery and freedom.
This dude starts as a british explorer sent to Leopoldine Congo to study how the colony is doing. He discovers that behind the false colonial bravado that the belgian regime is bringing civilisation and wealth to the black indigens it is actually leading a murderous operation in which the locals are worked to death to extract very high quotas of rubber , their wives are raped and confined to make them work more , brutality , marking of men with iron and every kind of atrocity is done without remorse and everywhere and at each level there is a tacit agreement and understanding between thr parties. He travels within congo for many years noting everything he sees and then writes a report to the British Foreign Office.
His report goes viral and soon England finds itself having to cut ties with Belgium even if it risks making the latter get closer to rival Germany. Roger gains world recognition and is then sent to Amazonia (modern Peru) to investigate the activities of large british-peruvian rubber company operating deep within the jungle.
After throrough investigation he finds Congo repeating itself there....the company performing all atrocities in locals and effectively wiping out entire tribe populations.
It is at this time that Roger starts to tinker with his Irish origins and after finishing his job in Peru of exposing the company and making it go bankrupt, he starts travelling to Germany (by now ww1 started). He tries to recruit irish prisoners of war and make them go to Ireland and fight against the british. He is spat, shamed and called names by his countrymen. They would not collaborate with the germans. He does not manage to get too many recruits and he knows that the imminent revolt in Ireland will end in bloodshed without german support.
Before the revolt he tries to get to Ireland and stop the revolt. He is found and taken prisoner hy the british and sent to jail and condemned for high treason. The revolt ends in bloodshed with most irish fighters dead or captured and sentenced to death. He is sentenced to death and spends his last days rummaging through memories and trying to make sense of his choices, his cause, his spirit, his religion. He is hanged. Decades later his name will remerge as one of the most important irish patriots.
I gave this book 3 stars because after the first 50 pages till page 150 quite cumbersome, the narrative is quite confusing moving between the last moments spent in his cell and his beginings in Congo. After this point the novel becomes really good and graphic and you can see its well researched in regards to both Congo and Peru....more
**spoiler alert** This is the go to book for understanding the slave trade.
It describes literally every issue regarding the slave trade with the cente**spoiler alert** This is the go to book for understanding the slave trade.
It describes literally every issue regarding the slave trade with the center position being the slave ship. The book describes how slave ships were being built in UK and USA , how they were fitted and retrofitted to stow , carry , comtain , feed , discipline , kill both slaves and sailors. We meet the actors : the slaves , the sailors , the captains ,and the ones that made everything possible , the merchants. It describes the africans , their socieites , relations and even testimonies on how they got kidnapped and forced to walk even 1000 miles from inside the continent to the sea. Getting on a slave ship for a black was "The point of no return" as none (besides some notable exceptions) would ever get back to their homeland.
How a voyage would go :
Basically you have one merchant that pays up to 300k usd (today money) builds a ship , finds a captain. The captain goes to the docks and fools some sailors or gets them out of jail in return for manning the ship.
The ship then is loaded with food , wine, rum, weapons and trade manufacuturing items to be traded for slaves in Africa.
The ship sails from UK to one of the 7 regions of Africa at the Atlantic (Senegambia, Windeard and Gold coast - Ghana today , Bight of Benin , Bight of Biafra - East Nigeria , Congo , Angola) . This is known as the Outward Passage
It stays on the coast for several months to gather slaves. (Waiting for black merchants/milititas to bring "war prisoners" as they would call them when in reality the people broughht were mostly kidnapped from their villages).
Slaves are mostly villagers that are kidnapped by other tribes and sold to european ships for rum and weapons.
When the ship is full it heads to Caraibbean or US colonies in the hardest part of the voyage known as the Middle Passage.
Upon reaching "the New World" slaves are sold and unloaded. The ship goes back to the UK in what was known as the Homeward Passage. The captain and the mates collects his pay and also stake, the remaining sailors drink their money in the next 3 weeks.
You basically get a triangular global trade. UK merchants and US ones fund the voyages. The ships bring the workforce from Africa to the plantations of cotton and sugar in US and Carraibbean. Many times the money from these pkantations goes into building new ships and nee voyages and you get a self-reinforcing circle.
During the voyage somewhere around 11% of the "cargo" perishes. A ship carries 1 slave per ton usually, and a medium sized ship has 200-300 tons.
Its needless to talk about the horrific lives of the negroes kidnapped in Africa.
What amazed me was how wretched the life of the common sailor was , many times worse than that of the slaves.
Sailors would be beaten to death and malnourshied and many times left to die on the Middle Passage just for the captaim to get their money.
This book is an enciclopedia of the slave trade in its heyday during the 18 century i would've given it 5 stars if the author didn't put so many stories and a little politically corectness here and there.
The fact is , the white man was not the only one that should be put to blame for this trsgedy. Blacks would enslave blacks and kidnap them for weapons , rum and manufacturing items, also arabs....its a collective fault....more
**spoiler alert** This is one of the best action-adventure-war packed material i have ever read , and the crazy part is that its all there , its real **spoiler alert** This is one of the best action-adventure-war packed material i have ever read , and the crazy part is that its all there , its real , every bit happened as it was , coming from the reports of the participants (mostly SAS Rhodesian forces).
For the gamer readers, this is some real life Farcry (pc game saga). Highly trained exceptionally motivated operatives facing opponents orders of magnitude greater , deep behind enemy lines , a report full of sabotaging , assaults, antitracking , hunting.
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was founded by South African colonists in 1890 and flourished immensely in the span of not even 50 years.The country similar to South Africa prospered under white rule having build modern infrastructure , modern services and its people(including the blacks) living a decent and peaceful life.
Despite the fact that its soldiers proved themselves time and time again in special operations for Great Britain during WW1 , WW2 , Korea , the brits were some asshole backstsbbers.
Starting with the 60's The Brits wanted to get rid off their aura of colonialists and paddled forth to give all their former colonies independence. In the case of Rhodesia this obsession with cleaning out white rule proved one of their biggest mistakes for the time to come. They backed Robert Mugabe leader of revolutionary armies which in fact were terrorist organizations killing unarmed white farmers throughout the country (ZANU, ZANLU, ZIPRA).
British diplomats as well as high profile leaders, including Margaret Thatcher, just didn't care Mugabe's men were murdering innocent farmers and entire families , butchering small kids... All they saw was "white rule must go".
Therefore Rhodesians declared independence and started a long bush war which would last almost 14 years (1965-1979) against huge overwhelming odds against thousands and thousands of terrorists coming from most neuighbouring countries like Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana.
The west put embargoes on Rhodesians while the terorrists were heavy receivers of Soviet help in the help of weapons , training , food .
Depsite all this , Rhodesian SAS operators won every single fight using remarkable bushcraft , tracking , persistence , zeal , courage and ingeniunity. These men would carry tens of kgs of equipment in everything worse Africa can offer (heat, humidity, giant predators, snakes) and behind enemy lines operations , marching tens of kms daily sometimes without/or with scarce water and food , always heavilly outnumbered and outgunned , with militias on their rear trying to find and eliminate them.
Probably one of the most impressive battles was 150 SAS troops invading a 10000 strong terrorist camp and efeectively obliterating it.
Rhodesians won every battle and lost the war due to political incompetence of their superior political stuff which bended the knee to the brits...which endorsed Mugabe. Now the country having all whites deported or left is in shambles , basic services are nowhere in sight, another failed state.
A sad story in the end but a wonderful book ! I learned a quite alot about life in the Zambezi basin, history and geopolitics of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia , a bit of Tanzania and quite alot about the portugesse rule as well as its downfall of Mozambique....more
First 40% of this book is literally the history of the microchip, starting with the first transistor in late 50's designed by Shockley, tOutstanding !
First 40% of this book is literally the history of the microchip, starting with the first transistor in late 50's designed by Shockley, then mass produced in emerging companies like Texas Instruments and Fairchild initially for the Pentagon's guided missles used in Vietnam war then for general use.
We then hit the 60-70's when America outsources its production to Japan and loses its grip on memory chip DRAM technology. 3 engineers leave Fairchild and create Intel. In the 80's Intel loses market share to Japan which learned to integrate chips in consumer electronics (radios , walkman) via companies like Sony and Sharp.
Late 80's Intel gambles and leaves DRAM market and together with IBM and Bill Gates MSFT devise an alliance around IBM computers , running Windows OS , powered by Intel's x86 microchip architecture. This will dominate the next 30 years.
We also get to see how the smartphone arena changed the balance of pwoer from USA to Taiwan and how Intel refused to produce custom chips for the emerging Apple , thus throwing away a huge opportunity for divestment.
We get to understand the different types of chips (memory , logic and analog) and who specializes in what as well as the complex procedures required to.build a chip (design, production and assembly) and learn why everything now is centered around Taiwan's TSMC behemoth.
The transistor lessons are above par , as well as the complex machinery needed to build it nowadays via the process of litography , and why only Netherlands's ASML can do it (using no less then 460k parts ) including high precision lasers from Germany's Trumpf which in turn uses Carl Zeiss optics.
There are so many things explained regarding transistors , cpu's , memory , supply chains , the companies that design ,produce and consume (Intel, AMD, Nvidia, ARM, Micron , Huawei , Samsung , Apple) , world gonverments, USA trade war with China and the banning of Huawei....
This book is literally a compact enciclopedia involving topics such as history , electronics , science , politics , warfare and everything that has to do with microchips which is the new world's gold standard. Besides developers , and electronic nerds, people into tech and not only will find this book mind blowing !...more
**spoiler alert** There is no book i have read more penetrating both in depth and breadth on the internal workings of diplomacy, geopolitics and inter**spoiler alert** There is no book i have read more penetrating both in depth and breadth on the internal workings of diplomacy, geopolitics and international relations of the last 200 years like this one.
I knew Kissinger was a genius on foreign policy during Nixon's administration, but i didn't know he was such a world caliber historian.
The book starts explaining the difference between personal interest and the national interest and invokes the case of cardinal Richelieu during the 30 years war, who, despite being a staunch catholic, he departed from his beliefs and did whatever was necessary for his country's security , adopting a strategy known as "Raison d'etat" or national interest , playing his enemies between themselves.
The book covers most of the 19 century after Napoleon's defeat with all its crises , the perennial players : Austro Hungary , Ottomans, Germany (Prussia) , Russia , UK , Italy and the intricate web of relationships and reasoning behind their leaders. Special attention is given to the buildup of events which have led to world war I , buildup which started with the Crimean War dismantling Metternich's "concert of Europe", continuing with Italy reunification and the fatal year of 1870 when France was defeated at Sedan becoming a mortal enemy of the reunified Germany, seeking from then on to envelop the latter through an Alliance with Russia.
The book then moves to the 20 century covering the interesting parts of the pre WW1 dynamics of Europe , Germany's reemergence in the interwar period and then continues for the rest of the book with USA and USSR struggle during the cold war and the crises that have shaped american way of throught and as well as foreign relations. ( Berlin Blockade , Korea War , Vietnam , NATO and EU formation). Very thorough analysis of Teddy Roosevelt , Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan presidencies, the rise of China to world power , and the triangle Washington-Beijing-Moscow during the Brezhnev era , the fall of USSR during Gorbachev and Reagan's tenures.
Nowadays many people see Americans as stupid and naive in their decisons , but they just didn't have experience in foreign policy, and thus lacked flexibility during the last century. They learned like all great powers that any advantage evaporates in time and there can only be so much to be done until overextension and erosion .
Americans are witnessing now in the 2020's the same thing France had after Napoleon , Britain at the end of the XIX century and USSR in the late 80s , which is exhaustion and decay, something that for me looks irreversible....That is, the juice , the energy of a nation can't flow forever and it will be interesting to see how american idealism will have to shift to national interest, to stop caring about democracy worldwide and focus on domestic issues, how USA from a superpower will become one of the many nations of the world.
I would have loved an updated version on this book covering at least the 2010 and i would definetly wanted to know what Kissinger thinks of this multipolar world that is emerging, about new blocks like BRICS and the rise of African nations.
It is funny how France has been the arch enemy of a united Germany after the Franco-Prussian war and fought 2 world wars and even after to keep it in check, to in the end decide that its power projection and significance in the world stage would depend on its relationship with her eastern neighbour in the second part of the XX century and pursuing a policy of unification and consolidation of Europe (EU).
Its also interesting to think that North Korea might have not existed if America would press forward during the Korean war to the chinese border and would have incorporated Pyongyang. We would have no Kim Jong Un now. America stopped right before xomplete victory due to fear of a Soviet intervention (which was the last thing Stalin wanted).
Same thing happened in Vietnam war, America having a phase of idealism and global interventionalism followed by its own doubts and stalemating and crumbling on itself.
Super, collosal, hollistic undertaking. A must read for anyone interested in why countries act in ways that look unreasonable and how foreign policy is dictated....more
**spoiler alert** Dupa nenumarate dictaturi militare in anii 50', singura initiativa puternica de a transforma Guatemala intr-o democratie autentica, **spoiler alert** Dupa nenumarate dictaturi militare in anii 50', singura initiativa puternica de a transforma Guatemala intr-o democratie autentica, initiativa, care incearca, precum Taiwan-ul, sa imparta pamanturile in parcele si sa le distribuie cetatenilor de rand pentru a facilitata competitia si libera initiativa, este innabusita in sange de armate de mercenari internationali. Acesi mercenari sunt finantati de o America prost informata, o America care se lasa prostita de teama aparitiei comunismului la ea in ograda.
Basically coporatia United Fruit , cea care a adus banana in America de Nord si a facut-o "staple food in SUA" , corporatie ale carei activitati in Guatemala erau total neregularizate, de teama aparitiei legilor si a controalelor si evident a TAXELOR , provoaca zbonuri si stiri false cum ca noua conducere (care incearca sa aduca democratia in Guatemala) defapt este pro rusa si comunista. Guvernul de la Washington distruge orice sansa la democratie si stabilitate pentru Guatemala, inflacarand astfel spiritul revolutionar in tarile americii latine pentru deceniile urmatoare (inclusiv in Cuba) apropiindu-le astfel de Rusia. They basically fucked up big time.
O carte care imprumuta si se foloseste destul de mult de o opera precedenta a lui MV Llosa si anume Sarbatoarea Tapului ce descrie dictatura lui Trujillo din Republica Dominicana.
Desi personajele nu sunt atat de contrastante, si ritmul si desfasurarea actiunii nu sunt nici pe departe atat de alerte precum cel din celalata carte mentionata, volumul de fata aduce claritate in ceea ce priveste situatia politica din Guatemala si America Latina a mijlocului de secol XX....more
1. When a country is in the initial phases of development it must focus on gardening agriculture. That means land has So a few ideas out of this book:
1. When a country is in the initial phases of development it must focus on gardening agriculture. That means land has to be redistributed equally so that all people have a right to compete. Garden agriculture is by a factor of 3 to 6 more efficient than industrialized agriculture output wise. It is not efficient in human hours , but guess what , when you have a poor country manpower is all you have in excess so gonverment must make use of it. Gonverment must start incentivizing people with fertilizers and freebies so that people produce more , food grts cheaper and somewhere along the way you start exporting.
2. Once you have a powerful agriculture then you start building industry. Gonverment must invest in the learning phase of manufacturing , must steal know how. It must be very careful not to join joint ventures with other international brands without stealing their know how. The key thing here is to learn as much as possible and to start having an EXPORT DISCIPLINE. This is the theme of this book. There is no other way a gonverment can know how good a company is then by checking its exports , my seeing how that company behaves in the world market and by setting export expectations for future freebies , if its conpetitive enough. It is a critical part since the entrrepreneur will always go on the easy path of real estate without creating value in the country. it is the duty of the state to incentivize and keep a tight leash on its high performing entrepreneurs. Gov must also start weeding losers and incentivizing winners.Along the years this turns to consolidation of great big firms that have huge leverage of said gonverment , but tat that point the country is already past development stage and does not make the discussion of this book.
3 Financial mechanisms: gov must hold banks so that it can continue funding industry while it is still developing. It knows the learning phase costs and the companies which are helped wont produce dividents for many years injtiailly but it is imperative to continue financing them. If state liberalizes banks , and invites private held funds and stock market , these will run away at first sign of trouble when financing a company in development , or will stop funding due to low yield.
These 3 points are more or less what this book is all about and it describes how countries from North East Asia (South Korea , Taiwan , China and Japan) have implemented these ideas by the book while countries of South East Asia. (Thailand, Malaysia. indonesia , Philippines) have fucked up one way or other despite starting alot better after WW2 both economically and politically wise.
A must read , an eye opening experience.
Now comparing this to my own country Romania to Ceausescu era, it looks like he didnt fuck up because he took loans and built stuff like industry and mangufacturing plants. He fucked up because he didnt focus on EXPORT DISCIPLINE, he didnt try to make the products he was developing better , he didnt focus on perfectioning them and making them sellable on the world market. He produced the same shit all over again along the years....more
**spoiler alert** While the book was not brilliant i'd say it was definetly good and worth it , to understand a bit more on this country that has been**spoiler alert** While the book was not brilliant i'd say it was definetly good and worth it , to understand a bit more on this country that has been plagued over the decades by a really trash , violent and abusing class of politicians and upper class.
A few points: - Colombia's geography is in such a way that it is really hard for the capital Bogota to assert , control and check what happens in the rest of the country. - Over the decades the two political parties have ruled in turn or together in one form or another over the country prioritising their own agendas and not giving a shit about the working class especially the peasants in the remote highlands - FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) was formed as a communist leninist political-guerilla movement that would oppose gonverment abuses and fight against class inequality. Some of their main goals have not changed from their incpetion: redistribution of land to the peasants , nationalising the state resources especially oil and energy. - Over the decades the guerilla has fought a bloody war first against the national army, then against paramilitaries sponsored by the government and later by the US - who wanted to gain easy access to the vast resources of the country. - The US , the Bogota gov , the paramilitaries have tried by any means thus violating a huge number human rights to eradicate the guerilla movement. All proved to be in vain eventually , because the roots of the problem (inequality) have never been addressed , therefore the poor class has always found a better alternative to join the FARC and actively support them. - In need of revenue FARC got heavily involved in the cocaine business , as the middle men between the poor farmers and the drug cartels. They would set a fixed price per kg of coca and act on behalf of the farmers not to grt extorcated. - After nearly 70 years and a lot of bloodshed , after many presidents , all adopting an aggresive stance towards the guerilla , the problems have remained the same. The guerillas are fighting with rudinentary weapons attacking nowadays foreign oil corporations setting shop in the oil rich areas , blowing up pipelines and planting land mines across huge spots of land. - Despite the huge number of colltateral damage and incredible number of civilian deaths , no the politicians try relentlessly to keep everything under the rug , to pay paramilitaries to do their dirty work thus killing , raping , torturing and displacing civilians in order to root out the guerilla , failing to address the socio-economical issue , the elephant in the room.
A really really sad situation , and a total surprise for me , hoping post Narco Era Colombia would get their shit together. -...more
**spoiler alert** Este de departe cea mai buna carte de istorie pe care am citit-o in ultimii 3 ani. O capodoera a geopoliticii orientului mijlociu. Bai**spoiler alert** Este de departe cea mai buna carte de istorie pe care am citit-o in ultimii 3 ani. O capodoera a geopoliticii orientului mijlociu. Baiatul asta a intrat atat de adanc in acest conflict armat de m-a dat pe spate. Pagini intregi de descrieri ale luptelor in provinciile iraniene , in muntii Iraqului , in Golful Persic , cu descrieri devastatoare ale efectivelor militare , ale tacticilor, ale armelor folosite , provenienta lor.
Se prezinta lupte terestre , bombardamente , batalii navale, contraspionaj , precum si eforturile sustinute in diplomatie cu marile puteri precum URSS , SUA , tarile golfului,Europa , China si Korea de Nord. Efectiv cartea este una holistica si te trece prin toate , iar proverbul "Dusmanul de azi este prietenul de maine" vine la tanc in acest context.
In ce carte de istorie afli ca Israelul a livrat si sustinut schimburi comerciale militare cu Iranul mult timp dupa radicalizarea sa , odata cu venirea lui Khomeini.
Un alt fact fain: toata tevatura din Liban , cu "lupta" lor de rezistenta impotriva vestului si a Israelului , a fost doar un mod al Iranului de a pune presiune pe tarile europene (cu precadere Franta) in isi opri sustinerea militara a lui Saddam Hussein , folosind astfel cu succes razboiul asimetric (atentate, luare de ostatici).
Franta a fost efectiv cea mai mare tarfa a Europei, ca nu pot sa ii zic altfel , cea care a jucat la ambele capete , care a inchis ochii la atacuri teroriste in propria capitala doar pentru a putea livra mai multe arme.
Un razboi total , unde armele chimice au fost folosite ca bomboanele de catre Irakieni , apoi folosite asupra propriei populatii kurde. In tot acest timp Iranul la randul sau a dus un razboi pe 3 fronturi: intern pe plan politic intre comunisti , fundamentalisti si cei pro vest , regional : minoritatile azere, balochistaneze si kurde facand atentate si bineinteles cel cu Irak-ul lui Saddam Hussein.
Este o carte superba pentru amatorii de istorie si geopolitica , iar faptul ca autorul a stat si a agregat si sintetizat sute de ore de casete audio inregistrate de Saddam Hussein , ar trebui sa fie o dovada clara a calitatii si veridicitatii faptelor prezentate.
A great book for understanding Iran from the 40s till the present day.
Some key points i've learned: - Mohammad Mossadeq the premier of Iran , the greatA great book for understanding Iran from the 40s till the present day.
Some key points i've learned: - Mohammad Mossadeq the premier of Iran , the great man of the people of the 50's was not actually coup-ed by US but by his own compatriots , due to his inability to resolve the largest legal oil fiasco between the then operating british oil company AIOC and Iran. He came to power through the people , but the people devoured him - the Shah of Iran was a man that would accumulate as much pwoer as possible but would retreat and let others take responsibility when the going would grt tough. He was a really lame leader on internal politics. He tried to modernize Iran and rightfully managed to in a way (building hospotals , universities and infrastructure) , he was the first monarch to distribute land to the masses. This being said he never let the masses interfere in politics, during his tenure meritocracy was at its lowest point... This is one of the main reason people started to hate him. -On the other hand the shah was a master of foreign policy , being a friend of USA , while selling oil at high prices to Russia, befriending arab states while being a friend and trade partner with Israel - USA has supproted the shah during his reign but has always tried to make him do internal reforms for his country. Truman , Eisenhower , Kennedy , Johnson and all their administrations tried as much as possible to quell his thirst for weaponry and make him focus on his people.
The most important and interesting part of the book of course was the begining of the end , the era of Khomeini. The way this dude manage to be everything for everybody , disgracing the shah and galvanizing the clergy , bazaar and students against the shah whose reforms benefitted many. Khomeini was an ambitious ruthless yet had a chameleonic speech.
His policy was no policy , he promised pardoning of all his enemies , yet as soon as the revolution was succesful the wave of summary trials started and waves of people got murdered with the even now present accusation of "corruption on earth" . This basically meant a sham of a trial of 10-15 minutes followed by the accused getting shot in the back of the neck. Khoemini sent countless people to their deaths , starting ironically with the ones that have helped him along the way.
A great book. Its a 4/5 because i found the period of 1945 to 1953 (Mossadeq reign and the shah quite off the stage) quite boring as in happenings , not authors writing.
**spoiler alert** Julian was what i would call a genius, an enlightened monarch,so way ahead of his time, like a Nikola Tesla of our time.
Its painful **spoiler alert** Julian was what i would call a genius, an enlightened monarch,so way ahead of his time, like a Nikola Tesla of our time.
Its painful almost to see such an intelligent , compassionate , resourceful young man dealing with the stupidity, gore and lack of interest for himan life of that era, with his intelligence He tried unsuccesfully to convince proto christians with facts and philosophy that its not ok to enforce their religion upon everyone by force christians-which were such a unyieldly,troublesome,murderous lot in the IV century AD.
Even though by birth i am a christian , the hypocrisy of christians is enormous in this text and i must confess it has shaken my view on centralized religion.
I am totally ok with democracy and reaching consensus in everything from relationships , state affairs , law ...etc but i find it damn hard to respect what a bunch of people congregated and decided what the customs and traditions are for centuries to come , and enforcing these customs by force (many scriptures which were better suited burned and their writers deemed blasphemous)
Christianity basically didnt bring anything new to the table , its just a mix of local religions continously changed so that it was able to convert all the populations of the empire.
For example even the ritual of drinking wine and eating bread of the saviour was stolen from The Cult of Mithras.
The term of fathers stolen from Zarathustra.
I find it pretty damn disconcerting to follow the customs of a religion that came to be only by using sheer force and dominance over the others and to believe in something that came to be through murder and opportunism not through the sheer truth.
The best parts of the book were Julian's debates with the episcopes over christandom vs hellenistic gods where you can actually see the christians have no spine , no truth , changing everything in order to suit them.
For example publicly rejecting Plato,Homer and other great authors and deeming them the devil , while using their operas in their monasteries and schools in order to educate young people and to make the religion more atteactive.
I can't stand double standards !
The book is great , Julian is a terrific writer , with an outstanding clarity of thoughts.
I got to see the roman society of the IV century AD in its entirety as well as Rome's traiditonal enemies like Germans or Sassanians.
**spoiler alert** Great book to familiarise yourself a bit with the politics of Indochina of the last century.
I didn't know much about the Khmer Rouge**spoiler alert** Great book to familiarise yourself a bit with the politics of Indochina of the last century.
I didn't know much about the Khmer Rouge , just that they massacred people in Cambodia. I wasn't expecting a regime so criminal to kill, enslave and work till death and have no pity for its own youth. The savagery portrayed in this book displayed upon children of all ages was beyond what i was expecting. Torturing children as young as 8 for not being able to work the ricefields, letting them die of starvation, malaria. This is mostly a drama about a generationt which was almost wiped out by the Khmer Rouge.
I also appreciated the chapters of the liberation, when Vietnamese military ('PARA' troops) entered Cambodia to free the population of oppressors, the same Vietnamesse which fought tooth and nail a bloody guerilla war against the Americans just a few years earlier. For americans the vietnamesse were the boogeyman, for the cambodians they were saviors.
I also enjoyed the regufee camps chapters on the border with Thailand, the cruelty and usury of Thai soldiers upon the poor Cambodian refugees.
This book was a another picture of Indochina for me besides the Vietcong movies and the Thai hookers/drugs stereotypes....more
"Daca maica-ta zice ca te iubeste , dute si verifica !" , aceasta este deviza unui adevarat jurnalist.
Cartea aceasta iti cam arata diferenta dintre ar"Daca maica-ta zice ca te iubeste , dute si verifica !" , aceasta este deviza unui adevarat jurnalist.
Cartea aceasta iti cam arata diferenta dintre articolele mizerabile scrise in ziua de azi bazate pe supozitii, interpretari ca sa nu mai vorbim de minciuni deliberate si cele scrise in era de aur a ziarelor intre anii 60-80'.
Omul asta a acoperit Razboiul din Vietnam (masacrele My Lai) , Afacerea Watergate , Submarinul Rusesc scufundat in Pacific si cautat de americani , Razboiul din Golf , Razboiul Impotriva Terorii, Crima Organizata din Chicago , a scris un urias volum despre matrapazlacurile lui Kissinger , l-a dat in Vileag pe Dick Cheney, a cautat sa inteleaga Orientul Mijlociu intervievand pe presedintele sirian , Assad (cu ocazia asta am aflat ca nu a dat cu gaz sarin cum se zicea) , pe conducatorul Hezbollah , Hassan Nasrallah , torturile din Iraq etc.
Este un jurnalist de talie mondiala pentru ca curajul, etica ,perseverenta, dedicarea si calitatea muncii sale sunt incontestabile.
A scuturat de-a lungul timpului Casa Alba , armata, Pentagonul , Congresul American . Oamenii intotdeauna i-au oferit ponturi si informatii pentru ca stiau ca etica lui este exemplara. Si-a protejat sursele cat de bine a putut in ciuda presiunilor imense a tertelor parti implicate , a informat persoanele despre care scria articolele negative apriori , a cautat adevarul oricat de murdar si neplacut a fost , fapt ce i-a adus renume mondial precum si admiratia tuturor adversarilor sai .
Un moment ce m-a impresionat : cautarea soldatului ce a autorizat masacrarea a 100 de civili in Vietnam. Jurnalistul nostru l-a cautat prin toata America , a mers pe toate pistele de pe o coasta pe alta. Pana la urma printr-un lant de surse indirecte, mergand din aproape in aproape, i-a dat de urma intr-o baza americana. Nu s-a lasat pana nu a reusit sa se infiltreze in baza , l-a gasit pe un prieten al soldatului , l-a luat cu masina , iar acesta seara i-a facut legatura cu soldatul.A durat luni de zile cautarea , dar articolul ce a iesit a influentat politica americana din Vietnam , si probabil ca a inclinat balanta in favoarea retragerii. Ulterior visul sau s-a implinit si i-a fost oferita o slujba permanenta la ziarul sau de suflet The New York Times.
Daca a reusit ceva aceasta carte , este faptul ca mi-a intarit convingerea ca fac bine ca nu citesc ziare sau urmaresc stiri din surse traditionale, preferand site-uri controversate , precum 4chan, Liveleak , unde e la latitudinea cititorului sa filtreze tot ce citeste dar totodata este si locul unde apar informatiile nefiltrate de multe ori chiar de la sursa....more
**spoiler alert** Romanul de fata isi propune sa ilustreze viata unei femei virtuoase in Franta primei jumatati a secolului XIX.
Inceputul este repreze**spoiler alert** Romanul de fata isi propune sa ilustreze viata unei femei virtuoase in Franta primei jumatati a secolului XIX.
Inceputul este reprezentat de scena fetei naive , care, lasandu-se in mrejele infatuarii , se casatoreste cu un colonel de cavalerie din armata lui Napoleon ( in ciuda rugamintilor si pledoariei blandului si batranului sau tata) colonel a carui mediocritate respectiv moravuri usoare ii vor fura anii tineretii , si destin al copilului zamislit , o va urmari toata viata ca un efect de bumerang l
Ca cititori o vom urma in calatoria sa prin viata de-a lungul primei jumatati a secolului XIX , plina de suferinta , durere , melancolie dar si dragoste , iubire , virtute si compasiune.
Mi-se pare fenomenal modul in care autorul zugraveste universul interior al acestei femei , si tulburarile launtrice la care este supusa , precum si numeroasele portrete ale ei si ale tuturor celor ce intra in contact cu aceasta fiinta de o noblete rara.
Din cartea aceasta , ideea cu care am ramas este ca profunzimea si complexitatea femeii sub toate aspectele se naste abia la varsta de 30 de ani , moment , cand a carei existenta a fost marcata deja de marile drame respectiv bucurii ale vietii.
Recomand cu caldura !
P.S E primul meu roman de Balzac si clar voi mai servi !...more
**spoiler alert** The reason this one gets such a low score is me rising the bar very high for Horrible Histories books.
I know what and how Terry Dear**spoiler alert** The reason this one gets such a low score is me rising the bar very high for Horrible Histories books.
I know what and how Terry Deary writes and and i am really big fan of him , however as a critical reader i consider this volume below par ; though it probides valuable ideas and gimmicks from WW2 i just felt it was hollow compared to oher titles.
I felt like this book just tip toed around such a huge event in the history of man kind....more
**spoiler alert** Ce stiam despre ceceni apriori: - popor mandru , dur , darz aflat la periferia Federatiei Ruse in Caucaz - luptatori deosebit de iscus**spoiler alert** Ce stiam despre ceceni apriori: - popor mandru , dur , darz aflat la periferia Federatiei Ruse in Caucaz - luptatori deosebit de iscusiti , cu doar cateva mii din randurile lor , ISIS aproape reusise sa il invinga pe Assad in Siria pana sa intervenina Putin in 2015 - teroristi de meserie , nemernici ce au omorat o gramada de nevinovati in multiple atentate incepand cu anii '90 si pana in ziua de azi (scoala din Beslan din 2004 in care au murit sute de copii imi vine in minte). - Rusia ii vede ca pe o leziune canceroasa la periferia sa , un popor de rang inferior ce trebuie izolat si ideal inlaturat.
Totul incepe cu Boris Yeltsin care castiga alegerile prezidentiale in anii 90 promitand independenta /autonomie pentru multiple foste republici sovietice. Printre acestea se afla si Cecenia al carei lider Dudayev a fost un fervent sustinator al lui Boris. In 1995 cand Cecenia isi cere dreptul la autodeterminare , Yeltsin trimite armata in Caucaz sa le scoata din cap "gargaunii".
Asaltul asupra provinciei dintr-o victorie sigura pentru rusi , se transforma repede intr-un razboi de uzura , razboi ce scoate la suprafata bestialitatea umana de ambele parti.
Autoarea da dovada de un curaj iesit din comun cand pleaca ca jurnalist al armatei in Cecenia. Acolo printre rafale de mitraliera ploi de obuze , sosele pline de mine , ea se strecoara dintr-o tabara in alta luand interviuri atat soldatilor rusi , a populatiei cecene , a liderilor rezistentei.
Acest demers continua pe parcursul a mai multor ani incluzand al doilea razboi cecen, ascensiunea lui Putin , reconstructia provinciei , viata distrusa a supravietuitorilor , patrunderea Wahabismului - forma cea mai extrema a islamului in randul tineretului , provenita din Arabia Saudita , abuzurile , torturile oamenilor liderului marioneta Razman Kadyrov si in general nimicnicia vietii.
Este o lume deosebit de dura , o lume in care familii intregi invinuite de apartenenta la o anumita tabara/secta religioasa sunt executate fara probe substantiale , copii care sunt luati noaptea din casele parintilor si nu se mai intorc niciodata , soldati raniti care sunt efectiv aruncati la gunoi de statul rus .
Pe langa faptul ca ni-se ofera o buna lectie de istorie a regiunii , cartea ofera o cronologie deosebit de solida , suprinde latura groteasca a umanului , precum si implicatiile social-economice , demografice , financiare si religioase ale conflictului.
O lucrare jurnalistica ce , clar , merita citita !...more
![The Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2008] Seierstad, Asne](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348082840l/3907410._SY75_.jpg)
Loading...
