What book are you reading?

Just finished reading this over the weekend.

Excellent book, meticulously researched and footnoted. Contains an informative primer on stakeholderism for those who aren't familiar with it.

 

I just finished reading The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel and the Fate of the Jewish People by Walter Russell Mead. Arc is a tour d' force of greatness, no question. Mead seeks to take the course of U.S. history as it relates to Jews and then Israel from just after the Civil War through 2022. Without serving as a spoiler, Mead effectively makes the argument that Israel's importance to the U.S. stems more from its military and economic success and power than it does to the impact of the "Jewish" or "Israel" lobby. Indeed, he very effectively belittles the impact of the lobbies asa being the equivalent of Star Trek's "vulcans;" an imaginary force thought to be creating a wobble in Mercury's or Venus's orbit. He states: "Not only does Israel occupy a "continent" in the American mind; Jews, at 1.9 % of the population...." in arguing that the focus on Israel is out of proportion to Jewish numbers. The contrast is even starker when compared to an estimated worldwide population at 15.7 million, 0.2% of the 8 billion worldwide population. What the author leaves out is that the Jews, historically, have had a disproportionate pull on the world psycho.

I do have my quibbles with the book: 1) there are lots of run-on and awkwardly constructed sentences; 2) the book illustrates the dictum in intro to Practicing History: Selected Essays by Barbara W. Tuchman, that it is hard to write good history close to the occurrence of events. It certainly was, and is; and 3) part of point II, the last two chapters, on the history of the relationship under Obama, Trump and Biden are not yet history given how recent they are.

While I do not accept 100% of the author's opinions, the book is an indispensable starting point of any serious analysis and understanding.

 

While I haven't read the book you reviewed, it kinda reminds me of Power, Faith and Fantasy: American in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, by former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael B. Oren. It's an outstanding history of America's oft-stormy relationship with the Middle East, and one I highly recommend:


https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/power-faith-and-fantasy-michael-b-oren/1100537533?ean=9780393330304

 

I am currently skimming back through a book I read years ago by Daniel J. Flynn:



I've actually enjoyed and appreciated this book much more the second time around than I did when I first read it. It's starts with the failed communist experiments at Jamestown and Plymouth and the religious communes (Labadists, Shakers, et al) that sprang up during the Settlement/Colonial Era. It then moves on to the utopian socialist communes that became a fad during the 19th Century (most notably Robert Owen's utopian collectivist fiasco at New Harmony) and then on to the late 20th-early 21st Century (the book was written in 2008 .

This is an excellent history of the American Left, albeit written from a conservative writer's perspective, so you won't find the author gushing over the likes of FDR, but it does cover a lot of history that a Leftist writer most likely would not cover (the long history of racism on the Left, Margaret Sanger and Woodrow Wilson's fondness for eugenics, FDR's observation that many of the programs his administration carried out during the Great Depression were similar to those carried out by the fascists in Nazi Germany and the communists in the Soviet Union, etc.). I'm currently on the section covering the New Left of the 1960s - something that has somewhat morphed back into the Old Left in recent years. I highly recommend it to Righties but I think Lefties would find it informative, too.

 

It was given five stars by many on Goodreads and I may yet read it. I have read a good chunk of Ally by the same author and that one is more recent. I do thank you for your suggestion, but I presume Oren plows much of the ground later explored in Ally. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

From the book under review, by Canada's former PM, Stephen J. Harper,Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age or Disruption, an excerpt:

Quite the tour d' force, the book amply reviews and summarizes American and, to a lesser extent Canadian sociology, philosophy and political history from approximately 1980 through a portion of the Trump era. He clearly styles himself as a latter-day Edmund Burke, an eminent political philosopher from shortly before the American Revolution through the late 1790's. Harper sees conservatism as pragmatic and flexible as opposed to atavistic.

This book is a short but highly accurate guide to the modern political era, and aptly explains how we wind up with Trump, for better or worse. I reluctantly give "five stars" and this is one such occasion.

 

I did not finish reading Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy by Peter Schweizer. Not that it was a bad book. I read selected chapters. Much of it is out of date, so that is not "on" the author. The problem with the book is it discusses the fact that many politicians, philanthropist and public figures are warm-hearted towards the poor verbally but live the lives of the rich and famous. To me there is nothing wrong with that. One of the examples that hits a bit closer to target is Edward Kennedy. He was an environmental advocate, except when the wind farms would sully his sight-line or sailing playground.

I would appreciate an updated version, if the author writes one. For example, BLM leaders do not truck with their constituency.

 

I just finished reading First Strike: The Exclusive Story of How Israel Foiled Iraq's Attempt to Get the Bomb by Shlomo Nakdimon. First Strike was not well-reviewed on Goodreads. There was criticism that it "dragged" and of the translation from Hebrew. I am giving the book "Five Stars" regardless. I am giving the book "Five Stars" regardless. I consider it a thrillin page-turner.

The author well makes the point without saying so directly that "diplomatic efforts" are useless against a determined enemy. Iraq was bound and determined to get "the bomb" and obliterate Israel. In the prevailing atmosphere of the late 1970's and early 1980's, oil could buy anything, notwithstanding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the U.N.

Nakdimon well makes the case that should not need making; Israel and similarly advanced countries must defend themselves. Words are not enough.

 

double post

 

GREAT book containing great insights - highly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. If you're into American History, this belongs in your collection.