Speed Week by S. V. Date

Speed Week by S. V. Date is a humorous novel about Daytona. This is in the vain of other "quirky Florida mysteries". There's more sex than satire but it is still funny and places. A well-connected family wants to build a racing themepark on the beach but the estranged wife of one of the members is responsible for blocking construction with a lawsuit. So they decide to kill her. However plans and counterplans crop up. This is my first book by Date I'll probably pick up others.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

Death and Life in the Tenth Century by Eleanor Shipley

Death and Life in the Tenth Century by Eleanor Shipley. This is a political and church history. Considering the title I was rather surprised that there wasn't any social history involving peasants and the like. The narrative is made up of short biographies of important players. There are sections on literature, painting, poetry and plays this is mostly based around religious themes. The eccentricities of some of the pope's do make interesting reading.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

The Indians and the heroic age of New France by Bruce G Trigger

The Indians and the heroic age of New France by Bruce G Trigger this is a very short booklet on the interactions between the natives and Europeans. The book describes the trading between the two groups as well as the political connections forged. Maps and illustrations are in abundance. There's a further reading section with comments. I think the description of the natives is a little on the idealized side. This was published in 1989 by the Canadian Historical Association and is a revised edition.

Recommend.

The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future by Vali Nasr

The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future by Vali Nasr is an excellent description of the historical background to the conflict of the Shia and Sunnis. Most of the book discusses Iraq but reference is also made to other areas in the Middle East particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia. Considering that President Bush apparently can't keep the two groups straight this is exactly the sort of book that American decisionmakers need to be reading. The challenge of the Shia is something that the Americans will have to deal with in the war on terror.

Highly recommended!

For more Iraq book reviews take a look at My Iraq bookshelf.

Inside the VC and the NVA by Michael Lee Lanning and Dan Cragg

Inside the VC and the NVA by Michael Lee Lanning and Dan Cragg is a study on the soldiers of the North Vietnamese. The book deals with training, tactics, logistics and recruitment. Most of the research was gathered from POW interrogations and captured material such as letters and diaries. The book is excellent at describing day-to-day experiences. There's an extensive section of excerpts from a survey sent to US personnel giving their opinions on the North Vietnamese. Unfortunately there are some strange choices. There's some gratuitous whining about campus liberals and the media which seems out of place and the book concludes with a summary of the Chinese Vietnamese conflict. I'm not really sure what this had to do with discussing the soldiers experiences.

Recommended with caveats.

For reviews take a look at My Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Partisan and Guerrilla Warfare bookshelf.

Was that so hard?

Burt steps down from the copyright committee. Now if they manage not to do something stupid for at least a year they can start to repair their image.

Update: Or maybe the change wasn't that big.

Essays on Strategy VI edited by Thomas C. Gill

Essays on Strategy VI edited by Thomas C. Gill is an essay collection originally published in 1989. These essays were selected from a competition the US government held. They are on various topics , SDI, US-Japanese relations, the role of Defense attaches, Soviet overtures in the Pacific region, US relations with Europe and Clausewitz in nuclear war. From this contents list it's pretty obvious that none of the authors believed the Soviet Union was about to collapse. Much of the debates here are of academic interest however some are still relevant to this day. Japanese rearmament as well as SDI are still hot button issues 18 years later.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

Famous Welsh battles: Where battles were fought, why they were fought, how they were won and lost by Philip Warner

Famous Welsh battles: Where battles were fought, why they were fought, how they were won and lost by Philip Warner this is part of the larger series on British battlefields. I previously reviewed the offering for the Midlands. The battles covered in this book starts with the conflict with the Romans. The strategies as well as descriptions of the various battles are clear and easy-to-follow. The bulk of the book consists of the various attempts of the English to take control of Wales. The invasion of Edward I is naturally discussed at length. There's also a nice short discussion of fortifications throughout the Middle Ages. The book concludes with the English Civil War battles and a brief mention of the aborted French invasion during the French Revolutionary wars. There are appendices providing excerpts from some primary sources. Strangely they're not in chronological order. There's also reference to ordinance maps [probably out of date this was published in the 1970s] as well as suggestions for visiting the sites. A further reading section would've been nice.

Recommended.

A little help to Calgary Catholic schools

With the news that the Calgary Catholic schools our polling the Golden Compass I figured I should help out by providing some more authors that wrote or did things not in line with the Catholic Church.

George Orwell anti-Catholic writings.
Charles Dickens had an affair.
Mark Twain was agnostic or an atheist my sources conflict.
Douglas Adams atheist.
Isaac Asimov atheist.
Dave Barry atheist.
C. S. Lewis Protestant who wrote an entire book mostly ripping on the RC.

Get moving those shelves won't empty themselves! I also find it quite ironic that in the article they're trying to claim this won't give the book more media attention. Also isn't it interesting that it was sitting there for 12 years and nobody said anything.

Note to commenters

If ad hominem is the best you can do then don't bother.

The system works

Parole board denies Robert Latimer's bid for partial freedom. Excellent!

Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel: The Book Nobody Has Been Waiting For by Michael Gerber

Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel: The Book Nobody Has Been Waiting For by Michael Gerber is the second humorous fantasy novel which pokes fun at Harry Potter. The headmaster is horribly killed and its up to Barry and his wife a bookworm with an overactive libido to figure out who did the deed. At the same time Barry is getting younger. There's also a subplot where their son tries to deal with the fact that he doesn't have any magical ability. The first book in the series did do some surprisingly touching characterization but there's none of that here. The humor has been ratcheted up and is even more over-the-top than the original. I still enjoyed this but not as much as the original. There's a third book which I'll be picking up eventually.

Recommended.

For more Science Fiction and Fantasy book reviews take a look at My Science Fiction and Fantasy bookshelf.

The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000 A.D. by James Reston Jr.

The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000 A.D. by James Reston Jr. is an interesting history of medieval Europe. Reston takes as his premise that Europe was under assault by various groups which led to an apocalyptic state of mind. He describes the threats as the Vikings, Moors, Hungarians and Byzantines. He is at his best when describing the complex politics between the different groups. Unfortunately the section on the Vikings is essentially summaries of Sagas without much in the way of skepticism. That criticism aside this is an excellent history.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

Later Stone Implements by Michael W. Pitts

Later Stone Implements by Michael W. Pitts is a very short work on Neolithic stone implements in England. This is part of a larger series on English archaeology. Their are illustrations of different tools on every page as well as information on locations and production. The issues of dating these artifacts are also described. This was published back in 1980 so some of the material is probably out of date. Interesting as an introduction all the same.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik is a wonderful fantasy/alternate history. Dragons exist and are used in combat. The book is set during the Napoleonic wars. A Dragon egg is captured from a French naval vessel. When it hatches it imprints on the ship captain Will Laurence. Because of this he is transferred out of the Navy and is sent for training with the Dragon. Much of the story is the interaction between the Dragon Temeraire and Laurence. Laurence must also grow accustomed to the different culture of the aviators. This is a superbly written book with wonderful characters. The combat is much like a combination of fighter and bomber aircraft. Some of the battle sequences are a little difficult to follow. One criticism is that the !aviator's culture seems to me to be too modern. This is a minor criticism that doesn't take away from the story. I've already ordered the next several books in the series.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.




For more Science Fiction and Fantasy book reviews take a look at My Science Fiction and Fantasy bookshelf.