en-US Tue, 06 Aug 2024 11:45:23 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 42364737 304 Clinton Fernandes 1925523799 Andrew 1
In Island off the Coast of Asia the author advances two major and somewhat contradictory claims. First, that the Australian government has pursued economic interests via its foreign policy. At times this has achieved economic outcomes at the cost of foreign policy goals. It has also tended to enrich private interests at public cost. There’s something to this argument and it’s a useful critique to make.

The second claim is, in Clinton Fernandes words, that ‘the organising principle of Australian foreign policy is to stay on the winning side of the global contest�� (p.2). What is this contest? No less than ‘imperialism vs anti-colonialism, developed vs developing countries, liberal democracies vs the rest�� etc.

The biggest problem with this book is not so much what it argues, but how it does so. For a start, it can’t seem to decide which claim focus on or how they relate to each other. Many a section begin by identifying the first claim but ending with an abrupt assertions that therefore the second claim must be true. Even when the claims contradict or have little relationship to the material at hand, everything is jammed, however awkward the fit, into the second thesis.

What first drew me to this book, but a key to its flaws is the desire to cover 230 years of history. To sustain both claims, Fernandes has to show an Australia which always prioritises private economic gain over legitimate security concerns, and which always moved with and within the West.
Unexplored but central is the fact that both claims assert the primacy of economics over security.
In the first case, arguing specific Australian private sector actors (almost never identified) control the government for their own profit. In the second case, pointing the finger at a network of Western governments who built an empire to enrich themselves and have shaped all their foreign and military actions to maintain it. Demonstrating the absolute consistency of these two claims of economics over security and private/international over national interests, and over such a long period is achieved only by galling intellectual shortcuts.

The first shortcut used is to argue by definition. We are told that for Australia, security has always meant ‘the economic interests that have to be secured against foreign competition��, and these are defined not by government but by unnamed ‘private sector�� actors (p.2-3). Therefore, whenever some public figure is talking about a security concern or when security instruments are used it must �� by definition �� be for private economic gain. There’s no real attempt to justify this position, and every time a Menzies or Howard is quoted as discussing a security issue, the author portrays them as acting in bad faith.

The second way Fernandes seeks to sideline security as a motive for action is simply to ignore it. The Cold War we are told was actually about western efforts to crush the desire for economic independence shown by communist movements in Vietnam, Malaya, Indonesia etc. All post-WW2 context, nuclear arms races and security dilemmas are scrubbed from the picture. Now, like the first claim, there is certainly a kernel of truth that countries like the UK, having used imperial power to establish favourable trade relationships, did not like their possible loss. But this book bounds �� evidence free- beyond this to claim that private enrichment this was effectively the only or underlying motive for decades of anti-communist struggle.

The net result is a book which is consistently frustrating in its handling of the material. Indonesia and America’s meddling gets a full chapter, but somehow the author has to beg a lack of space (footnote 2, p.104) for not discussing Konfrontasi. Even though this was perhaps the most consuming and difficult security issue Australia has faced since 1942.

Equally, the chapter on ANZUS concludes by declaring the alliance a failure and provides as evidence the following justification:
‘Australia remains relatively unimportant in U.S thinking. Only 1 per cent of US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks related to Australia. Australia’s share of the world economy is also one percent. It’s population is about 0.33 percent of the world’s total. From March 2009 to March 2018, US President Donald Trump tweeted 37,100 times, but mentioned Australia only thirty times�� (p.49).

Got that? ANZUS is a seven-decade failure because Australia is mentioned in a non-random selection of diplomatic cables about equivalent to our GDP size. Plus, the US President doesn’t tweet that often about us and our population is small. There is no attempt at analysing the pros and cons of the alliance, just this assertion of failure. It’s hard to know whether to laugh or launch the book across the room.

There are other major periods of Australian history which are oddly handled, and for which you can only presume that the need to prosecute the book’s second claim prevented a better re-telling. Take the issue of slavery. While Australia was not a slave owning society like the US or UK, there was genuine slavery on this continent. Aborigines were kidnapped to be seal hunters in Northern Tasmania, pearl divers in WA and chained labourers on farms, and Pacific labourers were dragged across the seas to work Queensland's farms. These are shameful episodes which ought to be better known. But most of these cases were brought to a halt by national elites as federal control and -somewhat ironically- the passage of racist laws such as the White Australia policy were enacted.

Fernandes however wants to prosecute Australia’s elites, and so these cases of direct slavery run by the broader society are overlooked in favour of a convoluted chain of guilt by association. Australia is tarred with slavery in his eyes because some UK families held slaves prior to the legal ban in 1807 and after its passage these families were compensated. In turn, some of these families or their descendants came to Australia. Therefore he argues, ‘despite the [Australian Dictionary of Biography’s] ADB’s silences, state based economic intervention and the use or threat of force established Australia’s prosperity, and maintained it�� (p.15). Even if you accept that the compensation link as damning, there is no attempt to show it either established or maintained the nation’s prosperity. It’s just asserted.

Part of my frustration with the book is I honestly don’t know what the author thinks Australia ought to do in terms of economic policy, either domestically or abroad. He rightly attacks the close relationship between state and business that existed in the first 70 years post-federation history as encouraging cronyism and poor results for the public. But after the removal of tariffs and deregulations in the 1970s and 1980s he attacks the distance and gap between public and private interests.

The book also swings between condemning a vast conspiracy by the private sector to control the government and defraud the public, to lamely suggesting Australia should have followed Norway in extracting higher taxes on its natural resources. I too would have preferred such a path, but is it really the dividing line between a fair or a corrupted system? Then you get the jaw-dropping suggestions that maybe Australia could learn from the Chinese Communist Party about a better approach to elite management of businesses in the national interest. Either way, the only consistent analysis seems to be that whatever Australia’s leaders did was both wrong and undertaken only to profit unnamed private elites.

The book also regularly contradicts itself. The Cold War was apparently a ruse to invade countries who only wanted to develop their internal industries free from western economic exploitation. Except somehow the Asian tigers such as Singapore and South Korea (not to mention Australia itself) who also pursued protective economic policies of high tariffs and import-substitution not only escaped invasion but were celebrated by the West. (Although Fernandes does imply that South Korea deserved to be invaded by the North in 1950).

Similarly, we are told that the politicians ruse of talking about security and raising fear while actually pursuing economic gain is necessary since the Australian public could never be told the true economic intent of the nation’s foreign policy. Until he describes Menzies or Hawke winning elections based on their explicit pursuit of economic goals through foreign policy. Australian foreign policy is entirely about staying on the ‘winning side��, until suddenly it’s pursuing its own ‘middle way�� and arguing with the US and UK while adopting different paths. Finally, the book’s title and opening sentence is about geography and its impact on politics and economics. These themes are then almost entirely absent from the following 223 pages.

To be sure not all of the book is woeful. The chapter on maritime law and offshore energy is very different in style, moving away from the broad brush to provide specific and detailed analysis of a smaller period. In so doing, it provides a good case for the book’s first thesis, showing how the pursuit of economic interests has at times harmed Australia’s regional partners, undermined its regional standing and that governments have not sufficiently differentiated public and private interests. I would quibble with parts of the interpretation and strength of claims, but it is a valuable chapter. Indeed it demonstrates clearly just how much better the book could have been if this was its approach from the start. Instead it feels like a very rough attempt to jam the often unique case of Australian history into the somewhat outdated core-periphery theories of international critical scholars such as Wallerstien and Chomsky.

The relationship between Economics and Security is a topic very much worth exploring. But mastering two major fields and the case study material is a tough ask. All too often, analysts from one field simply cherry pick from the other to find support for their already held positions. This book goes further and asserts the absolute primacy of one over the other using theories that are never really explained, and applied to material for which the fit is uneven at best and rarely if ever justified at length. Had this been a study of undue economic influences in recent Australian foreign policy it would have been valuable. But instead we get a book which is distracted by the attempt to unquestioningly apply questionable international theories and when the material doesn’t fit or can’t be identified simply asserts and blusters its way through. A missed opportunity.]]> 2.00
author: Clinton Fernandes
name: Andrew
average rating: 2.00
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2018/11/10
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
One of the big fads in strategic analysis recently is understanding the link between economics and security. This is an important relationship whose exploration can mutually illuminate, but as this book shows, if taken too far you can lose sight of both.

In Island off the Coast of Asia the author advances two major and somewhat contradictory claims. First, that the Australian government has pursued economic interests via its foreign policy. At times this has achieved economic outcomes at the cost of foreign policy goals. It has also tended to enrich private interests at public cost. There’s something to this argument and it’s a useful critique to make.

The second claim is, in Clinton Fernandes words, that ‘the organising principle of Australian foreign policy is to stay on the winning side of the global contest�� (p.2). What is this contest? No less than ‘imperialism vs anti-colonialism, developed vs developing countries, liberal democracies vs the rest�� etc.

The biggest problem with this book is not so much what it argues, but how it does so. For a start, it can’t seem to decide which claim focus on or how they relate to each other. Many a section begin by identifying the first claim but ending with an abrupt assertions that therefore the second claim must be true. Even when the claims contradict or have little relationship to the material at hand, everything is jammed, however awkward the fit, into the second thesis.

What first drew me to this book, but a key to its flaws is the desire to cover 230 years of history. To sustain both claims, Fernandes has to show an Australia which always prioritises private economic gain over legitimate security concerns, and which always moved with and within the West.
Unexplored but central is the fact that both claims assert the primacy of economics over security.
In the first case, arguing specific Australian private sector actors (almost never identified) control the government for their own profit. In the second case, pointing the finger at a network of Western governments who built an empire to enrich themselves and have shaped all their foreign and military actions to maintain it. Demonstrating the absolute consistency of these two claims of economics over security and private/international over national interests, and over such a long period is achieved only by galling intellectual shortcuts.

The first shortcut used is to argue by definition. We are told that for Australia, security has always meant ‘the economic interests that have to be secured against foreign competition��, and these are defined not by government but by unnamed ‘private sector�� actors (p.2-3). Therefore, whenever some public figure is talking about a security concern or when security instruments are used it must �� by definition �� be for private economic gain. There’s no real attempt to justify this position, and every time a Menzies or Howard is quoted as discussing a security issue, the author portrays them as acting in bad faith.

The second way Fernandes seeks to sideline security as a motive for action is simply to ignore it. The Cold War we are told was actually about western efforts to crush the desire for economic independence shown by communist movements in Vietnam, Malaya, Indonesia etc. All post-WW2 context, nuclear arms races and security dilemmas are scrubbed from the picture. Now, like the first claim, there is certainly a kernel of truth that countries like the UK, having used imperial power to establish favourable trade relationships, did not like their possible loss. But this book bounds �� evidence free- beyond this to claim that private enrichment this was effectively the only or underlying motive for decades of anti-communist struggle.

The net result is a book which is consistently frustrating in its handling of the material. Indonesia and America’s meddling gets a full chapter, but somehow the author has to beg a lack of space (footnote 2, p.104) for not discussing Konfrontasi. Even though this was perhaps the most consuming and difficult security issue Australia has faced since 1942.

Equally, the chapter on ANZUS concludes by declaring the alliance a failure and provides as evidence the following justification:
‘Australia remains relatively unimportant in U.S thinking. Only 1 per cent of US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks related to Australia. Australia’s share of the world economy is also one percent. It’s population is about 0.33 percent of the world’s total. From March 2009 to March 2018, US President Donald Trump tweeted 37,100 times, but mentioned Australia only thirty times�� (p.49).

Got that? ANZUS is a seven-decade failure because Australia is mentioned in a non-random selection of diplomatic cables about equivalent to our GDP size. Plus, the US President doesn’t tweet that often about us and our population is small. There is no attempt at analysing the pros and cons of the alliance, just this assertion of failure. It’s hard to know whether to laugh or launch the book across the room.

There are other major periods of Australian history which are oddly handled, and for which you can only presume that the need to prosecute the book’s second claim prevented a better re-telling. Take the issue of slavery. While Australia was not a slave owning society like the US or UK, there was genuine slavery on this continent. Aborigines were kidnapped to be seal hunters in Northern Tasmania, pearl divers in WA and chained labourers on farms, and Pacific labourers were dragged across the seas to work Queensland's farms. These are shameful episodes which ought to be better known. But most of these cases were brought to a halt by national elites as federal control and -somewhat ironically- the passage of racist laws such as the White Australia policy were enacted.

Fernandes however wants to prosecute Australia’s elites, and so these cases of direct slavery run by the broader society are overlooked in favour of a convoluted chain of guilt by association. Australia is tarred with slavery in his eyes because some UK families held slaves prior to the legal ban in 1807 and after its passage these families were compensated. In turn, some of these families or their descendants came to Australia. Therefore he argues, ‘despite the [Australian Dictionary of Biography’s] ADB’s silences, state based economic intervention and the use or threat of force established Australia’s prosperity, and maintained it�� (p.15). Even if you accept that the compensation link as damning, there is no attempt to show it either established or maintained the nation’s prosperity. It’s just asserted.

Part of my frustration with the book is I honestly don’t know what the author thinks Australia ought to do in terms of economic policy, either domestically or abroad. He rightly attacks the close relationship between state and business that existed in the first 70 years post-federation history as encouraging cronyism and poor results for the public. But after the removal of tariffs and deregulations in the 1970s and 1980s he attacks the distance and gap between public and private interests.

The book also swings between condemning a vast conspiracy by the private sector to control the government and defraud the public, to lamely suggesting Australia should have followed Norway in extracting higher taxes on its natural resources. I too would have preferred such a path, but is it really the dividing line between a fair or a corrupted system? Then you get the jaw-dropping suggestions that maybe Australia could learn from the Chinese Communist Party about a better approach to elite management of businesses in the national interest. Either way, the only consistent analysis seems to be that whatever Australia’s leaders did was both wrong and undertaken only to profit unnamed private elites.

The book also regularly contradicts itself. The Cold War was apparently a ruse to invade countries who only wanted to develop their internal industries free from western economic exploitation. Except somehow the Asian tigers such as Singapore and South Korea (not to mention Australia itself) who also pursued protective economic policies of high tariffs and import-substitution not only escaped invasion but were celebrated by the West. (Although Fernandes does imply that South Korea deserved to be invaded by the North in 1950).

Similarly, we are told that the politicians ruse of talking about security and raising fear while actually pursuing economic gain is necessary since the Australian public could never be told the true economic intent of the nation’s foreign policy. Until he describes Menzies or Hawke winning elections based on their explicit pursuit of economic goals through foreign policy. Australian foreign policy is entirely about staying on the ‘winning side��, until suddenly it’s pursuing its own ‘middle way�� and arguing with the US and UK while adopting different paths. Finally, the book’s title and opening sentence is about geography and its impact on politics and economics. These themes are then almost entirely absent from the following 223 pages.

To be sure not all of the book is woeful. The chapter on maritime law and offshore energy is very different in style, moving away from the broad brush to provide specific and detailed analysis of a smaller period. In so doing, it provides a good case for the book’s first thesis, showing how the pursuit of economic interests has at times harmed Australia’s regional partners, undermined its regional standing and that governments have not sufficiently differentiated public and private interests. I would quibble with parts of the interpretation and strength of claims, but it is a valuable chapter. Indeed it demonstrates clearly just how much better the book could have been if this was its approach from the start. Instead it feels like a very rough attempt to jam the often unique case of Australian history into the somewhat outdated core-periphery theories of international critical scholars such as Wallerstien and Chomsky.

The relationship between Economics and Security is a topic very much worth exploring. But mastering two major fields and the case study material is a tough ask. All too often, analysts from one field simply cherry pick from the other to find support for their already held positions. This book goes further and asserts the absolute primacy of one over the other using theories that are never really explained, and applied to material for which the fit is uneven at best and rarely if ever justified at length. Had this been a study of undue economic influences in recent Australian foreign policy it would have been valuable. But instead we get a book which is distracted by the attempt to unquestioningly apply questionable international theories and when the material doesn’t fit or can’t be identified simply asserts and blusters its way through. A missed opportunity.
]]> 49918684 Leading futurist Bob Johansen shows how a new way of thinking, enhanced by new technologies, will help leaders break free of limiting labels and see new gradients of possibility in a chaotic world.

The future will get even more perplexing over the next decade, and we are not ready. The dilemma is that we're restricted by rigid categorical thinking that freezes people and organizations in neatly defined boxes that often are inaccurate or obsolete. Categories lead us toward certainty but away from clarity, and categorical thinking moves us away from understanding the bigger picture. Sticking with this old way of thinking and seeing isn't just foolish, it's dangerous.

Full-spectrum thinking is the ability to seek patterns and clarity outside, across, beyond, or maybe even without any boxes or categories while resisting false certainty and simplistic binary choices. It reveals our commonalities that are hidden in plain view. Bob Johansen lays out the core concepts of full-spectrum thinking and reveals the role that digital media--including gameful engagement, big-data analytics, visualization, blockchain, and machine learning--will play in facilitating and enhancing it. He offers examples of broader spectrums and new applications in a wide range of areas that will become possible first, then mandatory. This visionary book provides powerful ways to make sense of new opportunities and see the world as it really is.]]> 208 Bob Johansen 152308751X Andrew 1
While I was initially optimistic, since I hold a Pragmatism-inspired dislike for the idolatry of ideas, there's little attempt to either justify Johnsen's critique of categories, or to explain how we might do better.

The book isn't even consistent. For someone who dislikes categories and pre-defined answers, he often highlights the importance of setting very clearly defined long term goals, and praises the CCP for their apparent long term plans. But if we're thinking 'full-spectrum', then surely a defined goal narrows our range of desire/acceptable outcomes?

Most of this short book instead is filled with ad hoc examples of his business consulting career, praising random people as full spectrum thinkers, and assorted claims about the importance of futures analysis.

The central idea is good, but the reader has to do most of the intellectual heavy lifting here.]]> 3.70
author: Bob Johansen
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:
We should not lock our thinking into pre-defined channels via easy categorization. Also Future analysis is good and should be done more. If you've read and mastered those two sentences, you now know the entire argument of the book.

While I was initially optimistic, since I hold a Pragmatism-inspired dislike for the idolatry of ideas, there's little attempt to either justify Johnsen's critique of categories, or to explain how we might do better.

The book isn't even consistent. For someone who dislikes categories and pre-defined answers, he often highlights the importance of setting very clearly defined long term goals, and praises the CCP for their apparent long term plans. But if we're thinking 'full-spectrum', then surely a defined goal narrows our range of desire/acceptable outcomes?

Most of this short book instead is filled with ad hoc examples of his business consulting career, praising random people as full spectrum thinkers, and assorted claims about the importance of futures analysis.

The central idea is good, but the reader has to do most of the intellectual heavy lifting here.
]]> 145625413 ��
The twenty-first century is experiencing a watershed moment defined by chaos and uncertainty, as one emergency cascades into another, underscoring the larger dynamics of change that are fueling instability across the world.
��
Since the global financial crisis of 2008, people have increasingly lost trust in institutions and elites, while seizing upon new digital tools to sidestep traditional gatekeepers. As a result, powerful new voices—once regarded as radical, unorthodox, or marginal—are disrupting the status quo in politics, business, and culture. Meanwhile, social and economic inequalities are stoking populist rage across the world, toxic partisanship is undermining democratic ideals, and the internet and AI have become high-speed vectors for the spread of misinformation.
��
Writing with a critic’s understanding of cultural trends and a journalist’s eye for historical detail, Michiko Kakutani looks at the consequences of these new asymmetries of power. She maps the migration of ideas from the margins to the mainstream and explores the growing influence of outsiders—those who have sown chaos and fear (like Donald Trump), and those who have provided inspirational leadership (like Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky). At the same time, she situates today’s multiplying crises in context with those that defined earlier hinge moments in history, from the waning of the Middle Ages to the transition between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era at the end of the nineteenth century.
��
Kakutani argues that today’s crises are not only signs of an interconnected globe’s profound vulnerabilities, but also stress tests pointing to the essential changes needed to survive this tumultuous era and build a more sustainable future.]]> 245 Michiko Kakutani 0525575014 Andrew 2 3.13 2024
author: Michiko Kakutani
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/21
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:
I wanted to like this, but it's ultimately far more descriptive of current trends than offering any unique or valuable framing of these well known trends. Strangely for a book reviewer the amount of books mentioned varies widely. The chapters with lots of references offer some great quotes and reading suggestions, but many others are strangely absent.
]]> 23462787
The Future of the Professions explains how 'increasingly capable systems' -- from telepresence to artificial intelligence -- will bring fundamental change in the way that the 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available in society.

The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' -- the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals. They argue that our current professions are antiquated, opaque and no longer affordable, and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few. In their place, they propose six new models for producing and distributing expertise in society.

The book raises important practical and moral questions. In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks, what are the prospects for employment, who should own and control online expertise, and what tasks should be reserved exclusively for people?

Based on the authors' in-depth research of more than ten professions, and illustrated by numerous examples from each, this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century.
]]> 368 Richard Susskind 0198713398 Andrew 5 3.62 2015
author: Richard Susskind
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 198678736 **A New York Times Bestseller**

'Co-Intelligence is the very best book I know about the ins, outs, and ethics of generative AI. Drop everything and read it cover to cover NOW' Angela Duckworth

Consumer AI has arrived. And with it, inescapable upheaval as we grapple with what it means for our jobs, lives and the future of humanity.

Cutting through the noise of AI evangelists and AI doom-mongers, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, he urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking and optimistic, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era.]]> 243 Ethan Mollick 075356078X Andrew 4
Well worth your time]]> 3.97 2024
author: Ethan Mollick
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/21
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:
The best guide to thinking about AI you'll find currently out there. If you follow Mollick's substack you'll have encountered some of the main ideas, but it's still an engaging and thoughtful read.

Well worth your time
]]> 197773418 Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.

Our current definition of “productivity�� is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers—from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe—Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,�� a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace them with a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> 244 Cal Newport 0593544854 Andrew 3 3.65 2024
author: Cal Newport
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 61242231
Acclaimed mathematician David Sumpter has spent decades pondering what we could all learn from the attitudes and mindsets of scientists. Four Ways of Thinking is the result. Combining engaging personal experience with insightful analyses of everyday conundrums and life choices - from how to bicker less with our partners to the best way to pitch to an unreceptive audience - Sumpter shows there are four easily applied approaches to our statistical, interactive, chaotic and complex.

With warmth and wit - and a tiny bit of number crunching - he guides us through all four, revealing how these tried and tested ways of thinking can change our lives. Along the way, he tells the inspiring stories of the ground-breaking mathematicians, biologists and rocket scientists who first put them into practice and transformed the world.]]> 336 David Sumpter 0241476208 Andrew 4 3.81
author: David Sumpter
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 125937631
The fiber-optic cables that weave the World Wide Web, the copper veins of our electric grids, the silicon chips and lithium batteries that power our phones and though it can feel like we now live in a weightless world of information—what Ed Conway calls “the ethereal world”—our twenty-first-century lives are still very much rooted in the material.

In fact, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials, from sand to stone to wood to metal. And in Material World, Conway embarks on an epic��journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.

Material World is a celebration of the humans and the human networks, the miraculous processes and the little-known companies, that combine to turn��raw materials into things of wonder. This is the story of human civilization from an entirely new the ground up.]]> 512 Ed Conway 0593534344 Andrew 4 4.48 2023
author: Ed Conway
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/14
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 121262967 A concise, reader-friendly overview of pragmatism, the most influential school of American philosophical thought.

Pragmatism, America’s homegrown philosophy, has been a major intellectual movement for over a century. Unlike its rivals, it reaches well beyond the confines of philosophy into concerns and disciplines as diverse as religion, politics, science, and culture. In this concise, engagingly written overview, John R. Shook describes pragmatism’s origins, concepts, and continuing global relevance and appeal. With attention to the movement’s original thinkers—Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead—as well as its contemporary proponents, he explains how pragmatism thinks about what is real, what can be known, and what minds are doing. And because of pragmatism’s far-reaching impact, Shook shows how its views on reality, truth, knowledge, and cognition coordinate with its approaches to agency, sociality, human nature, and personhood.]]> 296 John R. Shook 0262372177 Andrew 5 Clear and effective

An impressively clear introduction to Pragmatism as a philosophy. There are areas you will need to chew through, and some basic sense of who the main people are will help, but it impressively achieves its stated goal of introducing and exploring (and advocating) pragmatism as a philosophy.

Will have to check out others in this MIT series if this is in any way the standard. ]]> 3.55
author: John R. Shook
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.55
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/05
date added: 2024/02/05
shelves:
review:
Clear and effective

An impressively clear introduction to Pragmatism as a philosophy. There are areas you will need to chew through, and some basic sense of who the main people are will help, but it impressively achieves its stated goal of introducing and exploring (and advocating) pragmatism as a philosophy.

Will have to check out others in this MIT series if this is in any way the standard.
]]> 142402923 The secret to productivity isn’t discipline. It’s joy.

We think that productivity is all about hard work. That the road to success is lined with endless frustration and toil. But what if there’s another way?

Dr Ali Abdaal �� the world's most-followed productivity expert �� has uncovered an easier and happier path to success. Drawing on decades of psychological research, he has found that the secret to productivity and success isn't grind �� it's feeling good. If you can make your work feel good, then productivity takes care of itself.

In this revolutionary book, Ali reveals how the science of feel-good productivity can transform your life. He introduces the three hidden 'energisers' that underpin enjoyable productivity, the three 'blockers' we must overcome to beat procrastination, and the three 'sustainers' that prevent burnout and help us achieve lasting fulfillment. He recounts the inspiring stories of founders, Olympians, and Nobel-winning scientists who embody the principles of Feel-Good Productivity. And he introduces the simple, actionable changes that you can use to achieve more and live better, starting today.

Armed with Ali’s insights, you won’t just accomplish more. You’ll feel happier and more fulfilled along the way.]]> 304 Ali Abdaal 1250865034 Andrew 3 The focus on enjoying work as a basis for productivity is good. Though you can tell he struggled with the book. Once the basis idea is in place there’s not a lot else there. And I was surprised that for someone who may cite several scientific studies per video, each big idea had just one studied extrapolated to a long degree.
Better than your average entry in this genre though. ]]> 3.94 2023
author: Ali Abdaal
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
Charming as Abdaal’s work usually is.
The focus on enjoying work as a basis for productivity is good. Though you can tell he struggled with the book. Once the basis idea is in place there’s not a lot else there. And I was surprised that for someone who may cite several scientific studies per video, each big idea had just one studied extrapolated to a long degree.
Better than your average entry in this genre though.
]]> 28202 560 Louis Menand 0007126905 Andrew 4 The book could have been about 50-80 pages shorter however. There are long asides about the debates on slavery and race which are interesting but sit as only distant context to the focus of the book. Making it sometimes hard to know why you’re being told some information whether the central figure will pop up again later in the story or not. ]]> 4.07 2001
author: Louis Menand
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
A generally excellent account of the early American Pragmatists. Menand writes about ideas and intellectual debate with a clarity few public authors can match.
The book could have been about 50-80 pages shorter however. There are long asides about the debates on slavery and race which are interesting but sit as only distant context to the focus of the book. Making it sometimes hard to know why you’re being told some information whether the central figure will pop up again later in the story or not.
]]> 61898078
“This book is a triumph! . . . [A] magnificent retelling of the Greek myths.”―Alexander McCall Smith, author of the No. 1 Ladies�� Detective Agency series

“Move over, Edith Hamilton! Sarah Iles Johnston has hit the magical refresh button on Greek myths.”―Maria Tatar, author of The Heroine with 1001 Faces

Gripping tales that abound with fantastic characters and astonishing twists and turns, Greek myths confront what it means to be mortal in a world of powerful forces beyond human control. Little wonder that they continue to fascinate readers thousands of years after they were first told. Gods and Mortals is a major new telling of ancient Greek myths by one of the world’s preeminent experts. In a fresh, vibrant, and compelling style that draws readers into the lives of the characters, Sarah Iles Johnston offers new narrations of all the best-known tales as well as others that are seldom told, taking readers on an enthralling journey from the origin of the cosmos to the aftermath of the Trojan War.

Some of the mortals in these stories are cursed by the gods, while luckier ones are blessed with resourcefulness and resilience. Gods transform themselves into animals, humans, and shimmering gold to visit the earth in disguise―where they sometimes transform offending mortals into new forms, a wolf, a spider, a craggy rock. Other mortals―both women and men―use their wits and strength to conquer the monsters created by the gods―gorgons, dragons, harpies, fire-breathing bulls.

Featuring captivating original illustrations by Tristan Johnston, Gods and Mortals highlights the rich connections between the different characters and stories, draws attention to the often-overlooked perspectives of female characters, and stays true both to the tales and to the world in which ancient people lived. The result is an engaging and entertaining new take on the Greek myths.]]> 496 Sarah Iles Johnston 0691199205 Andrew 3 3.90
author: Sarah Iles Johnston
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
Great stories, though the writing is sometimes clunky. Best to dip in and out of rather than an A to Z reading.
]]> 4306637 283 Philip Delves Broughton 0670917761 Andrew 3
As a genre, I rather like accounts of students in specific fields & substantive reflections on those who are entering their field. My favorite among the type is Michael Ruhlman's The Soul of a Chef covering his time at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). What They Teach You at Harvard Business School isnt quite as charming, but there is an engaging and thoughtful tale, and Delves Broughton does well to bring the environment, people and educational challenge to life.

In my view, what makes journalistic tours of unusual communities interesting is the enthusiasm of the author for the material and field they are entering. Delves Broughton offers that through 2/3rds of the book and these are the most interesting sections. However as his own fortunes sour (he was one of just a handful of graduating students not to get an internship mid-way through nor job on completion), and with the post-script of the 2008 financial crisis, he turns into an open critic of the field.

His analysis is good and I generally agree with it, but as with any tour guide, the moment they turn critical of the animals in the zoo is the moment the fun stops. I'd rather a book which takes an explicitly analytical basis - Such as The Golden Passport by Duff McDonald - rather than the slow drift towards disillusionment on offer here. There's also a slight disconnect between the knowledge he gains and the critiques he later offers. Can a school be responsible for the failure of people who later in life make ethical or intellectual errors? Were their errors tied to what they learned at the school and the way the school thinks or other factors? Delves Broughton makes a partial attempt at connecting them - such as the hubris, the unquestioned assumptions behind the financial models - but these seem additions to his critique not central to it.

Still, we need more books about university life. It's increasingly a place where much of society will go, and we should think more seriously about how it works and what role it serves society. So this was a worthwhile read.
]]> 3.80 2005
author: Philip Delves Broughton
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:
This is not a textbook or MBA handbook, rather it is an account of two years in the classroom, and reflection on the role and impact of studying in such a prestigious location.

As a genre, I rather like accounts of students in specific fields & substantive reflections on those who are entering their field. My favorite among the type is Michael Ruhlman's The Soul of a Chef covering his time at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). What They Teach You at Harvard Business School isnt quite as charming, but there is an engaging and thoughtful tale, and Delves Broughton does well to bring the environment, people and educational challenge to life.

In my view, what makes journalistic tours of unusual communities interesting is the enthusiasm of the author for the material and field they are entering. Delves Broughton offers that through 2/3rds of the book and these are the most interesting sections. However as his own fortunes sour (he was one of just a handful of graduating students not to get an internship mid-way through nor job on completion), and with the post-script of the 2008 financial crisis, he turns into an open critic of the field.

His analysis is good and I generally agree with it, but as with any tour guide, the moment they turn critical of the animals in the zoo is the moment the fun stops. I'd rather a book which takes an explicitly analytical basis - Such as The Golden Passport by Duff McDonald - rather than the slow drift towards disillusionment on offer here. There's also a slight disconnect between the knowledge he gains and the critiques he later offers. Can a school be responsible for the failure of people who later in life make ethical or intellectual errors? Were their errors tied to what they learned at the school and the way the school thinks or other factors? Delves Broughton makes a partial attempt at connecting them - such as the hubris, the unquestioned assumptions behind the financial models - but these seem additions to his critique not central to it.

Still, we need more books about university life. It's increasingly a place where much of society will go, and we should think more seriously about how it works and what role it serves society. So this was a worthwhile read.

]]> 62347068 ��
“Everything you wanted to know about inflation but were afraid to ask.”—Mervyn King
��
“King’s lessons command our attention.”—Lawrence H. Summers
��
“Maybe you don’t think inflation is back for good. That is your right. But you’d be advised to read this book first.”—Stephanie Flanders
��
From investors and monetary authorities to governments and policy makers, almost everyone had assumed inflation was dead and buried. But now people the world over are confronting a poisonous new economic reality and, with it, the prospect of vast and increasing wealth inequality.
��
How have we arrived in this situation? And what, if anything, can we do about it?
��
Celebrated economist Stephen D. King—one of the few to warn ahead of time about the latest inflationary upheaval—identifies key lessons from the history of inflation that policy makers chose not to heed. From ancient Rome through the American Civil War and up to the asset bubbles of today, inflation stems from policy error, sovereign greed, and a collective loss of faith in currencies.
��
We Need to Talk About Inflation cuts through centuries of bad judgment and misunderstanding, offering a means to intervene now—so we can begin to tackle the political and social upheaval unleashed by inflation.]]> 240 Stephen D. King 030027047X Andrew 3

]]> 3.47 2023
author: Stephen D. King
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/30
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:
A good overview of an important topic. I'd have liked a little more theory to establish what inflation is. The author instead focuses on teasing out economic insights from 20th century political history (there's a few Roman references to justify the 2,000 years subtitle), and some general observations of the challenges diagnosing and responding to the 2021-2023 inflation squall (the book was finished in Jan 2023).



]]> 64645724
In his wonderfully stimulating book The New Leviathans , John Gray allows us to understand the world of the 2020s with all its contradictions, moral horrors and disappointments through a new reading of Hobbes' classic work. The collapse of the USSR ushered in an era of near-apoplectic triumphalism in the a genuine belief that a rational, liberal, well-managed future now awaited humankind and that tyranny, nationalism and unreason lay in the past. Since then, so many terrible events have occurred and so many poisonous ideas flourished, and yet still our liberal certainties treat them as aberrations which will somehow dissolve away. Hobbes would not be so confident.

Filled with fascinating and challenging perceptions, The New Leviathans is a powerful meditation on historical and current folly. As a species we always seem to be struggling to face the reality of base and delusive human instincts. Might a more self-aware, realistic and disabused ethics help us all?]]> 178 John Gray 0141999446 Andrew 1
This is a rambling, contradictory and pointless book. Gray does not know who he is arguing with, or care what they stand for, but he Does.Not.Like.IT. Instead of argument or analysis, you have an aging European writer memorializing earlier European writers as a way of decrying the present.

The closest the book comes to an argument is that having set up the straw man that liberalism had a totalizing global influence in 1989, Gray delights in highlighting the presence of alternate actors (mainly Russia and China) as somehow obvious proof that all liberalism has failed. Along the way he takes many a sideswipe at woke modern-day liberals, though he never pauses to examine anything they say.

Any editor undaunted by the famous name would have surely questioned the whiplash transitions that occur in Gray's 'argument'. In one case, he spends 2 pages describing the torture of a black US WW2 veteran in the 1950s, and then concludes by declaring modern liberals are evidence of racism rather than its cure. At another point he describes medieval Tibetan monks who could tolerate divergent views within their midst, and uses that to decry the inhumanity of modern western university campuses where no dissent is allowed (We here must take the word of the good Professor from Oxford with visiting positions at Yale and Harvard as evidence alone).

What really stands out however is just how tired the attack is. The modern state is too big! atheists are trying to create their own religion! Christianity is the foundation of all modern ideas! The west's decadent decline is right around the corner! Yawn.

We've heard it all a thousand times before on the op-ed pages, and sprinkling in some large
paragraphs of Hobbes amongst this pamplet of a book does not make it any more coherent. Indeed, Gray amusingly offers a quote of a piece he wrote in 1989 where he claimed the US was on the verge of collapse among economic decline and an uncontrollable crime wave. That the reverse was evidently true in the 1990s is not something he has evidently recognised, nor offset his evident glee in his pessimistic predictions of collapse in 2023.

Having seen others describe and praise this book I had genuinely looked forward to it. But The New Leviathans is a superficial and lazy book. Go find a young writer to engage with. At least then you'll know they've been edited properly.]]> 3.43
author: John Gray
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.43
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves:
review:
There should be an edict among publishers: The older and more esteemed an author, the greater the scrutiny and questioning that should be applied before allowing publication.

This is a rambling, contradictory and pointless book. Gray does not know who he is arguing with, or care what they stand for, but he Does.Not.Like.IT. Instead of argument or analysis, you have an aging European writer memorializing earlier European writers as a way of decrying the present.

The closest the book comes to an argument is that having set up the straw man that liberalism had a totalizing global influence in 1989, Gray delights in highlighting the presence of alternate actors (mainly Russia and China) as somehow obvious proof that all liberalism has failed. Along the way he takes many a sideswipe at woke modern-day liberals, though he never pauses to examine anything they say.

Any editor undaunted by the famous name would have surely questioned the whiplash transitions that occur in Gray's 'argument'. In one case, he spends 2 pages describing the torture of a black US WW2 veteran in the 1950s, and then concludes by declaring modern liberals are evidence of racism rather than its cure. At another point he describes medieval Tibetan monks who could tolerate divergent views within their midst, and uses that to decry the inhumanity of modern western university campuses where no dissent is allowed (We here must take the word of the good Professor from Oxford with visiting positions at Yale and Harvard as evidence alone).

What really stands out however is just how tired the attack is. The modern state is too big! atheists are trying to create their own religion! Christianity is the foundation of all modern ideas! The west's decadent decline is right around the corner! Yawn.

We've heard it all a thousand times before on the op-ed pages, and sprinkling in some large
paragraphs of Hobbes amongst this pamplet of a book does not make it any more coherent. Indeed, Gray amusingly offers a quote of a piece he wrote in 1989 where he claimed the US was on the verge of collapse among economic decline and an uncontrollable crime wave. That the reverse was evidently true in the 1990s is not something he has evidently recognised, nor offset his evident glee in his pessimistic predictions of collapse in 2023.

Having seen others describe and praise this book I had genuinely looked forward to it. But The New Leviathans is a superficial and lazy book. Go find a young writer to engage with. At least then you'll know they've been edited properly.
]]> 9700791
This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.]]> 176 Viktor E. Frankl 1846042844 Andrew 5
Such doctrines are not very popular these days. There is a perception that such approaches are only for privileged elites. That those who have to grind for their daily bread and who face structural discrimination must reject liberal notions of individuality, liberty and responsibility. Using the terms of one of the original existentialists, Friedrich Nietzsche, are these philosophies of the ‘Master�� which must be rejected by those who see themselves as the ‘Slave��?

In Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl shows this presumption could not be further from the truth. He was a prisoner of Nazi concentration camps for four long years, with just a 1-in-28 chance of survival. Frankl argues that it is precisely in such an environment you realise the essential importance of trying to create life’s meaning and accepting the responsibility to do so. Those prisoners who had meaning he observes, those who embraced their freedom to respond, even among some of the worst conditions any person has ever faced, had the strength to endure, to survive.

This book is an essay in two parts. First, Frankl takes one inside the mind of a prisoner in a concentration camp. This is a difficult, powerful read. An important reminder at this time as the world seemingly allows the ‘indecent�� men and women of the world (as Frankl would put it) more and more power and authority. Perversely it was the many petty displays of authority and bastardry, many from fellow prisoners who turned prison guard that Frankl recounts which affected me most.

In the second half, Frankl �� who went on to become head of the neurology department at the Vienna policlinic hospital�� describes his psychological school of Logotherapy. As he once joked, while Freud and traditional psychology tries to plum the ‘depths�� of patients to find hidden motivations and causes, Logotherapy is a ‘heights�� psychology asking them to find meaning in their past, present and future. This may obviously come through achievement, but just as vitally, it can come through experience �� even to suffer nobly when suffering is all you have left �� and finally through the power of love for another.

It’s hard not to read this book and see many contemporary parallels. A tendency I felt less guilty about given Frankl’s own explicit use of his concentration camp experience to discuss the trends of his own time. As he worries, people have enough to live by, but seemingly little to live for. Their bellies expand, while their minds and ambitions decline. In the 21st century a generation of young men across the world have become easy pickings for religious and nationalist fanatics who wish to corral them into their violent causes. Even for those who still hold down normal jobs, low-rent showmen such as Jordan Peterson have become rock stars simply for trying to encourage a sense of individual responsibility among their adoring fans.

Man’s Search For Meaning is however the real deal. A philosophy and psychology which I believe is of vast and widespread importance. Whether you consider yourself master or slave, oppressed or oppressor, we all must recognise the unchallengeable freedom each of us has, in every single moment to decide our attitude and how we respond to life. To embrace that freedom and the responsibility it equally carries, and to use these tools to carve a life of meaning.

Highly recommended.]]> 4.42 1946
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1946
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/28
date added: 2023/12/27
shelves:
review:
I’ve long been attracted to philosophies such as existentialism and stoicism. Their values of individual freedom, struggle and responsibility have always rung true for me. To become who you are, with all that entails, recognising that even in the worst of circumstances you retain the freedom and responsibility to decide how you respond.

Such doctrines are not very popular these days. There is a perception that such approaches are only for privileged elites. That those who have to grind for their daily bread and who face structural discrimination must reject liberal notions of individuality, liberty and responsibility. Using the terms of one of the original existentialists, Friedrich Nietzsche, are these philosophies of the ‘Master�� which must be rejected by those who see themselves as the ‘Slave��?

In Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl shows this presumption could not be further from the truth. He was a prisoner of Nazi concentration camps for four long years, with just a 1-in-28 chance of survival. Frankl argues that it is precisely in such an environment you realise the essential importance of trying to create life’s meaning and accepting the responsibility to do so. Those prisoners who had meaning he observes, those who embraced their freedom to respond, even among some of the worst conditions any person has ever faced, had the strength to endure, to survive.

This book is an essay in two parts. First, Frankl takes one inside the mind of a prisoner in a concentration camp. This is a difficult, powerful read. An important reminder at this time as the world seemingly allows the ‘indecent�� men and women of the world (as Frankl would put it) more and more power and authority. Perversely it was the many petty displays of authority and bastardry, many from fellow prisoners who turned prison guard that Frankl recounts which affected me most.

In the second half, Frankl �� who went on to become head of the neurology department at the Vienna policlinic hospital�� describes his psychological school of Logotherapy. As he once joked, while Freud and traditional psychology tries to plum the ‘depths�� of patients to find hidden motivations and causes, Logotherapy is a ‘heights�� psychology asking them to find meaning in their past, present and future. This may obviously come through achievement, but just as vitally, it can come through experience �� even to suffer nobly when suffering is all you have left �� and finally through the power of love for another.

It’s hard not to read this book and see many contemporary parallels. A tendency I felt less guilty about given Frankl’s own explicit use of his concentration camp experience to discuss the trends of his own time. As he worries, people have enough to live by, but seemingly little to live for. Their bellies expand, while their minds and ambitions decline. In the 21st century a generation of young men across the world have become easy pickings for religious and nationalist fanatics who wish to corral them into their violent causes. Even for those who still hold down normal jobs, low-rent showmen such as Jordan Peterson have become rock stars simply for trying to encourage a sense of individual responsibility among their adoring fans.

Man’s Search For Meaning is however the real deal. A philosophy and psychology which I believe is of vast and widespread importance. Whether you consider yourself master or slave, oppressed or oppressor, we all must recognise the unchallengeable freedom each of us has, in every single moment to decide our attitude and how we respond to life. To embrace that freedom and the responsibility it equally carries, and to use these tools to carve a life of meaning.

Highly recommended.
]]> 63292474
There's a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway guide beside each victim's body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover; and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill; then who will Victim C be?]]> 269 Agatha Christie Andrew 3 4.32 1936
author: Agatha Christie
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1936
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/07
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 16328
The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells�� before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on ŷ������.]]> 288 Agatha Christie 1579126278 Andrew 5 4.26 1926
author: Agatha Christie
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1926
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 42771901 232 Jenny Odell 1612197493 Andrew 4
Resisting our contemporary 'Attention Economy' is hard, but Jenny Odell has penned a beautiful series of essays on not only why, but how and to what end we should attempt to do so. Her goal, she stresses, is not simply to 'do nothing', and, though there's a slight ambivalence, nor does she want to smash the system, banning Facebook, TikTok and the others who profit from our attention.

Rather, while the structural factors certainly matter, Odell wants to stress the importance of the personal response. Of slowly learning the self-discipline to 'agree to attend' to the world. Not simply to avoid, but as an intensely political act of engagement with the things that are worth attending to. Community, nature, our own rhythms and potent creativity. To maintain what is valuable, first we must be able to attend to it, Odell wants to argue.

How to do nothing is a mixed book in some ways, exploring the question of attention at individual, social and environmental levels. In the first and third of those, Odell is a wise, humane, moving writer who teases out nuance and looks with fresh eyes at tired questions. I adored many of these meditations, and there's a clear authorial voice that can be clearly heard.

The social analysis however never quite seemed to work for me. Perhaps that's my own unwillingness to listen. I believe that the very virtues of local knowledge and humility are reasons why capitalism works, rather than the values lost in its wake. I find her San Francisco politics superficially appealing, and yet can't help but remark on its old style conservative sentiments. In search of security amidst a world of noise and confusion, Odell, like many progressives, wants to stress place, community and continuity. The tone also seems more black and white, as she reads and invokes a series of anti-capitalist books, taking their critiques as the obvious and whole story.

No matter. This is a wonderful book of many great insights and thoughtful conversations. I am slowly trying to get my head around the modern attention economy, and how knowledge workers such as myself can carve out space within it. Maybe James is still right. I hope so.]]> 3.68 2019
author: Jenny Odell
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/24
date added: 2023/02/01
shelves:
review:
"My experience is what I agree to attend to " wrote William James in 1890. That is still true, though many of us today feel the world 'agree' no longer holds primacy in that sentence. We find ourselves looking at our phones, we catch ourselves an hour later still scrolling, we can't get the noise of the world to stop for just the moment we need to catch our breath.

Resisting our contemporary 'Attention Economy' is hard, but Jenny Odell has penned a beautiful series of essays on not only why, but how and to what end we should attempt to do so. Her goal, she stresses, is not simply to 'do nothing', and, though there's a slight ambivalence, nor does she want to smash the system, banning Facebook, TikTok and the others who profit from our attention.

Rather, while the structural factors certainly matter, Odell wants to stress the importance of the personal response. Of slowly learning the self-discipline to 'agree to attend' to the world. Not simply to avoid, but as an intensely political act of engagement with the things that are worth attending to. Community, nature, our own rhythms and potent creativity. To maintain what is valuable, first we must be able to attend to it, Odell wants to argue.

How to do nothing is a mixed book in some ways, exploring the question of attention at individual, social and environmental levels. In the first and third of those, Odell is a wise, humane, moving writer who teases out nuance and looks with fresh eyes at tired questions. I adored many of these meditations, and there's a clear authorial voice that can be clearly heard.

The social analysis however never quite seemed to work for me. Perhaps that's my own unwillingness to listen. I believe that the very virtues of local knowledge and humility are reasons why capitalism works, rather than the values lost in its wake. I find her San Francisco politics superficially appealing, and yet can't help but remark on its old style conservative sentiments. In search of security amidst a world of noise and confusion, Odell, like many progressives, wants to stress place, community and continuity. The tone also seems more black and white, as she reads and invokes a series of anti-capitalist books, taking their critiques as the obvious and whole story.

No matter. This is a wonderful book of many great insights and thoughtful conversations. I am slowly trying to get my head around the modern attention economy, and how knowledge workers such as myself can carve out space within it. Maybe James is still right. I hope so.
]]> 60048804
But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “If any step is compromised, the threat will have to be quickly and permanently removed. There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows". But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. For when the threat is Reacher, there is No Plan B....]]> 336 Lee Child 1984818554 Andrew 3 4.01 2022
author: Lee Child
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/01/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 57877920
The Revenge of the Real envisions a new positive biopolitics that recognizes that governance is literally a matter of life and death. We are grappling with multiple interconnected dilemmas—climate change, pandemics, the tensions between the individual and society—all of which have to be addressed on a planetary scale. Even when separated, we are still enmeshed. Can the world govern itself differently? What models and philosophies are needed? Bratton argues that instead of thinking of biotechnologies as something imposed on society, we must see them as essential to a politics of infrastructure, knowledge, and direct intervention. In this way, we can build a society based on a new rationality of inclusion, care, and prevention.]]> 176 Benjamin H. Bratton 183976256X Andrew 3
Bratton's argument is two-fold. First, he argues that COVID has revealed the need for a radically different 'positive biopolitics', operating at a planetary level, in order to address both the pandemic and its future cases (or equivalent challenges such as climate change). In the face of such 'real' events, he argues we need far better efforts to understand, track and respond to the threats than we are currently able. He is quite explicit that this would mean government(s) with power to compel, surveil and if need be, compel, in order to protect the organism of society.

Second, Bratton realises that the biggest challenge to his argument is not the nutters on the right screaming 'PLANDEMIC!', but the academic left. Vast elements of the academy, especially those in the baby (boomer) generation, have imbibed a distorted form of Foucault that sees all power as illegitimate and unethical and all social structures as the illicit constructions of the powerful. As such, 'biopolitics', where we take the health of the species as an essential political concern, can only and ever be seen as a totalitarian movement (a claim far too many reputable scholars made about government plans for lockdowns and vaccines). The unhappy result has been a performative form of politics which is also a deeply conservative movement. Like other conservative movements of previous eras, this group considers itself smarter and more moral than its adversaries, and seeks to defend a comfortable position in the social hierarchy by misquoting sacred texts. 'Read your Foucault properly' Bratton pleads, though I suspect he knows its a lost cause for the time being.

'The Revenge of the Real' is a provocation of a book that still bears its birthmarks. Bratton sees western society as having fundamentally failed the test of COVID-19, while he praises the achievements of China. I'm not sure either claim is quite right. Across the world, the supposedly isolated individuals of western societies largely adhered to unprecedented lockdowns, in order to save their grandparents. Meanwhile, the economic, social and political systems, while clearly strained immensely, bent but did not break (arguably no worse than any other major crisis over the last half-century). And the China story was always one with an asterisk - how real were its figures, and how long could it stay closed to the world.

Personally, I can't endorse the substance of Bratton's views, even if i'm sympathetic in principle. This is partly because he doesn't really do enough to substantiate what that substance is. The book is as much an effort to clear space for his political argument, as an effort at the political argument. Bratton's biopolitics also seems to require a rather herculean, if not Utopian conception of the role of models to help us interpret society. Models have their uses, especially when it comes to some parts of society, but as any good modeler will tell you, 'every model is wrong'. So it's a question of how many models, how used, how evolved, and what you want to achieve which shape the ultimate value of models.

I am sympathetic however, because as a historian I see the trajectory towards global governance in both mindset and structure as moving in the direction Bratton urges, and generally to the benefit of humanity. As a utilitarian, I also have no problem with some of the requirements for imposition he seeks, even if I can't and won't endorse his broader attacks on individualism. And finally, as someone who values strategy, the essential question is always a diagnostic 'what is really going on here'. Bratton wields the 'realness' of the coronavirus like a baseball bat against his adversaries, but it is nice to see someone trying to actually grapple with an indifferent universe, when too many believe that absent coercive power we could construct any form of reality we wish.

Personally, I suspect we are victims of our success when it comes to COVID. The world did just enough to ensure society didn't break. Those expecting or hoping for a radical change will be disappointed, those who saw it all as an overblown effort at social control will feel vindicated, and those who dutifully sacrificed from nurses to healthy 19yr-olds who spent lost prime years of life, will never be thanked or recognised properly. But at some point we will need to think clearly about how we might do better next time, but we probably can't quite get a good perspective on what we've been through just yet.]]> 3.35 2021
author: Benjamin H. Bratton
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/13
date added: 2023/01/18
shelves:
review:
I've deliberately avoided most of the efforts to write about the COVID 19 pandemic. It was either too depressing (for work focused on the human cost) or too early (for work focused on the social implications). Bratton's book doesn't quite escape its mid-pandemic moment of conception, but it's a thoughtful and bold attempt to explore the implications of the pandemic for politics and philosophy.

Bratton's argument is two-fold. First, he argues that COVID has revealed the need for a radically different 'positive biopolitics', operating at a planetary level, in order to address both the pandemic and its future cases (or equivalent challenges such as climate change). In the face of such 'real' events, he argues we need far better efforts to understand, track and respond to the threats than we are currently able. He is quite explicit that this would mean government(s) with power to compel, surveil and if need be, compel, in order to protect the organism of society.

Second, Bratton realises that the biggest challenge to his argument is not the nutters on the right screaming 'PLANDEMIC!', but the academic left. Vast elements of the academy, especially those in the baby (boomer) generation, have imbibed a distorted form of Foucault that sees all power as illegitimate and unethical and all social structures as the illicit constructions of the powerful. As such, 'biopolitics', where we take the health of the species as an essential political concern, can only and ever be seen as a totalitarian movement (a claim far too many reputable scholars made about government plans for lockdowns and vaccines). The unhappy result has been a performative form of politics which is also a deeply conservative movement. Like other conservative movements of previous eras, this group considers itself smarter and more moral than its adversaries, and seeks to defend a comfortable position in the social hierarchy by misquoting sacred texts. 'Read your Foucault properly' Bratton pleads, though I suspect he knows its a lost cause for the time being.

'The Revenge of the Real' is a provocation of a book that still bears its birthmarks. Bratton sees western society as having fundamentally failed the test of COVID-19, while he praises the achievements of China. I'm not sure either claim is quite right. Across the world, the supposedly isolated individuals of western societies largely adhered to unprecedented lockdowns, in order to save their grandparents. Meanwhile, the economic, social and political systems, while clearly strained immensely, bent but did not break (arguably no worse than any other major crisis over the last half-century). And the China story was always one with an asterisk - how real were its figures, and how long could it stay closed to the world.

Personally, I can't endorse the substance of Bratton's views, even if i'm sympathetic in principle. This is partly because he doesn't really do enough to substantiate what that substance is. The book is as much an effort to clear space for his political argument, as an effort at the political argument. Bratton's biopolitics also seems to require a rather herculean, if not Utopian conception of the role of models to help us interpret society. Models have their uses, especially when it comes to some parts of society, but as any good modeler will tell you, 'every model is wrong'. So it's a question of how many models, how used, how evolved, and what you want to achieve which shape the ultimate value of models.

I am sympathetic however, because as a historian I see the trajectory towards global governance in both mindset and structure as moving in the direction Bratton urges, and generally to the benefit of humanity. As a utilitarian, I also have no problem with some of the requirements for imposition he seeks, even if I can't and won't endorse his broader attacks on individualism. And finally, as someone who values strategy, the essential question is always a diagnostic 'what is really going on here'. Bratton wields the 'realness' of the coronavirus like a baseball bat against his adversaries, but it is nice to see someone trying to actually grapple with an indifferent universe, when too many believe that absent coercive power we could construct any form of reality we wish.

Personally, I suspect we are victims of our success when it comes to COVID. The world did just enough to ensure society didn't break. Those expecting or hoping for a radical change will be disappointed, those who saw it all as an overblown effort at social control will feel vindicated, and those who dutifully sacrificed from nurses to healthy 19yr-olds who spent lost prime years of life, will never be thanked or recognised properly. But at some point we will need to think clearly about how we might do better next time, but we probably can't quite get a good perspective on what we've been through just yet.
]]> 269724 1098 Randall Collins 0674001877 Andrew 5
'Sociology of Philosophies' is a comparative study of intellectual networks of philosophers. It ranges from Ancient Greece, China and India, through the medieval period, and the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a lifetime of work.

Collins argues that the foundation of intellectual life is 'first of all conflict and disagreement'. All thought he believes is an 'aftermath or preparation of communication'. As such, by tracing who argued with who, we can see the development of ideas, and learn about why ideas change, what counts as creativity, and how networks and arguments evolve. There is useful, fascinating and well explained detail on what the content of those ideas are across these many epochs, but Collins focus is how the ideas-work was done.

Thanks to the multi-decade study behind this book, Collins comes to a few important conclusions about intellectual life. First, he argues there is rarely more than 3-6 centers of 'attention' which define the core of the intellectual world. There is limited capacity for attention, and so what defines the 'superstars' from the rest of us, is their timing and networks for locating their work within one of these centers of attention. Drawing on related studies, the eminent tend to be slightly more prolific and slightly better at identifying puzzles that draw others in (creating an incentive for a response), but this network hub position is essential.

In explaining the intellectual world in this way, Collins makes the best argument I've yet encountered for the role of the Literature Review. That most hated of PhD labours, and a tiresome challenge for many a scholar. Yet it is only by showing how our ideas connect to the core arguments that attention is likely to come our way. Creativity comes from the merging of ideas in new places, and thus it is a communicative act.

For this reason Collins also argues that there are almost no isolated geniuses. Instead he emphasises the role of face-to-face networks.First, he shows that superstar scholars typically have superstar supervisors. This may be because of location and selection (today the very best want to study at Harvard etc), but Collins suggests it is also because the eminent have the clearest insight into how the networks, arguments and puzzles are emerging and pass on these insights to their students.

Collins also makes the case for the academic lecture and workshop, face-to-face are the 'core activities from which the sacred object "truth" arises". Despite the introduction of the written word, and the mass distribution of books across recent centuries, he shows that the academic networks of ancient china or India resemble those of Western Europe in the early 20th centuries. Thinking is done together, not as one genius with a book and a pen. An insight I firmly agree with, and think could be much more usefully brought into contemporary academic analysis.

There is much much more to this book, not least the content of it, offering an engaging network analysis with many fresh insights into why names such as Socrates come down to us, while the more influential-in-their-own-time sophists are forgotten. Likewise, I learned much about the structure of Chinese and Indian philosophy, though at least a passing knowledge of each would benefit the reader.

I cannot claim to have read all the book. Much as I wanted to lose a month doing nothing else, I reluctantly had to give an 'academic read' to many of the empirical chapters. Still, I know I will return time and again to them. And the theoretical work, the broader insights into what intellectuals do, and why they act as they do, are compelling and can and should be read for their own sake.

There are some rare books which you read and suddenly the world makes a little more sense. As an academic, this is one of those books.
]]> 4.09 1998
author: Randall Collins
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/02
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Extraordinary. Collins provides the clearest explanation I've encountered of what it is intellectuals do, how they work and why some succeed. For academics, the first 75 pages should be mandatory reading.

'Sociology of Philosophies' is a comparative study of intellectual networks of philosophers. It ranges from Ancient Greece, China and India, through the medieval period, and the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a lifetime of work.

Collins argues that the foundation of intellectual life is 'first of all conflict and disagreement'. All thought he believes is an 'aftermath or preparation of communication'. As such, by tracing who argued with who, we can see the development of ideas, and learn about why ideas change, what counts as creativity, and how networks and arguments evolve. There is useful, fascinating and well explained detail on what the content of those ideas are across these many epochs, but Collins focus is how the ideas-work was done.

Thanks to the multi-decade study behind this book, Collins comes to a few important conclusions about intellectual life. First, he argues there is rarely more than 3-6 centers of 'attention' which define the core of the intellectual world. There is limited capacity for attention, and so what defines the 'superstars' from the rest of us, is their timing and networks for locating their work within one of these centers of attention. Drawing on related studies, the eminent tend to be slightly more prolific and slightly better at identifying puzzles that draw others in (creating an incentive for a response), but this network hub position is essential.

In explaining the intellectual world in this way, Collins makes the best argument I've yet encountered for the role of the Literature Review. That most hated of PhD labours, and a tiresome challenge for many a scholar. Yet it is only by showing how our ideas connect to the core arguments that attention is likely to come our way. Creativity comes from the merging of ideas in new places, and thus it is a communicative act.

For this reason Collins also argues that there are almost no isolated geniuses. Instead he emphasises the role of face-to-face networks.First, he shows that superstar scholars typically have superstar supervisors. This may be because of location and selection (today the very best want to study at Harvard etc), but Collins suggests it is also because the eminent have the clearest insight into how the networks, arguments and puzzles are emerging and pass on these insights to their students.

Collins also makes the case for the academic lecture and workshop, face-to-face are the 'core activities from which the sacred object "truth" arises". Despite the introduction of the written word, and the mass distribution of books across recent centuries, he shows that the academic networks of ancient china or India resemble those of Western Europe in the early 20th centuries. Thinking is done together, not as one genius with a book and a pen. An insight I firmly agree with, and think could be much more usefully brought into contemporary academic analysis.

There is much much more to this book, not least the content of it, offering an engaging network analysis with many fresh insights into why names such as Socrates come down to us, while the more influential-in-their-own-time sophists are forgotten. Likewise, I learned much about the structure of Chinese and Indian philosophy, though at least a passing knowledge of each would benefit the reader.

I cannot claim to have read all the book. Much as I wanted to lose a month doing nothing else, I reluctantly had to give an 'academic read' to many of the empirical chapters. Still, I know I will return time and again to them. And the theoretical work, the broader insights into what intellectuals do, and why they act as they do, are compelling and can and should be read for their own sake.

There are some rare books which you read and suddenly the world makes a little more sense. As an academic, this is one of those books.

]]> 60281667
“Engaging and profound, this deeply searching book explains the true origins of warfare, and it illustrates the ways that, despite some contrary appearances, human beings are capable of great goodness.”—Nicholas A. Christakis author of The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society

Why did Russia attack Ukraine?��Will China invade Taiwan and launch WWIII? Why has the number of civil wars reached their highest level in decades?��Why are so many cities in the Americas plagued with violence? And finally, what can any of us do about it?

It feels like we’re surrounded by violence. Each conflict seems unique and insoluble. With a reason for every war and a war for every reason, what hope is there for peace? Fortunately, it’s simpler than that. Why We Fight boils down decades of economics, political science, psychology, and real-world interventions, giving us some counterintuitive answers to the question of war.��

The first is that most of the time we don’t fight. Around the world, there are millions of hostile rivalries, yet only a fraction erupt into violence. Most enemies loathe one another in peace. The reason is war is too costly to fight. It’s the worst way to settle our differences.
In those rare instances when fighting ensues, that means we have to ask What kept rivals from the normal, grudging compromise? The answer is always the It’s because a society or its leaders ignored those costs of war, or were willing to pay them.

Why We Fight shows that there are just five ways this happens. From warring states to street gangs, ethnic groups and religious sects to political factions, Christopher Blattman shows that there are five reasons why violent conflict occasionally wins over compromise.
Through Blattman’s time studying Medellín, Chicago, Liberia, Northern Ireland, and more, we learn the common logics driving vainglorious monarchs, dictators, mobs, pilots, football hooligans, ancient peoples, and fanatics. Why We Fight shows that war isn’t a series of errors, accidents, and emotions gone awry. There are underlying strategic, ideological, and institutional forces that are too often overlooked.
So how to get to peace?

Blattman shows that societies are surprisingly good at interrupting and ending violence when they want to—even gangs do it. The best peacemakers tackle the five reasons, shifting incentives away from violence and getting rivals back to dealmaking. And they do so through tinkering, not transformation.

Realistic and optimistic, this is a book that lends new meaning to the adage “Give peace a chance.”]]> 400 Christopher Blattman 1984881574 Andrew 3
I wanted to like this book more than I did, and I'm still not entirely sure why. I agree with many of Blattman's analysis. Especially his first and most important point: Peace is actually the default within contesting groups, and we err by first and primarily looking at conflicts to understand security. Finally I think there's immense wisdom in his concluding point, advocating 'peacemeal' efforts, taking small steps towards piece, rather than large, centralized social change endeavours.

Perhaps the heart of the difference is philosophical. Blattman, an economist by training, explains war by creating mini models about how the world works, and through very basic assumptions (such as game theory) explains why groups are likely to cooperate or contest. There's a quasi aim at comprehensiveness in explanation, though it's not fully pursued. It's also notable that in the introduction when he explains the extensive research behind the book, the listed fields are 'economists, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and policymakers have learned' (p.16). Is it petty of me to wonder where the field of Strategy or History (especially military history) are? Even if names such as Schelling and Blainey do pop up (and even Clausewitz, albeit not in a substantive way).

At the same time, Blattman has spent many years living and working in NGO groups seeking development and stability in some pretty war-torn places. And he has a lot of compelling stories about how those places changed, some for the better. Likewise, when he turns to his stronger field, that of causes of peace, there is a broad and rich set of insights and analysis. From why some forms of sanctions and peacekeepers work, to why some of the proposed 'obvious' assumptions (such as more female leaders leading to peace, or the inevitability of wars over water) don't always pan out. So much of the book is thus quite free of models, and quite willing to live in a 'dappled world' (to borrow Nancy Cartwright's term) where we shouldn't expect elegant or consistent theoretical effects.

Perhaps I'm simply not the right audience for this book. It's a very richly researched and thoughtful book, but one aimed at a large public audience. And perhaps scholars who don't think about war nearly as much as they should (almost all the blurbs on the back are economists or physical scientists). As Blattman says, once you get interested in how do we prevent war, it's hard to care about anything else. It is still, the first order question. Especially in a world of thousands of nuclear weapons.

So we need more books like this, we need the question examined from those with a real diversity of backgrounds, and Blattman has both the academic and on-the-ground experience to provide rich insights, in an easy to read fashion.

Hopefully you'll get more out of it, but I remain slightly confused as to just what didn't quite sit right with me for this one.
]]> 3.90
author: Christopher Blattman
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/10
date added: 2023/01/11
shelves:
review:
An engaging if diverse account of why wars begin and why some paths to peace have proven successful.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, and I'm still not entirely sure why. I agree with many of Blattman's analysis. Especially his first and most important point: Peace is actually the default within contesting groups, and we err by first and primarily looking at conflicts to understand security. Finally I think there's immense wisdom in his concluding point, advocating 'peacemeal' efforts, taking small steps towards piece, rather than large, centralized social change endeavours.

Perhaps the heart of the difference is philosophical. Blattman, an economist by training, explains war by creating mini models about how the world works, and through very basic assumptions (such as game theory) explains why groups are likely to cooperate or contest. There's a quasi aim at comprehensiveness in explanation, though it's not fully pursued. It's also notable that in the introduction when he explains the extensive research behind the book, the listed fields are 'economists, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and policymakers have learned' (p.16). Is it petty of me to wonder where the field of Strategy or History (especially military history) are? Even if names such as Schelling and Blainey do pop up (and even Clausewitz, albeit not in a substantive way).

At the same time, Blattman has spent many years living and working in NGO groups seeking development and stability in some pretty war-torn places. And he has a lot of compelling stories about how those places changed, some for the better. Likewise, when he turns to his stronger field, that of causes of peace, there is a broad and rich set of insights and analysis. From why some forms of sanctions and peacekeepers work, to why some of the proposed 'obvious' assumptions (such as more female leaders leading to peace, or the inevitability of wars over water) don't always pan out. So much of the book is thus quite free of models, and quite willing to live in a 'dappled world' (to borrow Nancy Cartwright's term) where we shouldn't expect elegant or consistent theoretical effects.

Perhaps I'm simply not the right audience for this book. It's a very richly researched and thoughtful book, but one aimed at a large public audience. And perhaps scholars who don't think about war nearly as much as they should (almost all the blurbs on the back are economists or physical scientists). As Blattman says, once you get interested in how do we prevent war, it's hard to care about anything else. It is still, the first order question. Especially in a world of thousands of nuclear weapons.

So we need more books like this, we need the question examined from those with a real diversity of backgrounds, and Blattman has both the academic and on-the-ground experience to provide rich insights, in an easy to read fashion.

Hopefully you'll get more out of it, but I remain slightly confused as to just what didn't quite sit right with me for this one.

]]> 59808602
“Ricks does a tremendous job of putting the reader inside the hearts and souls of the young men and women who risked so much to change America . . . Riveting.�� ―Charles Kaiser, The Guardian

In Waging a Good War , the bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution―the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s―and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning war reporter, draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but by paying attention to recruiting, training, discipline, and organization―the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.

An engaging storyteller, Ricks deftly narrates the Movement’s triumphs and defeats. He follows King and other key figures from Montgomery to Memphis, demonstrating that Gandhian nonviolence was a philosophy of active, not passive, resistance―involving the bold and sustained confrontation of the Movement’s adversaries, both on the ground and in the court of public opinion. While bringing legends such as Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis into new focus, Ricks also highlights lesser-known figures who played critical roles in fashioning nonviolence into an effective tool―the activists James Lawson, James Bevel, Diane Nash, and Septima Clark foremost among them. He also offers a new understanding of the Movement’s later difficulties as internal disputes and white backlash intensified. Rich with fresh interpretations of familiar events and overlooked aspects of America’s civil rights struggle, Waging a Good War is an indispensable addition to the literature of racial justice and social change―and one that offers vital lessons for our own time.]]> 448 Thomas E. Ricks 0374605165 Andrew 4
At its core, Ricks argues the Movement had a good sense of strategy: how did each action help achieve the communication and political impact sought. The role of nonviolence was central to this, shifting the nature of the struggle away from one which the authorities understood and could master (violence) and towards a form which deftly engaged the audience (the civic and business leaders, along with national power sources who could force segregationists to change). Just as importantly, their more successful campaigns - and some were failures - reflected significant prior training, logistics, discipline and analysis. And they had viable leaders, both as masterminds (Lawson, Nash, Lewis, Bevel) and as public figures (foremost among them MLK).

Ricks is a seasoned historian, and shows a deft hand managing the vast material. Throughout the book there is always a sense of an author sorting themes and events, relating them to examples across world history, while staying authentic to the material. Ricks uses military history to show what the movement did, what those within it experienced and help explain why it worked, while still telling a gripping, moving narrative. For those like myself with only a modest knowledge of the period, this sense of organisation provides an excellent way to learn the history.

Along with helping shape the material, the connection with military campaigns is revealing of the challenges faced by those within the Movement. While others have shown this in brilliant psychological profiles (such as Taylor Branch's magisterial histories), Ricks shows a broad sweep of figures who though part of a 'civil' campaign, felt stresses akin to combat at the time, and in the years after showed signs of PTSD and the harm of war. This is a hard book at times to read, with the violence and tension brought to light, and a varied (and hence compelling) tempo across the book.

I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone involved in current day politics and action groups. Again and again we see that mere good will, mere moral rightness was not, and could never be enough to achieve change. It is the easiest task in the world - and often great fun- to think up tactics (what will drive eyeballs or make your adversary mad). But what defines movements that genuinely change their environment is strategy - what intentions are sought and which actions may then help us meaningfully step towards those goals? Encouragingly, Ricks argues there are signs the BLM movement in the US has learnt many of the same lessons, seeking to build in and through communities, and valuing organisation and logistics as much as likes and retweets.

Recommended.]]> 4.45 2022
author: Thomas E. Ricks
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2022/12/30
shelves:
review:
Academic disciplines are often assumed to be about content (Biology studies living things, political science studies politics etc), but they're just as much collections of specific ways of looking at the world. Military history today is concerned with how organisations achieve their goals, through adaptation, training, strategy, and communication. As such, this discipline provides a compelling, revealing lens for Thomas Ricks to examine a critical question: why did the US Civil Rights Movement succeed?

At its core, Ricks argues the Movement had a good sense of strategy: how did each action help achieve the communication and political impact sought. The role of nonviolence was central to this, shifting the nature of the struggle away from one which the authorities understood and could master (violence) and towards a form which deftly engaged the audience (the civic and business leaders, along with national power sources who could force segregationists to change). Just as importantly, their more successful campaigns - and some were failures - reflected significant prior training, logistics, discipline and analysis. And they had viable leaders, both as masterminds (Lawson, Nash, Lewis, Bevel) and as public figures (foremost among them MLK).

Ricks is a seasoned historian, and shows a deft hand managing the vast material. Throughout the book there is always a sense of an author sorting themes and events, relating them to examples across world history, while staying authentic to the material. Ricks uses military history to show what the movement did, what those within it experienced and help explain why it worked, while still telling a gripping, moving narrative. For those like myself with only a modest knowledge of the period, this sense of organisation provides an excellent way to learn the history.

Along with helping shape the material, the connection with military campaigns is revealing of the challenges faced by those within the Movement. While others have shown this in brilliant psychological profiles (such as Taylor Branch's magisterial histories), Ricks shows a broad sweep of figures who though part of a 'civil' campaign, felt stresses akin to combat at the time, and in the years after showed signs of PTSD and the harm of war. This is a hard book at times to read, with the violence and tension brought to light, and a varied (and hence compelling) tempo across the book.

I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone involved in current day politics and action groups. Again and again we see that mere good will, mere moral rightness was not, and could never be enough to achieve change. It is the easiest task in the world - and often great fun- to think up tactics (what will drive eyeballs or make your adversary mad). But what defines movements that genuinely change their environment is strategy - what intentions are sought and which actions may then help us meaningfully step towards those goals? Encouragingly, Ricks argues there are signs the BLM movement in the US has learnt many of the same lessons, seeking to build in and through communities, and valuing organisation and logistics as much as likes and retweets.

Recommended.
]]> 330323
Jullien's brilliant interpretations of an array of recondite texts are key to understanding our own conceptions of action, time, and reality in this foray into the world of Chinese thought. In its clear and penetrating characterization of two contrasting views of reality from a heretofore unexplored perspective, A Treatise on Efficacy will be of central importance in the intellectual debate between East and West.]]> 216 François Jullien 0824828305 Andrew 5
This is book is a stunning work of conceptual analysis. Jullien seeks to use ancient Chinese thought as a mirror to reflect back the 'un-thought thoughts' of western mindsets. By exploring and comparing a very different approach, he helps show how western concepts of strategy (political and military) operate within intellectual boundaries that even the most astute observes, such as Machiavelli and Clausewitz, may at best recognise but do not break free of. In order to shine that mirror, he offers a compelling, challenging, thought-provoking analysis of Chinese strategic thought.

What struck me almost immediately in reading this, are the overlaps between Chinese texts such as the Tao Te Ching (which features heavily in Jullien's account), and contemporary western ideas such as Complexity Science. There's echos as well of Iain McGilchrist's brilliant 'Master and his Emissary', with modern western thought dominated by its left hemisphere (emphasizing possessive, abstract, rule-bound action), against the right-hemisphere led mindset of these early Chinese authors, seeing relationships instead of things, transitions and processes instead of actions, and forever emphasizing the bounded situation, the all-encompassing environment, rather than isolating concept and world.

I first learned about this book in an off-hand reference from Andrew Marshall, the great American strategist, who led the Office of Net Assessment for half a century. I can see why Marshall (who had an entire seperate apartment just for his books) thought highly enough to raise this. There is a remarkable degree of overlap between the emphasis on analyzing the situation, getting to grips with the problem, and looking for enduring advantages to exploit. It also helps explain why the Chinese regarded Marshall as a sage, trying to collect everything he wrote. The affinity is remarkable, and both of these avenues, of Chinese thought along lines of Complexity and Net Assessments suggest rich avenues for future research.

As a discipline, Strategy is often classed as an offspring of Military History and of Political Science. I have long thought a third parent should be added: Philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead once described philosophy as concerned with 'The sort of ideas we attend to, and the sort of ideas which we push into the negligible background govern our hopes, our fears, our control of behaviour. As we think, we live'. That to me is what strategy also encompass. How do we understand the world, especially our relationships with others and our attempts to change it.

In 'A Treatise on Efficacy' Francois Jullien offers a profound examination of strategy, Western and Chinese philosophy and their core ideas of how we think about change, and in turn how we engage the world. This book does take some work to chew through, but for anyone interested in strategy, whether military, political, diplomatic, or simply in obtaining a very different way of viewing the world and its nature, this is a brilliant book.

Strongly recommended.]]> 4.19 1997
author: François Jullien
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/29
date added: 2022/12/29
shelves:
review:
How do we achieve change in the world? In the Western approach, we think in terms of subjects. The individual should have clear goals, resolute will, conceptual clarity and a touch of heroism to persevere. The Chinese approach, Jullien argues, focuses on the situation. What is its propensity? What can be exploited? And ideally, how might imperceptible, resistance-less changes have been made far upstream, so as to ensure the situation faced unerringly serves our interests?

This is book is a stunning work of conceptual analysis. Jullien seeks to use ancient Chinese thought as a mirror to reflect back the 'un-thought thoughts' of western mindsets. By exploring and comparing a very different approach, he helps show how western concepts of strategy (political and military) operate within intellectual boundaries that even the most astute observes, such as Machiavelli and Clausewitz, may at best recognise but do not break free of. In order to shine that mirror, he offers a compelling, challenging, thought-provoking analysis of Chinese strategic thought.

What struck me almost immediately in reading this, are the overlaps between Chinese texts such as the Tao Te Ching (which features heavily in Jullien's account), and contemporary western ideas such as Complexity Science. There's echos as well of Iain McGilchrist's brilliant 'Master and his Emissary', with modern western thought dominated by its left hemisphere (emphasizing possessive, abstract, rule-bound action), against the right-hemisphere led mindset of these early Chinese authors, seeing relationships instead of things, transitions and processes instead of actions, and forever emphasizing the bounded situation, the all-encompassing environment, rather than isolating concept and world.

I first learned about this book in an off-hand reference from Andrew Marshall, the great American strategist, who led the Office of Net Assessment for half a century. I can see why Marshall (who had an entire seperate apartment just for his books) thought highly enough to raise this. There is a remarkable degree of overlap between the emphasis on analyzing the situation, getting to grips with the problem, and looking for enduring advantages to exploit. It also helps explain why the Chinese regarded Marshall as a sage, trying to collect everything he wrote. The affinity is remarkable, and both of these avenues, of Chinese thought along lines of Complexity and Net Assessments suggest rich avenues for future research.

As a discipline, Strategy is often classed as an offspring of Military History and of Political Science. I have long thought a third parent should be added: Philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead once described philosophy as concerned with 'The sort of ideas we attend to, and the sort of ideas which we push into the negligible background govern our hopes, our fears, our control of behaviour. As we think, we live'. That to me is what strategy also encompass. How do we understand the world, especially our relationships with others and our attempts to change it.

In 'A Treatise on Efficacy' Francois Jullien offers a profound examination of strategy, Western and Chinese philosophy and their core ideas of how we think about change, and in turn how we engage the world. This book does take some work to chew through, but for anyone interested in strategy, whether military, political, diplomatic, or simply in obtaining a very different way of viewing the world and its nature, this is a brilliant book.

Strongly recommended.
]]> 41552704 The New York Times.

Welcome to the era of white noise. Our lives are in constant tether to phones, to email, and to social media. In this age of distraction, the ability to experience and be present is often to think and to see and to listen.

Enter Rob Walker's The Art of Noticing—an inspiring volume that will help you see the world anew. Through a series of simple and playful exercises��131 of them—Walker maps ways for you to become a clearer thinker, a better listener, a more creative workplace colleague, and finally, to rediscover what really matters to you.]]> 256 Rob Walker 0525521240 Andrew 3
I often say that editing writing is an effort to trick your brain into actually reading what is on the page, rather than what you expect to read. This is a book about doing that for normal life. How often have you driven to work, and realised upon stopping the car that you hardly saw anything. Your autopilot was on, you didn't hit anything or have any close calls, and so, could just tune out of the world before your eyes. The system works. Often, it works too well, and we struggle to notice, or rather often notice only the things we've seen before and expect to see.

This is a book of short vignettes about engaging with the world in fresh ways. Many involve some form of a visual game. Shift to looking at rooftops instead of the path below, try and find the oldest thing around you, try and find something that is broken, something that shouldn't be there, or which represents something which once was there. Or just take time to listen, to really listen. To walk a different path to work, eat at a casual restaurant you've never been to before, find ways to get out of autopilot.

Despite the many good ideas, the book can become somewhat repetitive. Its relentlessly practical focus may make it the perfect book for an artist looking to rediscover their creativity, but it loses some of the sense of wonder and exploration because the stories have no space to breathe. I'd recommend first picking up On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz who walks around the same New York block with eleven different experts (in sociology, in architecture, in archeology etc) and each helps her see the world in very different ways. That's a more charming version, but The Art of Noticing is still a valuable push to help you notice, really notice the world around you. ]]> 3.79 2019
author: Rob Walker
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/26
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves:
review:
A lot of self-help books assume you are either trying to stop being a loser and become a demigod. There's often very little that speaks to ways to 'help' a normal person live a more enchanted life. This is thankfully, one such book.

I often say that editing writing is an effort to trick your brain into actually reading what is on the page, rather than what you expect to read. This is a book about doing that for normal life. How often have you driven to work, and realised upon stopping the car that you hardly saw anything. Your autopilot was on, you didn't hit anything or have any close calls, and so, could just tune out of the world before your eyes. The system works. Often, it works too well, and we struggle to notice, or rather often notice only the things we've seen before and expect to see.

This is a book of short vignettes about engaging with the world in fresh ways. Many involve some form of a visual game. Shift to looking at rooftops instead of the path below, try and find the oldest thing around you, try and find something that is broken, something that shouldn't be there, or which represents something which once was there. Or just take time to listen, to really listen. To walk a different path to work, eat at a casual restaurant you've never been to before, find ways to get out of autopilot.

Despite the many good ideas, the book can become somewhat repetitive. Its relentlessly practical focus may make it the perfect book for an artist looking to rediscover their creativity, but it loses some of the sense of wonder and exploration because the stories have no space to breathe. I'd recommend first picking up On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz who walks around the same New York block with eleven different experts (in sociology, in architecture, in archeology etc) and each helps her see the world in very different ways. That's a more charming version, but The Art of Noticing is still a valuable push to help you notice, really notice the world around you.
]]> 34445296

Now in a completely revised second edition, What is Painting? is a fresh, focused look at painting. Bell addresses questions such as “does anything unite those objects we call paintings?�� and “what factors have changed the nature of painting over the last two centuries?�� by looking at historical evidence and reasoning from common experience. The current shape of painting pushes the book’s arguments in new directions and a substantial new chapter, The Arts and Art, speaks to the interplay between 2D work, 3D work, and the immateriality of digital imagery. The text has been revised paragraph by paragraph considering both force of presentation andr />historical perspective. The intention is to provide a general reader’s introduction to theories of painting that is not only reliably informative but stimulating and amusing to read. The book is an introductory guide to art theory for everyone interested in understanding modern art or in making art themselves.]]> 224 Julian Bell 0500239738 Andrew 3
This tension has led to some of the greatest works of art of the 20th century (I remain a firm admirer of cubism), and to vast 'modern' galleries that people wander through listlessly. It is this tension which Bell examines, and seeks to explode. What Bell captures, is that shorn of the ability to represent other things, paintings lose the ability to communicate. An inner circle around the artist may recognise the genius of the stroke and splash, but to most of us, there is no message from most modern art. Even what we think we grasp, we can never know for sure if we have. Hence the alienation that many modern galleries inspire.

That doesn't make the turn away from pure representation (which itself is an illusion, as all representation is partial and interpretative as Bell argues) a mistake, but it does help explain why painting has lost something of its hold on the world. One might be tempted to say that photographs and video make the idea or value of painted representation meaningless, but this is to misread the history, for the turn had far more to do with broader social ideas than simple technological capacity. Indeed, one of the great take aways from this book is how much art, or 'Art' is influenced, often unconsciously, by the philosophy of an era. Keynes remarked that many a 'practical' person is often the 'slave to some defunct economist'. So too it seems must we add the painters. Indeed, scribbling in the side of this book, I couldn't help wonder how many 'modern' painters seem trapped in the insight of Bishop Berkley. We can not know the world in itself, only our sensations of it. And there they seem to remain, forever trying to let the world know what their sensations of the world are.

Bell's views are not a simple minded attack on the abstract turn. He shifts between poses of historian, teacher and critic. Not always successfully, but generally clearly and in an engaging fashion. He's trying to answer a big question 'what is painting', and it's a question he has a passionate response to. I love realistic landscape painting, so Bell's arguments make great sense to me. But I think it speaks to the significance of the medium as well that it can be used in so many different ways, that people react to so strongly. There's just something about oil painting.]]> 3.79 1986
author: Julian Bell
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves:
review:
The contradiction within oil painting is that it, like no other medium can capture the nature of the world we see. The interplay of colour, light and shadow enables it to represent objects with a solidity and tactile sense that still has the power to shock and move us. And yet, painters have long since - and in something of a passion since the late 19th century - wondered, what then is specific to the medium? Is oil painting simply a way to represent something else, or is there a form of painting authentic to the medium itself?

This tension has led to some of the greatest works of art of the 20th century (I remain a firm admirer of cubism), and to vast 'modern' galleries that people wander through listlessly. It is this tension which Bell examines, and seeks to explode. What Bell captures, is that shorn of the ability to represent other things, paintings lose the ability to communicate. An inner circle around the artist may recognise the genius of the stroke and splash, but to most of us, there is no message from most modern art. Even what we think we grasp, we can never know for sure if we have. Hence the alienation that many modern galleries inspire.

That doesn't make the turn away from pure representation (which itself is an illusion, as all representation is partial and interpretative as Bell argues) a mistake, but it does help explain why painting has lost something of its hold on the world. One might be tempted to say that photographs and video make the idea or value of painted representation meaningless, but this is to misread the history, for the turn had far more to do with broader social ideas than simple technological capacity. Indeed, one of the great take aways from this book is how much art, or 'Art' is influenced, often unconsciously, by the philosophy of an era. Keynes remarked that many a 'practical' person is often the 'slave to some defunct economist'. So too it seems must we add the painters. Indeed, scribbling in the side of this book, I couldn't help wonder how many 'modern' painters seem trapped in the insight of Bishop Berkley. We can not know the world in itself, only our sensations of it. And there they seem to remain, forever trying to let the world know what their sensations of the world are.

Bell's views are not a simple minded attack on the abstract turn. He shifts between poses of historian, teacher and critic. Not always successfully, but generally clearly and in an engaging fashion. He's trying to answer a big question 'what is painting', and it's a question he has a passionate response to. I love realistic landscape painting, so Bell's arguments make great sense to me. But I think it speaks to the significance of the medium as well that it can be used in so many different ways, that people react to so strongly. There's just something about oil painting.
]]> 1191235 258 Julian Bell 0500281017 Andrew 0 3.73 1986
author: Julian Bell
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at: 2022/12/19
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 4818486 desires of the public, and the ambitions of military leaders.]]> 472 Albert Palazzo 0195515064 Andrew 4


]]> 3.50 2001
author: Albert Palazzo
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/16
date added: 2022/12/15
shelves:
review:
An excellent organisational history of the Australian Army. Offers a fresh perspective on the development of Australian military policy. Palazzo is a sympathetic analyst, yet one willing to identify the problems across the board, from government policies that chop and change and frequently penny pinch, to an Army which has long struggled to align its self-identity with that demanded of it by government at any point in time.




]]> 2784 John Berger’s Classic Text on Art

Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and the most influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the (London) Sunday Times a critic commented: "This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change the way you look at pictures." By now he has.

"Berger has the ability to cut right through the mystification of the professional art critics . . . He is a liberator of images: and once we have allowed the paintings to work on us directly, we are in a much better position to make a meaningful evaluation" —Peter Fuller, Arts Review

"The influence of the series and the book . . . was enormous . . . It opened up for general attention to areas of cultural study that are now commonplace" —Geoff Dyer in Ways of Telling.]]> 176 John Berger 0140135154 Andrew 3
Perhaps reflecting my own interests, I was struck by the significance given to the role of oil painting. There is something unique about this medium which allows for a far greater sense of depth and tactile weight that made it the medium of the, quote unquote, masters of art. In today's world, we no longer need to use oil painting for that role, but it's notable how it still holds a special place.]]> 3.93 1972
author: John Berger
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1972
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/13
date added: 2022/12/15
shelves:
review:
A series of essays on the nature of perspective - what it hides, what it unintentionally says, that for its time of release in the mid-1970s would have been vibrant on topics of gender and class. Today our society has absorbed intellectually many of its ideas, even if many of our practices are often little different.

Perhaps reflecting my own interests, I was struck by the significance given to the role of oil painting. There is something unique about this medium which allows for a far greater sense of depth and tactile weight that made it the medium of the, quote unquote, masters of art. In today's world, we no longer need to use oil painting for that role, but it's notable how it still holds a special place.
]]> 20958539 And You're About to Learn How to Use His Memory Strategies to Learn Faster, Be More Productive, and Achieve More SuccessWith over 300,000 copies sold, Unlimited Memory is a Wall Street Journal Best Seller and has been the #1 memory book on Amazon for more than two years. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages including French, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian.Most people never tap into 10% of their potential for memory.In this book, you're about to How the World's Top Memory Experts Concentrate and Remember Any Information at Will, and How You Can TooDo you ever feel like you're too busy, too stressed or just too distracted to concentrate and get work done?In Unlimited Memory, you'll learn how the world's best memory masters get themselves to concentrate at will, anytime they want. When you can easily focus and concentrate on the task at hand, and store and recall useful information, you can easily double your productivity and eliminate wasted time, stress and mistakes at work.You'll find all the tools, strategies and techniques you need to improve your memory. Here’s just a taste of the memory methods you'll 3 bad habits that keep you from easily remembering important informationHow a simple pattern of thinking can stop you from imprinting and remembering key facts, figures and ideas, and how to break this old pattern so you’ll never again be known as someone with a “bad memory”How to master your attention so you can focus and concentrate longer, even during challenging or stressful situationsHow to use your car to remember anything you want (like long lists or information you need to remember for your studies or personal life) without writing anything downSimple methods that allow you to nail down tough information or complex concepts quickly and easilyHow to combine your long-term memory (things you already know and will never forget) and short-term memory (information you want to remember right now) to create instant recall for tests, presentations and important projectsThe simple, invisible mental technique for remembering names without social awkwardness or anxietyHow using your imagination to bring boring information to life can help you dramatically improve your attention span and recallAn incredible strategy for remembering numbers (the same system Kevin used to remember Pi to 10,000 digits and beat the world memory record by 14 minutes)How to use a mental map to lock in and connect hundreds or even thousands of ideas in your long-term memory (this method will allow you to become a leading expert in your field faster than you ever dreamed possible)If you're ready to harness the incredible power of your mind to remember more in less time, this book is for you.About the AuthorFor over 25 years, Kevin Horsley has been analyzing the mind and memory and its capacity for brilliance. He is one of only a few people in the world to have received the title of International Grandmaster of Memory. He is a World Memory Championship medalist, and a two-time World Record holder for The Everest of memory tests.]]> 126 Kevin Horsley 1631619853 Andrew 3
Skip the self-help rar-rar bits, and this is a very practical 'do this, then do that' guidebook for implementing memory systems. Not only memory palaces, but how to remember long strings of numbers, names of those you meet, cards in a deck, or any other organised set of information.

To be fair, Horsley does have the occasional very sharp insight. He notes how important numbers have become in our lives, yet we're never given any help remembering them. Our social circles have likewises exploded compared to our great-grandparents, yet again we're left to fend for ourselves in remembering names and key details. Memory systems, as Horsely suggests, are a way to 'trap thoughts'. Which is a great way to put it.

I'd start elsewhere to learn about these ideas, but I suspect I'll refer back to this one a fair bit.]]> 4.02 2014
author: Kevin Horsley
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/12
date added: 2022/12/11
shelves:
review:
The best advert for this book is ironically, how badly written it is. Horsley is clearly no genius, even if he has one of the best memories on the planet.

Skip the self-help rar-rar bits, and this is a very practical 'do this, then do that' guidebook for implementing memory systems. Not only memory palaces, but how to remember long strings of numbers, names of those you meet, cards in a deck, or any other organised set of information.

To be fair, Horsley does have the occasional very sharp insight. He notes how important numbers have become in our lives, yet we're never given any help remembering them. Our social circles have likewises exploded compared to our great-grandparents, yet again we're left to fend for ourselves in remembering names and key details. Memory systems, as Horsely suggests, are a way to 'trap thoughts'. Which is a great way to put it.

I'd start elsewhere to learn about these ideas, but I suspect I'll refer back to this one a fair bit.
]]> 45442000
Memory Craft introduces the best memory techniques humans have ever devised, from ancient times and the Middle Ages, to methods used by today's memory athletes. Lynne Kelly has tested all these methods in experiments which demonstrate the extraordinary capacity of our brains at any age.

For anyone who needs to memorise a speech or a play script, learn anatomy or a foreign language, or prepare for an exam, Memory Craft is a fabulous toolkit. It offers proven techniques for teachers to help their students learn more effectively. There are also simple strategies for anyone who has trouble remembering names or dates, and for older people who want to keep their minds agile. Above all, memorising things can be playful, creative and great fun.]]> 320 Lynne Kelly 1760633054 Andrew 5 If you want to help your kids in school...read this book.
If you want to be a better teacher...read this book
If you want to remember where you left your keys... this book can't help you. But for anything that requires organised information, there is profound insight between these covers.

In 2016, Lynne Kelly published a book on how indigenous cultures around the world memorized vast amounts of information - from cultural history and how to navigate their landscape, to complex records of all the animal, plants, insects, stars and elements of the natural world that matter for their world. Many of their artifacts, some of which seem impractical or strange, were not created for aesthetic pleasure, but as utilitarian memorization tools.

In her 2019 follow up book, Memory Craft, Kelly explores a dozen or so different memory techniques across history, from the Songs, Dance and Craft of the First Nations, the page scribbles of the Medieval era, and especially the Memory Palaces of the Greeks, Romans and modern world champions of memory competitions. All these systems rely on the same fundamental insight: The human mind is very good at remembering physical locations, and emotive, impactful stories within those locations. If adopted consciously, using specific locations and scenes as a 'code', virtually anything from historical events, to chemical equations to random binary numerals can be remembered.

Kelly is the most delightful guide on this tour though the world of memory, because she's an active participant herself. She strikes me as that classic teacher we all once had who has 15 different amazing hobbies, seemed to know everything and yet still able to splurg with a quiet teenager about their latest obsession. Through her memory techniques, she not only has vast and rich knowledge of the world, but lives a life that seems very alive - the places around her packed with vibrant memory palaces, her clothing designed to help remember Shakespearean plays, her daily chatter regularly breaking into song as she converses with imaginary 'rapscallions' which help her remember that her slice of bread is a masculine noun, while her jam is feminine. It may sound strange, but once you read this it all feels so vibrant and fun.

This is a joyous book. Kelly has a background as a school teacher, so she's often focused on how to help kids remember things. As a retiree (she was 67 at the time of writing) she's also passionately engaged with the effort to show memory does not have to decline as we age. Indeed in the course of writing the book she puts herself through several experiments, including learning French and Chinese languages and competing in the Australian Memory Championships.

This is therefore less a review than a gush. Few authors personalities leap off the page in such a compelling way. Few books have lit up my imagination for how I could adapt and apply these techniques. Indeed, and I feel comfortable saying it for those who've taken the time to read this far down, I've begun playing with memory palaces. And they actually work. Very early days, but I'm very struck by the potential. Both as a learner and a teacher.

Buy this book. ]]> 4.19
author: Lynne Kelly
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/11
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves:
review:
If you want to do better at studying ...read this book
If you want to help your kids in school...read this book.
If you want to be a better teacher...read this book
If you want to remember where you left your keys... this book can't help you. But for anything that requires organised information, there is profound insight between these covers.

In 2016, Lynne Kelly published a book on how indigenous cultures around the world memorized vast amounts of information - from cultural history and how to navigate their landscape, to complex records of all the animal, plants, insects, stars and elements of the natural world that matter for their world. Many of their artifacts, some of which seem impractical or strange, were not created for aesthetic pleasure, but as utilitarian memorization tools.

In her 2019 follow up book, Memory Craft, Kelly explores a dozen or so different memory techniques across history, from the Songs, Dance and Craft of the First Nations, the page scribbles of the Medieval era, and especially the Memory Palaces of the Greeks, Romans and modern world champions of memory competitions. All these systems rely on the same fundamental insight: The human mind is very good at remembering physical locations, and emotive, impactful stories within those locations. If adopted consciously, using specific locations and scenes as a 'code', virtually anything from historical events, to chemical equations to random binary numerals can be remembered.

Kelly is the most delightful guide on this tour though the world of memory, because she's an active participant herself. She strikes me as that classic teacher we all once had who has 15 different amazing hobbies, seemed to know everything and yet still able to splurg with a quiet teenager about their latest obsession. Through her memory techniques, she not only has vast and rich knowledge of the world, but lives a life that seems very alive - the places around her packed with vibrant memory palaces, her clothing designed to help remember Shakespearean plays, her daily chatter regularly breaking into song as she converses with imaginary 'rapscallions' which help her remember that her slice of bread is a masculine noun, while her jam is feminine. It may sound strange, but once you read this it all feels so vibrant and fun.

This is a joyous book. Kelly has a background as a school teacher, so she's often focused on how to help kids remember things. As a retiree (she was 67 at the time of writing) she's also passionately engaged with the effort to show memory does not have to decline as we age. Indeed in the course of writing the book she puts herself through several experiments, including learning French and Chinese languages and competing in the Australian Memory Championships.

This is therefore less a review than a gush. Few authors personalities leap off the page in such a compelling way. Few books have lit up my imagination for how I could adapt and apply these techniques. Indeed, and I feel comfortable saying it for those who've taken the time to read this far down, I've begun playing with memory palaces. And they actually work. Very early days, but I'm very struck by the potential. Both as a learner and a teacher.

Buy this book.
]]> 6346975 The blockbuster phenomenon that charts an amazing journey of the mind while revolutionizing our concept of memory

An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic, Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes." He draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of remembering, and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human memory. From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind, this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that, in every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories.]]> 307 Joshua Foer 159420229X Andrew 4
Moonwalking with Einstein is one of those delightful journalistic accounts of a strange parts of humanity. In this case, the world memory championships, where a cast of characters calling themselves 'Mental Athletes' compete using variations on the original memory palace idea. Since the brain is very good at remembering physical locations, and recalls best through associated thoughts, one "only" has to associate the thing you want to remember with a location and relational, hopefully striking image. Your house doorway, Claudia Schiffer with a red rose (Queen of hearts), Your hallway, Bill Clinton doing unspeakable things with a baseball bat (King of Clubs) etc.

These techniques will not make you a genius or have perfect recall of everything important in your life. But if you want to remember specific things in a specific order, and you're willing to put in the work, Foer shows that these ancient techniques have genuine utility (unsurprising really given they've been used for so long). Foer even gives it a go himself, and in the best-possible-book-ending, competes - and wins! - the US memory championship.

Along with describing the unusual characters of these events, and those individuals with highly unusual memories (I was relieved to learn photographic memories are a myth), Foer considers the role of memory in the modern world. Writing down a phone number or your speech on paper really is simpler and provides better recall than the somewhat laborious effort a memory palace technique requires. Yet for all our modern love of 'analysis' and 'creativity' as the highest mental acts (with mere rote recall dismissed), we cannot interpret or connect or overturn that which we do not first remember. Having just read 'Make it Stick' (review at link) a book on the science of learning, I was struck by the overlap in argument - Building a memory of the core facts & details is the foundation of higher intellectual work, rather than its poorer cousin as sometimes supposed.

Moonwalking with Einstein is enjoyable as simply a tour of one of the stranger subcultures in the zoo of humanity. But like the best books in this tradition, you come away realising these strange beasts are in some ways connected to something more at the core of humanity than you may realise, or than you yourself may be sited.

Recommended, and one to remember.]]> 3.86 2011
author: Joshua Foer
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/04
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves:
review:
Memory Palaces are one of those ideas that i've encountered a handful of times and always admired, but never focused on seriously. My grandfather had an old book about the travels of Matteo Ricci, Hannibal Lectur uses memory palaces to survive jail, Australia's First Nation's people had a form underpinning their story telling and the concept abounds within the ancient classics on Rhetoric by Cicero and Quintilian.

Moonwalking with Einstein is one of those delightful journalistic accounts of a strange parts of humanity. In this case, the world memory championships, where a cast of characters calling themselves 'Mental Athletes' compete using variations on the original memory palace idea. Since the brain is very good at remembering physical locations, and recalls best through associated thoughts, one "only" has to associate the thing you want to remember with a location and relational, hopefully striking image. Your house doorway, Claudia Schiffer with a red rose (Queen of hearts), Your hallway, Bill Clinton doing unspeakable things with a baseball bat (King of Clubs) etc.

These techniques will not make you a genius or have perfect recall of everything important in your life. But if you want to remember specific things in a specific order, and you're willing to put in the work, Foer shows that these ancient techniques have genuine utility (unsurprising really given they've been used for so long). Foer even gives it a go himself, and in the best-possible-book-ending, competes - and wins! - the US memory championship.

Along with describing the unusual characters of these events, and those individuals with highly unusual memories (I was relieved to learn photographic memories are a myth), Foer considers the role of memory in the modern world. Writing down a phone number or your speech on paper really is simpler and provides better recall than the somewhat laborious effort a memory palace technique requires. Yet for all our modern love of 'analysis' and 'creativity' as the highest mental acts (with mere rote recall dismissed), we cannot interpret or connect or overturn that which we do not first remember. Having just read 'Make it Stick' (review at link) a book on the science of learning, I was struck by the overlap in argument - Building a memory of the core facts & details is the foundation of higher intellectual work, rather than its poorer cousin as sometimes supposed.

Moonwalking with Einstein is enjoyable as simply a tour of one of the stranger subcultures in the zoo of humanity. But like the best books in this tradition, you come away realising these strange beasts are in some ways connected to something more at the core of humanity than you may realise, or than you yourself may be sited.

Recommended, and one to remember.
]]> 57512341
Mars Adapting examines what makes some military organizations better at this contest than others. It explores the institutional characteristics or attributes at play in learning quickly. Adaptation requires a dynamic process of acquiring knowledge, the utilization of that knowledge to alter a unit’s skills, and the sharing of that learning to other units to integrate and institutionalize better operational practice. Mars Adapting explores the internal institutional factors that promote and enable military adaptation. It employs four cases, drawing upon one from each of the U.S. armed services. Each case was an extensive campaign, with several cycles of action/counteraction. In each case the military institution entered the war with an existing mental model of the war they expected to fight. For example, the U.S. Navy prepared for decades to defeat the Japanese Imperial Navy and had developed carried-based aviation. Other capabilities, particularly the Fleet submarine, were applied as a major adaptation.

The author establishes a theory called Organizational Learning Capacity that captures the transition of experience and knowledge from individuals into larger and higher levels of each military service through four major steps. The learning/change cycle is influenced, he argues, by four institutional attributes (leadership, organizational culture, learning mechanisms, and dissemination mechanisms). The dynamic interplay of these institutional enablers shaped their ability to perceive and change appropriately.]]> 361 Frank G. Hoffman 1682475905 Andrew 4
Across four case studies (US Navy in WW2, US Air Force in Korea, US Army in Vietnam, US Marines in Iraq), Hoffman shows how difficult that challenge is in war. All of these services had distinct cultures and leaders, and yet even the best of them took at least 18-24 months to go from some bright platoon leader having an idea, to an organisation which had adopted wholesale that idea.

The field of military innovations has blossomed over the past decade, and Hoffman's Mars Adapting provides a useful one-stop overview of the field. He writes engagingly in explaining how past scholars have tried to explain innovation (Does it come from external pressure such as a new adversary, does it only work when particular institutional arrangements are in place, such as the right leaders, the new fresh-thinking generation or the right kind of competition for resources?). He contributes to this by adapting Organisational Learning Theory (OLT) from the Business literature. This highlights four themes, Leadership, Organisational Culture, Learning Mechanisms and Dissemination Mechanisms. Each is crucial and provides a useful set of signposts to pull apart these complex case studies (most covering many years, actors, settings and technologies) into coherent assessments of how well they learned and adapted.

Though the focus is on the military and particularly war time adaption, I could see many applications of OLT to peacetime organisations. Indeed I'd picked up this book partly on the strength of the author and hoping to better understand the organisations he described, but came away impressed by the theoretical foundations and its utility. ]]> 4.57
author: Frank G. Hoffman
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/01
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves:
review:
Few organisations take the idea of learning as seriously as the military. They will take their best people out of work for a year (or 3 or 5) to study. They will produce endless briefings before acting, and endless paperwork reviewing what occurred. This all makes sense when the stakes for failing to learn can literally be death, or at best failing at your job and extending a long conflict. For all that importance, being a learning organisation is hard. Really hard.

Across four case studies (US Navy in WW2, US Air Force in Korea, US Army in Vietnam, US Marines in Iraq), Hoffman shows how difficult that challenge is in war. All of these services had distinct cultures and leaders, and yet even the best of them took at least 18-24 months to go from some bright platoon leader having an idea, to an organisation which had adopted wholesale that idea.

The field of military innovations has blossomed over the past decade, and Hoffman's Mars Adapting provides a useful one-stop overview of the field. He writes engagingly in explaining how past scholars have tried to explain innovation (Does it come from external pressure such as a new adversary, does it only work when particular institutional arrangements are in place, such as the right leaders, the new fresh-thinking generation or the right kind of competition for resources?). He contributes to this by adapting Organisational Learning Theory (OLT) from the Business literature. This highlights four themes, Leadership, Organisational Culture, Learning Mechanisms and Dissemination Mechanisms. Each is crucial and provides a useful set of signposts to pull apart these complex case studies (most covering many years, actors, settings and technologies) into coherent assessments of how well they learned and adapted.

Though the focus is on the military and particularly war time adaption, I could see many applications of OLT to peacetime organisations. Indeed I'd picked up this book partly on the strength of the author and hoping to better understand the organisations he described, but came away impressed by the theoretical foundations and its utility.
]]> 62086220 ‘I don’t hold a hose, mate.�� Scott Morrison, 20 December 2019, on the Black Summer bushfires
‘It’s not a race.�� Scott Morrison, 10 March 2021, on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Between 2013 and 2022, Tony Abbott begat Malcolm Turnbull, who begat Scott Morrison. For nine long years, Australia was governed by a succession of Coalition governments rocked by instability and bloodletting, and consumed with prosecuting climate and culture wars while neglecting policy.

By the end, among his detractors �� and there were plenty �� Morrison was seen as the worst prime minister since Billy McMahon. Worse even than Tony Abbott, who lasted a scant two years in the job, whose main legacy was that he destroyed Julia Gillard, then himself, and then Turnbull.

Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. He thought reform was a vanity project. He said he never wanted to leave a legacy. He got his wish.

Niki Savva, Australia’s renowned political commentator, author, and columnist, was there for all of it. In The Road to Ruin, she revealed the ruinous behaviour of former prime minister Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, that led to the ascension of Turnbull. In Plots and Prayers, she told the inside story of the coup that overthrew Turnbull and installed his conniving successor, Morrison.

Now she lays out the final unravelling of the Coalition at the hands of a resurgent Labor and the so-called teal independents that culminated in the historic 2022 election. With her typical access to key players, and her riveting accounts of what went on behind the scenes, Bulldozed is the unique final volume of an unputdownable and impeccably sourced political trilogy.]]> 320 Niki Savva 1922586846 Andrew 3 4.20
author: Niki Savva
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/02
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves:
review:
Gossip Girl for the Canberra Bubble. An enjoyable takedown of an odious Prime Minister. Few revelations and lots of repetition however.
]]> 2304151 272 Alfred Price 1853674710 Andrew 3
In 'War in the Fourth Dimension' we get a small peek at the hider-finder competition, the game of cat and mouse as it applies to air warfare. Each chapter details how the US would introduce a new form of technology - such as radar or jamming pods, or new missiles or drones, and the adversary would counter with their own technological changes to overcome and one-up the US. Advantages are fleeting, the technology is always pushed to its limits and barely working at first, and the stakes are nothing less than life or death for the pilots.

There's an old adage for good writing: Show don't tell. Price takes that very literally. The book is a straight narrative history, based on extended interviews with those involved. There is almost no analysis, no summing up or overviews of the topics. Just a chronological story that in sum provides a compelling - if often technically laden - account of the rise of electronic warfare.

This isn't an easy read, and it's not one most will find valuable. Even now I'm not entirely sure how much will stick with me - my notebook was largely blank throughout my read through - but in watching the action-reaction game of war play out, how ingenious solutions were developed to overcome the actions of the adversary, you get a sense of the intellectual challenge at the heart of modern warfare.

]]> 4.12 2001
author: Alfred Price
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/24
date added: 2022/11/24
shelves:
review:
One of the paradoxes of modern societies approach to war is that we consider it a brutish, dumb activity of grunts and dogmatic generals. And yet, many of the most brilliant scientists and thinkers end up recruited into the world of national security and seemingly living intellectually fulfilling lives.

In 'War in the Fourth Dimension' we get a small peek at the hider-finder competition, the game of cat and mouse as it applies to air warfare. Each chapter details how the US would introduce a new form of technology - such as radar or jamming pods, or new missiles or drones, and the adversary would counter with their own technological changes to overcome and one-up the US. Advantages are fleeting, the technology is always pushed to its limits and barely working at first, and the stakes are nothing less than life or death for the pilots.

There's an old adage for good writing: Show don't tell. Price takes that very literally. The book is a straight narrative history, based on extended interviews with those involved. There is almost no analysis, no summing up or overviews of the topics. Just a chronological story that in sum provides a compelling - if often technically laden - account of the rise of electronic warfare.

This isn't an easy read, and it's not one most will find valuable. Even now I'm not entirely sure how much will stick with me - my notebook was largely blank throughout my read through - but in watching the action-reaction game of war play out, how ingenious solutions were developed to overcome the actions of the adversary, you get a sense of the intellectual challenge at the heart of modern warfare.


]]> 18770267 Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners.

Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned.

Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.]]> 313 Peter C. Brown 0674729013 Andrew 4
In the bookstore, 15 years into my career as a teacher...

Which just about sums up the way many universities operate. In our specific research fields we are all about the literature. When it comes to our teaching or admin we're in the 'go figure it out yourself' mold. With 'Make it Stick', I feel like I finally have a sense of what might actually work.

This 2014 book is based on a handful of simple insights from the pedagogical literature. Simply reading (or worse rereading) just doesnt do a good job embedding memories and understanding of topics. Indeed, it seems what most of us gravitate towards is as inefficient as any approach could be:
Instead, a handful of approaches should be regularly practiced:
Retrieval practice For instance a quiz is essential and should occur weekly (at low stakes). The act of trying to remember and failing, is far more powerful at building memories than just reviewing the correct answers.
Space out issues Return to topics again and again over a period. Just cramming intensively may strengthen short term memory (to help you get through tomorrow's exam), but won't create long-term memories for use next year.
Interweave issues Those who are forced to move around between related concepts will retain more than those examining just one issue in depth.
Generate Putting ideas into our own words strengthens retention.
Embed Finally, connect the new knowledge to the old, building your mental model of the topic.

There's plenty more, and I ended up taking extensive notes to help with my integration into my courses for next year. I've also found many areas of my own academic work where some of the practices could be very useful. While much of my work is about higher concepts, there's still endless facts, dates, definitions and complex ideas i need to break down into my own understanding of them to work through. With Make It Stick I have a few tools to help well... make it stick.

Recommended.]]> 4.14 2014
author: Peter C. Brown
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/21
date added: 2022/11/24
shelves:
review:
This is a book I got at university.

In the bookstore, 15 years into my career as a teacher...

Which just about sums up the way many universities operate. In our specific research fields we are all about the literature. When it comes to our teaching or admin we're in the 'go figure it out yourself' mold. With 'Make it Stick', I feel like I finally have a sense of what might actually work.

This 2014 book is based on a handful of simple insights from the pedagogical literature. Simply reading (or worse rereading) just doesnt do a good job embedding memories and understanding of topics. Indeed, it seems what most of us gravitate towards is as inefficient as any approach could be:
Instead, a handful of approaches should be regularly practiced:
Retrieval practice For instance a quiz is essential and should occur weekly (at low stakes). The act of trying to remember and failing, is far more powerful at building memories than just reviewing the correct answers.
Space out issues Return to topics again and again over a period. Just cramming intensively may strengthen short term memory (to help you get through tomorrow's exam), but won't create long-term memories for use next year.
Interweave issues Those who are forced to move around between related concepts will retain more than those examining just one issue in depth.
Generate Putting ideas into our own words strengthens retention.
Embed Finally, connect the new knowledge to the old, building your mental model of the topic.

There's plenty more, and I ended up taking extensive notes to help with my integration into my courses for next year. I've also found many areas of my own academic work where some of the practices could be very useful. While much of my work is about higher concepts, there's still endless facts, dates, definitions and complex ideas i need to break down into my own understanding of them to work through. With Make It Stick I have a few tools to help well... make it stick.

Recommended.
]]> 1319 168 Steven Pressfield 0446691437 Andrew 3
I really like Pressfield's idea of naming and personifying the concept of 'Resistance', that force which impedes the things that matter most to us. Writers write, painters paint. But often we can go long periods with a blank or half-done canvas sitting silently nearby. Never quite in the right setting to get back into it. As Pressfield notes, there's no Resistance to busy work, but when it comes to the projects you feel compelled, drawn to produce, there it sits.

Pressfield's solution for this, isn't deep. It's to 'turn pro'. Meaning to simply show up, focus on the essential project and do the work. An argument he expresses clearly and powerfully.

In the last third of the book he attempts to imbue the argument with some deeper metaphysical sense. Pressfield advocates for the quite literal notion of a Muse and interweaves this with an intriguing religious overtone. It didn't make much sense to me (there isn't even the space to develop it, nor quite the need). But it lets him say similar things in fresh or distinct ways.

For instance, if you go on social media these days, you'll soon come across a group I like to think of as the 'New Strivers'. Those who celebrate the grind, the productivity hacks, the perfect routines, the idealised abs, house, travel, partner etc etc. In some ways, I admire this group, because none of those achievements are easy for anyone (even if money or genes give small shortcuts to some). There's real effort and sweat involved. But I also think many of them get something fundamentally wrong.

As Pressfield rightly observes (all written in the era before Social Media), the goal of striving isn't to build some 'perfect' life according to the metrics of your own day, but to access the life you alone can own. As Nietzsche put it, to 'become who you are'. If you don't have that clarity, if you treat life like an RPG where your goal is to level up every visible attribute as your path to success, you will almost inevitably fail, and badly. But if you replace the external validation this approach often emphasizes with an internally-derived metric, and if you then genuinely do the work, well then you can indeed live a special life worth celebrating.

Is this a deep book? No. Will I remember it in years to come, maybe. Will I gain value from re-reading it every year or two when i'm somewhat less directed and focused on the things that give me artistic value - my writing and my painting - absolutely.
]]> 3.95 2002
author: Steven Pressfield
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2022/11/20
shelves:
review:
An enjoyable kick in the ass to get the important things done.

I really like Pressfield's idea of naming and personifying the concept of 'Resistance', that force which impedes the things that matter most to us. Writers write, painters paint. But often we can go long periods with a blank or half-done canvas sitting silently nearby. Never quite in the right setting to get back into it. As Pressfield notes, there's no Resistance to busy work, but when it comes to the projects you feel compelled, drawn to produce, there it sits.

Pressfield's solution for this, isn't deep. It's to 'turn pro'. Meaning to simply show up, focus on the essential project and do the work. An argument he expresses clearly and powerfully.

In the last third of the book he attempts to imbue the argument with some deeper metaphysical sense. Pressfield advocates for the quite literal notion of a Muse and interweaves this with an intriguing religious overtone. It didn't make much sense to me (there isn't even the space to develop it, nor quite the need). But it lets him say similar things in fresh or distinct ways.

For instance, if you go on social media these days, you'll soon come across a group I like to think of as the 'New Strivers'. Those who celebrate the grind, the productivity hacks, the perfect routines, the idealised abs, house, travel, partner etc etc. In some ways, I admire this group, because none of those achievements are easy for anyone (even if money or genes give small shortcuts to some). There's real effort and sweat involved. But I also think many of them get something fundamentally wrong.

As Pressfield rightly observes (all written in the era before Social Media), the goal of striving isn't to build some 'perfect' life according to the metrics of your own day, but to access the life you alone can own. As Nietzsche put it, to 'become who you are'. If you don't have that clarity, if you treat life like an RPG where your goal is to level up every visible attribute as your path to success, you will almost inevitably fail, and badly. But if you replace the external validation this approach often emphasizes with an internally-derived metric, and if you then genuinely do the work, well then you can indeed live a special life worth celebrating.

Is this a deep book? No. Will I remember it in years to come, maybe. Will I gain value from re-reading it every year or two when i'm somewhat less directed and focused on the things that give me artistic value - my writing and my painting - absolutely.

]]> 2624018 312 Trevor N. Dupuy 0913729574 Andrew 3
Ultimately, I remain somewhat skeptical about such efforts. To his credit, Dupuy stresses the importance of going beyond simple numbers (who has more troops/tanks) and trying to quantify the quality of the forces, and the intangibles such as their training and morale. But it never feels like much more than an effort at translation. Take qualitative judgements, turn them into numbers, and use the numbers to then validate the original qualitative judgements. I

Such models have great value as alternate lenses through which to view a campaign. I can see why those directly involved in operational planning (or perhaps a historian intensively studying a specific campaign) would want to adopt such a model. But it always has to abstract heavily away from reality in order to function, and often seems best able to validate ideas already reached by qualitative analysis.

A classic. But not one I find persuasive.]]> 3.73 1987
author: Trevor N. Dupuy
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/09
date added: 2022/11/12
shelves:
review:
A passionate effort to quantify our understanding of war. Dupuy's aim is to present a 'theory of combat' he calls Quantified Judgement Model. Along the way he offers strong chapters on force ratios, attrition, movement and combat power. And applies his model to historical and more recent case studies.

Ultimately, I remain somewhat skeptical about such efforts. To his credit, Dupuy stresses the importance of going beyond simple numbers (who has more troops/tanks) and trying to quantify the quality of the forces, and the intangibles such as their training and morale. But it never feels like much more than an effort at translation. Take qualitative judgements, turn them into numbers, and use the numbers to then validate the original qualitative judgements. I

Such models have great value as alternate lenses through which to view a campaign. I can see why those directly involved in operational planning (or perhaps a historian intensively studying a specific campaign) would want to adopt such a model. But it always has to abstract heavily away from reality in order to function, and often seems best able to validate ideas already reached by qualitative analysis.

A classic. But not one I find persuasive.
]]> 58950736 From a New York Times investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, “an essential book for our times�� (Ezra Klein), tracking the high-stakes inside story of how Big Tech’s breakneck race to drive engagement—and profits—at all costs fractured the world

We all have a vague sense that social media is bad for our minds, for our children, and for our democracies. But the truth is that its reach and impact run far deeper than we have understood. Building on years of international reporting, Max Fisher tells the gripping and galling inside story of how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks, in their pursuit of unfettered profits, preyed on psychological frailties to create the algorithms that drive everyday users to extreme opinions and, increasingly, extreme actions. As Fisher demonstrates, the companies�� founding tenets, combined with a blinkered focus maximizing engagement, have led to a destabilized world for everyone.

Traversing the planet, Fisher tracks the ubiquity of hate speech and its spillover into violence, ills that first festered in far-off locales to their dark culmination in America during the pandemic, the 2020 election, and the Capitol Insurrection. Through it all, the social-media giants refused to intervene in any meaningful way, claiming to champion free speech when in fact what they most prized were limitless profits. The result, as Fisher shows, is a cultural shift toward a world in which people are polarized not by beliefs based on facts, but by misinformation, outrage, and fear.

His narrative is about more than the villains, however. Fisher also weaves together the stories of the heroic outsiders and Silicon Valley defectors who raised the alarm and revealed what was happening behind the closed doors of Big Tech. Both panoramic and intimate, The Chaos Machine is the definitive account of the meteoric rise and troubled legacy of the tech titans, as well as a rousing and hopeful call to arrest the havoc wreaked on our minds and our world before it’s too late.]]> 400 Max Fisher 031670332X Andrew 4
Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Reddit etc) is one of the most significant contemporary dynamics. It is changing our economy, our politics, our entertainment and culture, our way of spending time, and even the way humans interact with each other. Yet it is not very well understood.

Fisher sets out to explain a particular part of social media: why is it associated with such polarization, rise of extremist views, mob-like behaviour (to harass or cancel transgressors) and seemingly working to both strengthen some authoritarian systems while critically undermining democratic ones. Which then makes trying to meaningfully address it a particularly challenging question.

Social media’s ills in some way seem over-determined. From the macro (and therefore unhelpfully broad) categories of Race, Capitalism, Free Speech, to the micro (Zuckaberg’s poor governance, Trump’s particular exploitation etc). What is valuable about The Chaos Machine is that Fisher helps narrow down the focus towards an issue which seems at the crux of the swirling issues: Algorithmic amplification.

Part of why Social Media exploded in popularity was that this was the deliberate intention of social media designers. They want us as engaged with their products as long as possible. And certain kinds of content stimulate stronger and longer engagement. Receiving virtual social kudos (likes, hearts) provides a dopamine hit. Moral-emotional language (Hate, Adore, Frustrated) captures our attention and encourages us to engage. In the search for continuous eyeballs, these sites have developed ways of pushing content that generates strong reactions to the top of our feeds (which have endless cycles so we never run out of new things to respond to).

As such, while 1000 people can be posting happily away about their happy lives, 10 people may be posting cynical, manipulative, outrage-generating content. And because it generates a strong response, those 1000 people will at some point have this content served up to them. 300 may click through for curiosity, 100 may click on a further recommendation, 50 may fall down a youtube rabbit hole. 10 more may end up posters themselves of new outrage generating content. The amount of disturbing content has now just doubled. And it will keep doubling because to the machine, this was a successful pattern of generating engagement (and hence ad revenue for the sites).

The problem, as a French computer scientist who worked at Youtube identifies midway through the book, is thus not the fact those original 10 people had free speech. It was the deliberate amplification of the worst but most engagement-driving, forms of speech.

At times, the sites have deliberately recognised this. In one highly disturbing incident in 2018, youtube’s algorithm discovered that it could cut together thousands of videos of young kids in the pool or in partial clothing. And doing so generated a lot of eyeballs. So it did it again and again. In that case, Youtube eventually acted. But it and other social media companies haven’t done so in cases where people in the US, Germany, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Brazil or dozens of other places around the world. And people have been killed because of their refusal.

You can understand the companies reluctance. They didn't make the conspiracy theories, they know nothing about why the Rohingya people are seen as illegitimate in Myanmar. Turn off the systems always delivering us hot takes and engaging content and we might go and do something else with our time, hurting their profits. But the rise of the far-right in particular, the explosion of conspiracy theories, the re-emergence of political violence and destabilisation in democracies around the world is necessarily (if not sufficiently) tied to these services.

Given the significance of this book’s subject, it reflects what I term a ‘Citizenship book��. Books I think we should be providing on mass to citizens to read and help them engage with the world. To help them understand what makes their world tick. They can choose to respond to it however they wish, but we’d all be far better off if there was a richer foundation on which to do so.

But in a world where citizenship books were a real thing, we’d probably never have the problem with the algorithms that we do today. Our grand parents generation would occasionally go and spend an evening listening to local politicians giving a talk. Tonight our nightly news may offer a 6 second sound bite to the leader of the country. After having shown 15 minutes of stories of crime and celebrities.

Even if we had more clearly defined channels for our content we’d all be in a better situation. Fisher rightly points the finger at Youtube as one of the most disturbing social media sites, directly linked with many (most?) cases of radicalisation. But while I use the site everyday, I’ve almost never seen that material. Why? Because I only use it for my hobbies (cooking, games) and music. I don’t seek news from YouTube. But some of us do. And a mainstream news report reposted on Youtube, as the algorithm has clearly recognised, won’t get a fraction of the attention and emotive engagement that a cynical conspiracy clip will get. The algorithm amplification is the problem, but the problem only exists because of human frailties.

In some ways this is a depressing book. The thing in our pocket which distracts us in the stalled grocery line, is the same thing giving rise to mob violence in our streets, undermining our democracy, and directly killing people around the world. That said, reading The Chaos Machine in November 2022 I do feel a small sense of optimism for three reasons.

First, perhaps through books like this, and the growing recognition within Silicon Valley about their leviathan, we’re coming to better understand the problem. Second, the kinds of mass social movements whose amplification can really have vast scales may be struggling. We’re not going away from social media anytime soon, but Facebook is spiralling and Twitter seems about to break down. To be sure the problem isn’t going away, but the diffusion of sites, the diffusion of networks will create more natural fire breaks.

Finally, Time may help cure some wounds. Parts of the baby boomers generation have been utterly broken by Facebook. And journalists and politicians are unlikely to anoint one single network again in the way they legitimised Twitter in the 2010s. Maybe just maybe the digital natives coming up now will have a slightly better grasp of how to manage such systems. Now, to post this to Goodreas and Twitter. If you enjoyed this review, please like, share and subscribe!]]> 4.27 2022
author: Max Fisher
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/08
date added: 2022/11/08
shelves:
review:
I read so I can understand how the world actually works. For a variety of reasons, many non-fiction books cannot help you towards that goal. This one does.

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Reddit etc) is one of the most significant contemporary dynamics. It is changing our economy, our politics, our entertainment and culture, our way of spending time, and even the way humans interact with each other. Yet it is not very well understood.

Fisher sets out to explain a particular part of social media: why is it associated with such polarization, rise of extremist views, mob-like behaviour (to harass or cancel transgressors) and seemingly working to both strengthen some authoritarian systems while critically undermining democratic ones. Which then makes trying to meaningfully address it a particularly challenging question.

Social media’s ills in some way seem over-determined. From the macro (and therefore unhelpfully broad) categories of Race, Capitalism, Free Speech, to the micro (Zuckaberg’s poor governance, Trump’s particular exploitation etc). What is valuable about The Chaos Machine is that Fisher helps narrow down the focus towards an issue which seems at the crux of the swirling issues: Algorithmic amplification.

Part of why Social Media exploded in popularity was that this was the deliberate intention of social media designers. They want us as engaged with their products as long as possible. And certain kinds of content stimulate stronger and longer engagement. Receiving virtual social kudos (likes, hearts) provides a dopamine hit. Moral-emotional language (Hate, Adore, Frustrated) captures our attention and encourages us to engage. In the search for continuous eyeballs, these sites have developed ways of pushing content that generates strong reactions to the top of our feeds (which have endless cycles so we never run out of new things to respond to).

As such, while 1000 people can be posting happily away about their happy lives, 10 people may be posting cynical, manipulative, outrage-generating content. And because it generates a strong response, those 1000 people will at some point have this content served up to them. 300 may click through for curiosity, 100 may click on a further recommendation, 50 may fall down a youtube rabbit hole. 10 more may end up posters themselves of new outrage generating content. The amount of disturbing content has now just doubled. And it will keep doubling because to the machine, this was a successful pattern of generating engagement (and hence ad revenue for the sites).

The problem, as a French computer scientist who worked at Youtube identifies midway through the book, is thus not the fact those original 10 people had free speech. It was the deliberate amplification of the worst but most engagement-driving, forms of speech.

At times, the sites have deliberately recognised this. In one highly disturbing incident in 2018, youtube’s algorithm discovered that it could cut together thousands of videos of young kids in the pool or in partial clothing. And doing so generated a lot of eyeballs. So it did it again and again. In that case, Youtube eventually acted. But it and other social media companies haven’t done so in cases where people in the US, Germany, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Brazil or dozens of other places around the world. And people have been killed because of their refusal.

You can understand the companies reluctance. They didn't make the conspiracy theories, they know nothing about why the Rohingya people are seen as illegitimate in Myanmar. Turn off the systems always delivering us hot takes and engaging content and we might go and do something else with our time, hurting their profits. But the rise of the far-right in particular, the explosion of conspiracy theories, the re-emergence of political violence and destabilisation in democracies around the world is necessarily (if not sufficiently) tied to these services.

Given the significance of this book’s subject, it reflects what I term a ‘Citizenship book��. Books I think we should be providing on mass to citizens to read and help them engage with the world. To help them understand what makes their world tick. They can choose to respond to it however they wish, but we’d all be far better off if there was a richer foundation on which to do so.

But in a world where citizenship books were a real thing, we’d probably never have the problem with the algorithms that we do today. Our grand parents generation would occasionally go and spend an evening listening to local politicians giving a talk. Tonight our nightly news may offer a 6 second sound bite to the leader of the country. After having shown 15 minutes of stories of crime and celebrities.

Even if we had more clearly defined channels for our content we’d all be in a better situation. Fisher rightly points the finger at Youtube as one of the most disturbing social media sites, directly linked with many (most?) cases of radicalisation. But while I use the site everyday, I’ve almost never seen that material. Why? Because I only use it for my hobbies (cooking, games) and music. I don’t seek news from YouTube. But some of us do. And a mainstream news report reposted on Youtube, as the algorithm has clearly recognised, won’t get a fraction of the attention and emotive engagement that a cynical conspiracy clip will get. The algorithm amplification is the problem, but the problem only exists because of human frailties.

In some ways this is a depressing book. The thing in our pocket which distracts us in the stalled grocery line, is the same thing giving rise to mob violence in our streets, undermining our democracy, and directly killing people around the world. That said, reading The Chaos Machine in November 2022 I do feel a small sense of optimism for three reasons.

First, perhaps through books like this, and the growing recognition within Silicon Valley about their leviathan, we’re coming to better understand the problem. Second, the kinds of mass social movements whose amplification can really have vast scales may be struggling. We’re not going away from social media anytime soon, but Facebook is spiralling and Twitter seems about to break down. To be sure the problem isn’t going away, but the diffusion of sites, the diffusion of networks will create more natural fire breaks.

Finally, Time may help cure some wounds. Parts of the baby boomers generation have been utterly broken by Facebook. And journalists and politicians are unlikely to anoint one single network again in the way they legitimised Twitter in the 2010s. Maybe just maybe the digital natives coming up now will have a slightly better grasp of how to manage such systems. Now, to post this to Goodreas and Twitter. If you enjoyed this review, please like, share and subscribe!
]]> 26896019 328 Christopher Bellamy 1138919233 Andrew 3
There's a lot to like about this book. It's quite easy to read and the author has a sense of judgement and balance that is welcome. Bellamy is a cautious eye on changes in conflict, but without either undue enthusiasm 'revolutionizing warfare' or a cynicism that 'we've seen everything before'.

The book begins strongly with good thematic analysis and an attempt to engage in some very ground level (sorry) tactical analysis, of lines and communication. Then it shifts gears into a broad historical overview from the napoleonic era to the late Cold War. All valuable content.

I was however less taken by the two sprawling historical essays. One on Soviet concepts of deep attack, and the other on land warfare in Asia. Both are interesting and with a strong historical foundation. But I was never exactly sure what the purpose or focus of each was. The Soviet chapter at least provides a strong historical background to what were then contemporary debates (How the USSR thought about attacking Europe). The Asia chapter by contrast is part historical 'you really should know this' (guilty, I don't), part quasi-strategic culture analysis around guerrilla and mounted cavalry attacks, and part random celebration of leading Asian warfighters such as Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and Nadir Shah. Interesting, but sprawling.

Overall, a useful read. Had the author updated it, i'd have found it much easier to recommend. But I appreciate having gone through it.]]> 3.71 2015
author: Christopher Bellamy
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/04
date added: 2022/11/07
shelves:
review:
A solid and engaging analysis of land combat from 1989 (It was republished in 2016, but the text has not been updated).

There's a lot to like about this book. It's quite easy to read and the author has a sense of judgement and balance that is welcome. Bellamy is a cautious eye on changes in conflict, but without either undue enthusiasm 'revolutionizing warfare' or a cynicism that 'we've seen everything before'.

The book begins strongly with good thematic analysis and an attempt to engage in some very ground level (sorry) tactical analysis, of lines and communication. Then it shifts gears into a broad historical overview from the napoleonic era to the late Cold War. All valuable content.

I was however less taken by the two sprawling historical essays. One on Soviet concepts of deep attack, and the other on land warfare in Asia. Both are interesting and with a strong historical foundation. But I was never exactly sure what the purpose or focus of each was. The Soviet chapter at least provides a strong historical background to what were then contemporary debates (How the USSR thought about attacking Europe). The Asia chapter by contrast is part historical 'you really should know this' (guilty, I don't), part quasi-strategic culture analysis around guerrilla and mounted cavalry attacks, and part random celebration of leading Asian warfighters such as Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and Nadir Shah. Interesting, but sprawling.

Overall, a useful read. Had the author updated it, i'd have found it much easier to recommend. But I appreciate having gone through it.
]]> 62231438 176 Clinton Fernandes 0522879268 Andrew 1 4.10
author: Clinton Fernandes
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2022/11/02
shelves:
review:
As my mother used to tell me: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
]]> 39021623 Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations is the third edition published by the Naval Institute Press. The revised edition still covers battle tactics at sea from the age of fighting sail to the present, with emphasis on trends (factors that have changed throughout history), constants (things that have not changed), and variables (things pertinent to each individual battle). The book continues to emphasize combat data, including how hitting and damage rates and maneuvering have been conducted to achieve an advantage over the centuries. The third edition highlights the current swift advances in unmanned vehicles, artificial intelligence, cyber warfare in peace and war, and other effects of information warfare, and how they are changing the ways battles at sea will be fought and won. It also describes the interaction between naval operations, wartime campaigns, and coalition tactics have affected war at sea, with special emphasis on the U. S. Navy. It also points out the growing interaction between land and sea in littoral combat.]]> 408 Wayne P. Hughes Jr. 1682473376 Andrew 5
My study of Strategy has been something akin to skydiving. I went up very quickly in a rather rickety small plane, and having obtained a the blurry view from 10'000 feet (covering foreign policy & politics), I'm increasingly pulled ever down, trying to see with a little more clarity how things actually work. Each level further down brings greater complexity, but helps explain some of the tenants, trends and tensions of the higher levels.

The next step on this path is trying to read my way through some of the acknowledged classics on how militaries' actually operate. 'Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations' by Hughes & Girrier fits that bill eminently.

This is an accessible and engaging assessment of how naval tactics are designed. This is not simply a book about the deep ocean. The authors stress that modern naval conflict is very much tied to the use of forces on the land and sky as well, and argue that in the emerging era of missile warfare (this third edition came out in 2018), the littoral or coastal regions will be the key maritime zones for Navy's to master.

The authors don't aim for a principles of war approach, but rather seek to differentiate what they see as the six constants of fleet tactics (“Sailors matter most, Doctrine is the glue of tactics, To know tactics know technology, The seat of purpose is on the land, A ship’s a fool to fight a fort, Attack effectively first��).

These ideas are then interwoven through discussion of broad historical trends (concentrating on the Age of Sail under Nelson and the Pacific battles of the Second World War), and the implications of modern warfare with the role of information and missiles presenting significant challenges for fleets.

I was pleasantly surprised how readable this book was. I have in the past struggled with some military writings, finding they seem to dive into the arcana of technical and technological elements, can go heavy on the quantitative assessments, and leave the reader searching for a stable foothold for the material. That’s not the case here. While some sections invoke mathematical models, these are brief and quite well explained and supported. The authors also display a basic caution, if not common sense, in regularly highlighting the limits of any such assessments, recognising their contribution is for aiding analysis, not substituting for it.

For anyone wanting a better sense of how modern warfare operates, and the core principles behind some of the broader decisions you read about, this is a valuable and highly accessible read. I feel I’ve learned a lot, and the picture below is ever so slightly in greater focus. Now let's just hope my choice to bring a bag of books instead of a parachute was the right call...]]> 4.23
author: Wayne P. Hughes Jr.
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/02
date added: 2022/11/01
shelves:
review:
A classic and deservedly so.

My study of Strategy has been something akin to skydiving. I went up very quickly in a rather rickety small plane, and having obtained a the blurry view from 10'000 feet (covering foreign policy & politics), I'm increasingly pulled ever down, trying to see with a little more clarity how things actually work. Each level further down brings greater complexity, but helps explain some of the tenants, trends and tensions of the higher levels.

The next step on this path is trying to read my way through some of the acknowledged classics on how militaries' actually operate. 'Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations' by Hughes & Girrier fits that bill eminently.

This is an accessible and engaging assessment of how naval tactics are designed. This is not simply a book about the deep ocean. The authors stress that modern naval conflict is very much tied to the use of forces on the land and sky as well, and argue that in the emerging era of missile warfare (this third edition came out in 2018), the littoral or coastal regions will be the key maritime zones for Navy's to master.

The authors don't aim for a principles of war approach, but rather seek to differentiate what they see as the six constants of fleet tactics (“Sailors matter most, Doctrine is the glue of tactics, To know tactics know technology, The seat of purpose is on the land, A ship’s a fool to fight a fort, Attack effectively first��).

These ideas are then interwoven through discussion of broad historical trends (concentrating on the Age of Sail under Nelson and the Pacific battles of the Second World War), and the implications of modern warfare with the role of information and missiles presenting significant challenges for fleets.

I was pleasantly surprised how readable this book was. I have in the past struggled with some military writings, finding they seem to dive into the arcana of technical and technological elements, can go heavy on the quantitative assessments, and leave the reader searching for a stable foothold for the material. That’s not the case here. While some sections invoke mathematical models, these are brief and quite well explained and supported. The authors also display a basic caution, if not common sense, in regularly highlighting the limits of any such assessments, recognising their contribution is for aiding analysis, not substituting for it.

For anyone wanting a better sense of how modern warfare operates, and the core principles behind some of the broader decisions you read about, this is a valuable and highly accessible read. I feel I’ve learned a lot, and the picture below is ever so slightly in greater focus. Now let's just hope my choice to bring a bag of books instead of a parachute was the right call...
]]> 61081757
Reflections on Net Assessment captures Marshall's thoughts on the creation and evolution of net assessment (the practice and the office) in his own words. The book is an edited version of a series of twelve interviews of Marshall conducted from 1993 to 1999 covering the years from 1950 to 1994. It is a first-hand account of the development of not only net assessment, but also of American strategic thought and the U.S. defense establishment. The intent is to get the thoughts of the father of net assessment into the hands of current and future practitioners and strategists.]]> 330 Andrew W. Marshall 0578384221 Andrew 5 But it's likely to only appeal to a very small audience.

'Reflections on Net Assessment' is a series of interview transcripts with Andy Marshall, the creator and head of the Office of Net Assessment in the US Pentagon (holding the office from 1973-2015). Some are individual conversations, some are group conversations with others in the Office and Marshall leading the way.

As such, this is a slow read that requires a lot of context to appreciate. I wouldn't recommend anyone read it who hasn't read the Krepinevich & Watts bio of Marshall or without a wide understanding of Net Assessment and the contributions of the office over the years. The conversations wander, there's unfortunately quite a lot of repeated anacdotes, and the group conversations can both illuminate and run off on tangents simultaneously.

But if you do know who Marshall was, if you do want to really understand why his thinking was valued by nearly every US Defense Secretary for half a century, this is a must read book. The interviews were undertaken in the 1990s as part of an effort to write an intellectual history of Marshall and ONA. As such the focus is very much on his own way of thinking, key themes, and the approaches he took in building this unique analytical approach and bureaucratic position.

This book is also likely to appeal to historians of US strategy and the Department of Defense. There's a lot of discussion about the organisational development and the history and passage of various programs and ideas. Krepinevich and Watts mined these transcripts for their 2015 book, so there doesn't seem to be any startling new revelations. But hearing Marshall explain, in his own words, his ideas and approach is stimulating and thought provoking.

While there are many feschrifts out there, I do wonder if 'Intellectual History Interviews' is a category of scholarship we need more of. Some thinkers provide it in their final end-of-career works, trying to sum up their contributions and approach. Many however should be coaxed to explain 'how did you think about the world, what led you to this idea or that, why did you change in your career this way or achieve that success'. We can all learn more from those who have gone before, and we do in personal mentoring situations, but that information can and should spread much wider. (Even if Marshall himself comes across in the interviews as uncomfortable with too much focus on his own role/significance)

We are once more back in a world of strategic competition and deterrence. Where the stakes of not thinking clearly are literally existential. To read Marshall in these interviews is to see someone who kept trying to think clearly about the world. Who read everything, who kept coming back to the core questions trying to get at them again and again, who was very modest in his desire for change, and patient in his approach.

He was, in my view, someone who really got at the essence of strategy, in the relentless focus on understanding specific real world problems, and specific real world adversaries. Get those right, diagnosing the specific problem and understanding how the other side really thinks about these our approach/ these issues, and you're a long way down the track to strategic success.

A classic I am sure I will return to many times. Not because Marshall always had the right ideas, but because he tried to think as clearly about the really important issues as anyone can. ]]> 3.82
author: Andrew W. Marshall
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.82
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/27
date added: 2022/10/26
shelves:
review:
This is a remarkable, fascinating, inspiring and compelling read. It is the closest to a 'how did they actually think' account we can get, of one of the best strategists of the 20th century.
But it's likely to only appeal to a very small audience.

'Reflections on Net Assessment' is a series of interview transcripts with Andy Marshall, the creator and head of the Office of Net Assessment in the US Pentagon (holding the office from 1973-2015). Some are individual conversations, some are group conversations with others in the Office and Marshall leading the way.

As such, this is a slow read that requires a lot of context to appreciate. I wouldn't recommend anyone read it who hasn't read the Krepinevich & Watts bio of Marshall or without a wide understanding of Net Assessment and the contributions of the office over the years. The conversations wander, there's unfortunately quite a lot of repeated anacdotes, and the group conversations can both illuminate and run off on tangents simultaneously.

But if you do know who Marshall was, if you do want to really understand why his thinking was valued by nearly every US Defense Secretary for half a century, this is a must read book. The interviews were undertaken in the 1990s as part of an effort to write an intellectual history of Marshall and ONA. As such the focus is very much on his own way of thinking, key themes, and the approaches he took in building this unique analytical approach and bureaucratic position.

This book is also likely to appeal to historians of US strategy and the Department of Defense. There's a lot of discussion about the organisational development and the history and passage of various programs and ideas. Krepinevich and Watts mined these transcripts for their 2015 book, so there doesn't seem to be any startling new revelations. But hearing Marshall explain, in his own words, his ideas and approach is stimulating and thought provoking.

While there are many feschrifts out there, I do wonder if 'Intellectual History Interviews' is a category of scholarship we need more of. Some thinkers provide it in their final end-of-career works, trying to sum up their contributions and approach. Many however should be coaxed to explain 'how did you think about the world, what led you to this idea or that, why did you change in your career this way or achieve that success'. We can all learn more from those who have gone before, and we do in personal mentoring situations, but that information can and should spread much wider. (Even if Marshall himself comes across in the interviews as uncomfortable with too much focus on his own role/significance)

We are once more back in a world of strategic competition and deterrence. Where the stakes of not thinking clearly are literally existential. To read Marshall in these interviews is to see someone who kept trying to think clearly about the world. Who read everything, who kept coming back to the core questions trying to get at them again and again, who was very modest in his desire for change, and patient in his approach.

He was, in my view, someone who really got at the essence of strategy, in the relentless focus on understanding specific real world problems, and specific real world adversaries. Get those right, diagnosing the specific problem and understanding how the other side really thinks about these our approach/ these issues, and you're a long way down the track to strategic success.

A classic I am sure I will return to many times. Not because Marshall always had the right ideas, but because he tried to think as clearly about the really important issues as anyone can.
]]> 60882259
Mere years ago, Western governments chose to cooperate with China in the hope that it would liberalize, setting aside concerns about human rights abuses, totalitarian ambitions and espionage. But the axiom of China's 'peaceful rise' has been fundamentally challenged by the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian behavior under Xi Jinping.

How did we get it wrong for so long?

Spies and Lies pierces the Ministry of State Security's walls of secrecy and reveals how agents of the Chinese Communist Party have spent decades manipulating the West’s attitudes �� from an Australian prime minister to the US Congress, prominent think tanks and the FBI �� about China’s rise. Through interviews with defectors and intelligence officers, classified Chinese intelligence documents and original investigations, the book unmasks dozens of active Chinese intelligence officers along with global MSS fronts, including travel agencies, writers associations, publishing houses, alumni associations, newspapers, a Buddhist temple, a record company and charities.

Spies and Lies is an extraordinary insight into the most successful influence operation in history �� one which has fooled the West for years �� and is indispensable reading.]]> 304 Alex Joske 1743797990 Andrew 3
Joske has carved out an impressive reputation in his open-source analysis of China. Reading this book I was somewhat reminded of Des Ball’s contributions. The depth and detail are impressive. You get the sense the author knows a lot more than they can always say. At the same time, such works require a higher degree of trust in the author. There’s no easy way for most readers to check if the particular person they identify is who they say they are, or to tease apart the back story. You need to implicitly accept the authors judgement as you move across hundreds of little stories and events, and the way they weave them into a broader story.

One take away I have from Spies and Lies is an asymmetry between China and the West of action against passivity. China has no more absolute control or confidence in its path and people than any other country. Indeed its weaknesses are real and apparent. But its institutions have been active and deliberate in their effort to shape and push the agenda of others. The West by contrast has often been remarkably passive. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps we didn’t think China was enough of a threat to bother, but then persuasive efforts in the War on Terrorism also failed badly. Perhaps we thought that active persuasion would always do worse than the allure of our own system and its innate superiority of liberal, democratic capitalism?

Take the story of Australia’s former Prime Minister Bob Hawke (in office 1983-1991). Joske describes how, following his time in office, Hawke became a businessman with significant links into China. He did fairly well out of the arrangement, though some of his partners were MSS affiliated. Joske is quick to deny any suggestion that Hawke did anything untoward. Instead, he argues Hawke’s role helped normalise and justify China to Australians and the world. He’s right on that score. Yet, Hawke was famously one of the most persuasive, charismatic people of his generation. Intellectually and socially, few in China would have been a match for him. Did anyone in the West do anything to help people like Hawke to succeed in being influential on the ground across the Chinese system? Probably not. No doubt he was just left to wander in, as our governments hoped some good would come of it. Meanwhile on the other side, there seems a deliberate effort to engage and gain benefit to China from his presence and interactions. Again, nothing untoward is alleged to have occurred. Yet while China set out to influence and persuade the world, what did we do to influence and persuade China? Not just hoping it would happen on our terms, but actively and strategically?

Lurking behind much of this book’s tale is the question of how the West got China wrong. Was it a policy failure in seeking engagement? Was it an Intelligence failure in not identifying the specific threats and individuals? Or perhaps a broader social failure to realise what kind of country China really is. Perhaps it is all three. I don’t have the knowledge to tease out how well the intelligence communities acted, though their emphasis on change over the last few years suggests they’ve found a need to significantly adjust. Socially too many around the world have shifted their views of China. Many in our business, academic and political establishments simply did not do due diligence in who they worked with, who they met and who they took money from. Thankfully that is slowly changing.

The policy question is perhaps harder. Joske�� notes that in Australia having ‘reset�� the relationship, and had the veil of innocence removed, the aim is not to cut all ties, but to balance the opportunities with clear understanding of the risks. Historically, while the specifics can certainly be questioned was the broader effort to engage China, to hope that it may change a mistake? I’m not sure. Certainly the MSS seems to have sold the West a story it wanted to hear. Yet we know from history that many authoritarian regimes are always far weaker and less coherent than they would like us to believe, and that letting in cracks of sunlight can warp the whole structure. Joske doesn’t directly engage those questions, but the book is a useful window into thinking through part of how we approached these issues, and the opportunities and costs of each method.

This is a quick read (200 pages) and given the nature of the material and clear writing style you can breeze through it. The final chapter is particularly interesting and I appreciated Joske taking a step back to consider the implications and ways to respond. His points about the bias towards classified over open-source and shortfalls in long term China literacy are well taken. An impressive and useful contribution. Deliberately it tries to only tell one small tale of the biggest story of this century, but it does so effectively. Recommended.
]]> 3.69
author: Alex Joske
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/10/24
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves:
review:
Spies and Lies by Alex Joske tells the story of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) and its influence campaigns. Where traditional intelligence operations might try to run agents or break into secure systems, a variety of political and organisational factors pushed the MSS towards an open narrative campaign. One that cultivated influence for access and co-opted western hopes for a liberalising China, to buy legitimacy and set the terms for China’s rise.

Joske has carved out an impressive reputation in his open-source analysis of China. Reading this book I was somewhat reminded of Des Ball’s contributions. The depth and detail are impressive. You get the sense the author knows a lot more than they can always say. At the same time, such works require a higher degree of trust in the author. There’s no easy way for most readers to check if the particular person they identify is who they say they are, or to tease apart the back story. You need to implicitly accept the authors judgement as you move across hundreds of little stories and events, and the way they weave them into a broader story.

One take away I have from Spies and Lies is an asymmetry between China and the West of action against passivity. China has no more absolute control or confidence in its path and people than any other country. Indeed its weaknesses are real and apparent. But its institutions have been active and deliberate in their effort to shape and push the agenda of others. The West by contrast has often been remarkably passive. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps we didn’t think China was enough of a threat to bother, but then persuasive efforts in the War on Terrorism also failed badly. Perhaps we thought that active persuasion would always do worse than the allure of our own system and its innate superiority of liberal, democratic capitalism?

Take the story of Australia’s former Prime Minister Bob Hawke (in office 1983-1991). Joske describes how, following his time in office, Hawke became a businessman with significant links into China. He did fairly well out of the arrangement, though some of his partners were MSS affiliated. Joske is quick to deny any suggestion that Hawke did anything untoward. Instead, he argues Hawke’s role helped normalise and justify China to Australians and the world. He’s right on that score. Yet, Hawke was famously one of the most persuasive, charismatic people of his generation. Intellectually and socially, few in China would have been a match for him. Did anyone in the West do anything to help people like Hawke to succeed in being influential on the ground across the Chinese system? Probably not. No doubt he was just left to wander in, as our governments hoped some good would come of it. Meanwhile on the other side, there seems a deliberate effort to engage and gain benefit to China from his presence and interactions. Again, nothing untoward is alleged to have occurred. Yet while China set out to influence and persuade the world, what did we do to influence and persuade China? Not just hoping it would happen on our terms, but actively and strategically?

Lurking behind much of this book’s tale is the question of how the West got China wrong. Was it a policy failure in seeking engagement? Was it an Intelligence failure in not identifying the specific threats and individuals? Or perhaps a broader social failure to realise what kind of country China really is. Perhaps it is all three. I don’t have the knowledge to tease out how well the intelligence communities acted, though their emphasis on change over the last few years suggests they’ve found a need to significantly adjust. Socially too many around the world have shifted their views of China. Many in our business, academic and political establishments simply did not do due diligence in who they worked with, who they met and who they took money from. Thankfully that is slowly changing.

The policy question is perhaps harder. Joske�� notes that in Australia having ‘reset�� the relationship, and had the veil of innocence removed, the aim is not to cut all ties, but to balance the opportunities with clear understanding of the risks. Historically, while the specifics can certainly be questioned was the broader effort to engage China, to hope that it may change a mistake? I’m not sure. Certainly the MSS seems to have sold the West a story it wanted to hear. Yet we know from history that many authoritarian regimes are always far weaker and less coherent than they would like us to believe, and that letting in cracks of sunlight can warp the whole structure. Joske doesn’t directly engage those questions, but the book is a useful window into thinking through part of how we approached these issues, and the opportunities and costs of each method.

This is a quick read (200 pages) and given the nature of the material and clear writing style you can breeze through it. The final chapter is particularly interesting and I appreciated Joske taking a step back to consider the implications and ways to respond. His points about the bias towards classified over open-source and shortfalls in long term China literacy are well taken. An impressive and useful contribution. Deliberately it tries to only tell one small tale of the biggest story of this century, but it does so effectively. Recommended.

]]> 58895961
A revolutionary framework to turn any leader into a strategist - by the bestselling author of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

' The Crux shows why Rumelt is a global authority on strategy.' Andy D. Bryant, chairman of the board, Intel Corporation, 2012-20.

'Another triumph from the most insightful - and entertaining - commentator on strategy ' Sir John Kay, author of Obliquity

'The only book you'll need as a strategist' Dawn Farrell, president and CEO, TransAlta (2012-21)

The most important part of a leader's job is to set in motion the actions today that will build a better future tomorrow - in other words, strategy. But how do leaders become strategists?

In this ground-breaking book, Richard Rumelt, the world's leading authority on strategy, shows how finding the crux of a challenge is the essence of the strategist's skill. The crux is the key issue where action will best pay off, and Rumelt reveals how to pinpoint it so you can focus energy on what really matters. Drawing on decades of professional and academic experience, and through vivid storytelling - from Elon Musk's decision-making to Netflix's journey - Rumelt illuminates how leaders can overcome obstacles, navigate uncertainty and determine the best path forward.

Strategy is not about setting financial targets, statements of desired outcomes, or performance goals, it is about finding the crux and taking decisive, coherent action.]]> 368 Richard P. Rumelt 1788169506 Andrew 5
Strategy, Rumelt implores his readers 'is not magic'. It's not about setting vast long term goals and aspirations. Instead, it is about solving problems. If the world gave us everything we needed, we wouldn't need strategy. Because we have problems, of varying significance and resolvability, we need strategy to help us sort out what we should do, how to choose, and how to sustain that focus to fix the problems before us.

For some years now, I've been disenchanted with the idea of Grand Strategy, with its emphasis on the long term, the aspirational, the planned, the aesthetically intellectual. For a time, I thought Emergent Strategy was a viable alternative. And while it has much to recommend, especially those authors who've touched on its links to complexity science, it too has its flaws. It can be self-satisfied, or unfocused and often gives up the space for meaningful action. Both Grand and Emergent Strategy seem to be ways of explaining organisational actions, without the word 'strategy' clearly adding something distinct to the day-to-day practices.

Enter 'The Crux'. Rumelt sees strategy as about problem solving, and 'the crux' as the skill of identifying what problems/issues/opportunities are important, what can be actually addressed, and building the focus that enables us to take action over a short-medium term to try and address them.

For me, the value of this was several-fold. First, it helped strengthen my rejection of goal setting . Second, the idea of problem solving as the central issue of strategy is compelling. Third I've long been drawn to Andrew Marshall's notions of Diagnosis as the task of the strategist, and this very much fits within Rumelts framework. Fourth, I now believe that, with some additions, Rumelts framework could help us find a a valuable middle ground between Grand and Emergent strategic ideas. One that retained the sense of deliberate active work of the Grand, while bringing in the richer, more humble sense of shaping environments and cultures of the Emergent. A middle ground that better fits with the ideas of complexity science, recognising that as complex adaptive systems, our institutions are faced with complexity, but that adaption has to be effortful as well.

That said, I could also see others reading this book and seeing it as interesting but not an instant classic. YMMV as they say. For me, this was an inspiring and deeply thought provoking read that has really shifted my thinking in ways I greatly appreciate. So it's a clear 5 stars from me.]]> 4.10
author: Richard P. Rumelt
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/17
date added: 2022/10/17
shelves:
review:
Sometimes a book will come along at the right time and place and give your thinking a solid kick. For me, at this time, this was such a book.

Strategy, Rumelt implores his readers 'is not magic'. It's not about setting vast long term goals and aspirations. Instead, it is about solving problems. If the world gave us everything we needed, we wouldn't need strategy. Because we have problems, of varying significance and resolvability, we need strategy to help us sort out what we should do, how to choose, and how to sustain that focus to fix the problems before us.

For some years now, I've been disenchanted with the idea of Grand Strategy, with its emphasis on the long term, the aspirational, the planned, the aesthetically intellectual. For a time, I thought Emergent Strategy was a viable alternative. And while it has much to recommend, especially those authors who've touched on its links to complexity science, it too has its flaws. It can be self-satisfied, or unfocused and often gives up the space for meaningful action. Both Grand and Emergent Strategy seem to be ways of explaining organisational actions, without the word 'strategy' clearly adding something distinct to the day-to-day practices.

Enter 'The Crux'. Rumelt sees strategy as about problem solving, and 'the crux' as the skill of identifying what problems/issues/opportunities are important, what can be actually addressed, and building the focus that enables us to take action over a short-medium term to try and address them.

For me, the value of this was several-fold. First, it helped strengthen my rejection of goal setting . Second, the idea of problem solving as the central issue of strategy is compelling. Third I've long been drawn to Andrew Marshall's notions of Diagnosis as the task of the strategist, and this very much fits within Rumelts framework. Fourth, I now believe that, with some additions, Rumelts framework could help us find a a valuable middle ground between Grand and Emergent strategic ideas. One that retained the sense of deliberate active work of the Grand, while bringing in the richer, more humble sense of shaping environments and cultures of the Emergent. A middle ground that better fits with the ideas of complexity science, recognising that as complex adaptive systems, our institutions are faced with complexity, but that adaption has to be effortful as well.

That said, I could also see others reading this book and seeing it as interesting but not an instant classic. YMMV as they say. For me, this was an inspiring and deeply thought provoking read that has really shifted my thinking in ways I greatly appreciate. So it's a clear 5 stars from me.
]]> 21413851
In The Last Warrior , Andrew Krepinevich and Barry Watts -- both former members of Marshall's staff -- trace Marshall's intellectual development from his upbringing in Detroit during the Great Depression to his decades in Washington as an influential behind-the-scenes advisor on American defense strategy. The result is a unique insider's perspective on the changes in US strategy from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day.

Covering some of the most pivotal episodes of the last half-century and peopled with some of the era's most influential figures, The Last Warrior tells Marshall's story for the first time, in the process providing an unparalleled history of the evolution of the American defense establishment.]]> 336 Andrew F. Krepinevich 0465030009 Andrew 4
Andrew Marshall is in my personal pantheon of first-rate strategic minds. Marshall led the US Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment from 1973 to 2015. This office did not exist when he joined the government, indeed the very idea of Net Assessment was defined and given life by Marshall. From this position he helped drive the US government to think seriously about the strategies it pursued against the Soviets in the Cold War, the changing impact of military technology in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of China at the turn of the century.

While Marshall's legacy is vast, on my reading of American strategic culture, he remains in a distinct minority. He was deeply sceptical of quantitative models based on presumably rational people. He was willing to directly challenge conventional wisdom and stand apart even alone on big issues. And he insisted on finding good, creative questions, rather than barrelling towards an answer to the first question that seems viable. In these regards, as well as his humility and willingness to let others propose and seek credit, he is an admirable role model.

Written by two astute scholars, (especially Krepinevich) who worked with Marshall, this is a soft and sympathetic biography, but this is -rightly - an intellectual biography. There is no tawdry effort to find scandals or regal long personal anecdotes. It is the ideas, debates and bureaucratic infighting around those ideas which is the central focus of this book.

The Last Warrior (a slightly odd title, referring to his greatest generation origins) is a very useful insight into how to think about defence strategy, the way defence intellectuals can make their mark, and US defence strategy from the 1950s to mid-2000s. I enjoyed it via audio-book, though would recommend the paper copy to carefully think through Marshall's profound ideas.

*NB - Returned to in 2021 after first reading in 2019. Still holds up. Indeed, the re-reading helped me think through some of the foundational assumptions about Marshall's approach. Their merits and their potentially limited applicability beyond the situation he worked within.

*NB - Returned to read a third time in 2022. I'm slowly coming to see the deeper wisdom of this book, and certainly Marshall's contribution.]]> 3.90 2015
author: Andrew F. Krepinevich
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/13
date added: 2022/10/12
shelves:
review:
While virtually every bookshop has a large section on military history, it is surprisingly rare to find books on Defence. This is especially true of the ideas and people who shape policy. The Last Warrior is an enjoyable, insightful intellectual biography of an iconoclastic influential figure in US defence policy and strategy over the last half-century.

Andrew Marshall is in my personal pantheon of first-rate strategic minds. Marshall led the US Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment from 1973 to 2015. This office did not exist when he joined the government, indeed the very idea of Net Assessment was defined and given life by Marshall. From this position he helped drive the US government to think seriously about the strategies it pursued against the Soviets in the Cold War, the changing impact of military technology in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of China at the turn of the century.

While Marshall's legacy is vast, on my reading of American strategic culture, he remains in a distinct minority. He was deeply sceptical of quantitative models based on presumably rational people. He was willing to directly challenge conventional wisdom and stand apart even alone on big issues. And he insisted on finding good, creative questions, rather than barrelling towards an answer to the first question that seems viable. In these regards, as well as his humility and willingness to let others propose and seek credit, he is an admirable role model.

Written by two astute scholars, (especially Krepinevich) who worked with Marshall, this is a soft and sympathetic biography, but this is -rightly - an intellectual biography. There is no tawdry effort to find scandals or regal long personal anecdotes. It is the ideas, debates and bureaucratic infighting around those ideas which is the central focus of this book.

The Last Warrior (a slightly odd title, referring to his greatest generation origins) is a very useful insight into how to think about defence strategy, the way defence intellectuals can make their mark, and US defence strategy from the 1950s to mid-2000s. I enjoyed it via audio-book, though would recommend the paper copy to carefully think through Marshall's profound ideas.

*NB - Returned to in 2021 after first reading in 2019. Still holds up. Indeed, the re-reading helped me think through some of the foundational assumptions about Marshall's approach. Their merits and their potentially limited applicability beyond the situation he worked within.

*NB - Returned to read a third time in 2022. I'm slowly coming to see the deeper wisdom of this book, and certainly Marshall's contribution.
]]> 60018575 In his New York Times bestselling book Courage is Calling, author Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a bold and brave life. In this much-anticipated second book of his Stoic Virtue series, Holiday celebrates the awesome power of self-discipline and those who have seized it.

To master anything, one must first master themselves–one’s emotions, one’s thoughts, one’s actions. Eisenhower famously said that freedom is really the opportunity to practice self-discipline. Cicero called the virtue of temperance the polish of life. Without boundaries and restraint, we risk not only failing to meet our full potential and jeopardizing what we have achieved, but we ensure misery and shame. In a world of temptation and excess, this ancient idea is more urgent than ever.

In Discipline is Destiny, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance, and cautions against the perils of extravagance and hedonism.

At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them. Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend. Discipline is predictive. You cannot succeed without it. And if you lose it, you cannot help but bring yourself failure and unhappiness.]]> 312 Ryan Holiday 0593191692 Andrew 4 I have been tested in life physically and socially and found reserves of courage.
I value and seek wisdom, though I know I have far to go.
I try to act with Justice and have thought carefully upon the subject.

I am not, and have never been a disciplined person.

Discipline/Moderation/Temperance, however described is a value I admire greatly in others. Having worked in a military environment for the past decade, I see many examples of it regularly. Though even there, the self-disciplined shine through compared to those who merely accept the structure of others.

This is the second of Holiday's four books on the Stoic values. If you've read any of his work, you'll know they're an engaging mix of ancient and modern stories, emphasising the choices we all face, and weaving through a core set of stoic ideas. Holiday is at the forefront of the modern stoic-popularisers, though he's far from the 'stoic-bro' that you find online, and genuine scholars of stoicism such as Nancy Sherman seem to at least tolerate and respect his work.

Discipline is Destiny is a somewhat better book than the earlier 'Courage is Calling'. The stories are slightly longer, and there's a sense of organisation in how the book is developed. It is clear and compelling in its argument. The book takes more of a 'why you should' focus than a 'how you can', and that is fine. Holiday offers many suggestions, but he knows that the path for each person to develop discipline is necessarily distinct.

Speaking of, I found the Afterword quite moving as it relates Holiday's own struggles with the discipline to manage his many tasks (writing this book, being a father, running a small bookstore, a vibrant online presence). The 'rar-rar' tone is dropped for just long enough to acknowledge how hard discipline really is. Sure he acknowledges that throughout, there's always a clarity that the disciplined person is not a saint, they are not perfect, they do not always make the right judgement or keep their temper perfectly in check. But to see a direct expression of both the challenge and exhaustion of seeking to live slightly more virtuously, from someone I admire, was quite touching.

Personally, I will read all four of these books, and look forward to recommending them as a set to others. It's not an introduction to Stoicism, it's not really a book i'd just hand over on its own for someone wanting a more ordered life or to handle problems of focus at work or bad habits late at night. But as a modern expression of virtue, of a set of works thinking through what it means to lead a good life in these times, I believe Holiday's works are a unique and compelling cannon.]]> 4.24 2022
author: Ryan Holiday
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/08
date added: 2022/10/08
shelves:
review:
On my desk I have a small medallion of the four stoic virtues: Courage, Wisdom, Justice and Discipline.
I have been tested in life physically and socially and found reserves of courage.
I value and seek wisdom, though I know I have far to go.
I try to act with Justice and have thought carefully upon the subject.

I am not, and have never been a disciplined person.

Discipline/Moderation/Temperance, however described is a value I admire greatly in others. Having worked in a military environment for the past decade, I see many examples of it regularly. Though even there, the self-disciplined shine through compared to those who merely accept the structure of others.

This is the second of Holiday's four books on the Stoic values. If you've read any of his work, you'll know they're an engaging mix of ancient and modern stories, emphasising the choices we all face, and weaving through a core set of stoic ideas. Holiday is at the forefront of the modern stoic-popularisers, though he's far from the 'stoic-bro' that you find online, and genuine scholars of stoicism such as Nancy Sherman seem to at least tolerate and respect his work.

Discipline is Destiny is a somewhat better book than the earlier 'Courage is Calling'. The stories are slightly longer, and there's a sense of organisation in how the book is developed. It is clear and compelling in its argument. The book takes more of a 'why you should' focus than a 'how you can', and that is fine. Holiday offers many suggestions, but he knows that the path for each person to develop discipline is necessarily distinct.

Speaking of, I found the Afterword quite moving as it relates Holiday's own struggles with the discipline to manage his many tasks (writing this book, being a father, running a small bookstore, a vibrant online presence). The 'rar-rar' tone is dropped for just long enough to acknowledge how hard discipline really is. Sure he acknowledges that throughout, there's always a clarity that the disciplined person is not a saint, they are not perfect, they do not always make the right judgement or keep their temper perfectly in check. But to see a direct expression of both the challenge and exhaustion of seeking to live slightly more virtuously, from someone I admire, was quite touching.

Personally, I will read all four of these books, and look forward to recommending them as a set to others. It's not an introduction to Stoicism, it's not really a book i'd just hand over on its own for someone wanting a more ordered life or to handle problems of focus at work or bad habits late at night. But as a modern expression of virtue, of a set of works thinking through what it means to lead a good life in these times, I believe Holiday's works are a unique and compelling cannon.
]]> 62367555 This is essential because the future of combat is to bring trusted and verifiable assets to the fight. The emphasis has been on connectivity, accelerated tactical decision making, as well as common equipment, that allows integration of systems within single services, across services and into allied services in a deliberate and disciplined manner. This publication provides a timely reminder of why the transformation of today's force is so necessary."]]> 355 Robbin F. Laird 1667838601 Andrew 4
The 'Kill Web' is a radical idea working its way through western military forces. By seperating sensors (plural) and shooters (plural), there is not only far greater capacity to make the right shot, but to be far more discriminating in which target, when targeted and how targeted in order to achieve the desired political effect. This is the broader organic system underpinning military operations now being developed, whether called a 'Kill Web' or 'Integrated' or 'Networked force' as you prefer.

To put this into a real world case, imagine a ship sailing through a contested archipelago. A long-range radar system identifies that something is on the move. Special forces on reconnaissance on an island nearby make a visual identification as the ship passes by. A drone is moved into position overhead to begin providing visual, while an F-35 over the horizon and two small infantry forces with long range missiles prepare their capabilities. The commander, in this idealised picture, has the ability to decide exactly what kind of force to apply and when against the target. After the strike, quick analysis of the site will be possible to consider what went right, what went wrong and to respond as needed.

This is, to be sure, an idealised picture, free from the usual fog and friction of war. Yet though those are eternals, the idea of a kill web, like any networked capacity, offers far more resilience and alternate options. At least some of these capabilities won't be working as intended, but instead of that meaning that the shot is missed because the sensor isn't able to fire, the new approach suggests a much greater range and discretion of military choices.

The authors get this, and one element I appreciated about this book, is that even though there is a focus and touch of enthusiasm for this new approach, there is also a deliberate air of uncertainty as well. A recognition that the challenges of this way of operating require such wholesale cultural and intellectual changes to the way military services have operated for potentially centuries.

An important insight for the wider readership is that this new capability is not being embraced simply because it can be, or because its plausibly a more efficient way to fight. It is an answer to a very real world problem: If China has a far greater quantity of military assets, how can the US and allies develop sufficient quality of assets to offset that challenge? Nor is this capability simply about the kind of future force that will be built, as so much military equipment debates focus on. As Laird and Timperlake stress, we already have 80% of the force we will have in 20 years, and if there's a need to fight tonight, the key question is not 'what can we get' but 'how do we best use what we have'.

A further significance of this capability is the contribution to responding across the spectrum in a crisis. The capacity to understand and discriminate in response is essential if we are to manage so-called 'grey-zone' threats. Laird and Timperlake rightly put as much emphasis on the competition and crisis implications from this new way of operating as they do the day 1 war fighting plans.

This book is part of a broad series on the development of US and allied forces (see my review of Laird' book on Australian defence reform) . The focus here is on the US Navy, though in a thoroughly integrated fashion, recognising that the above picture only works if the air force, army, marines and allies are all contributing to the web.

Like those other books, Laird and Timperlake take a backseat as authors, concentrating on highlighting the words and ideas of the hundreds of military personnel they interview. They discuss everything from the specifics of capability, the deployment and testing of forces in exercises through to the many organisational issues of training, logistics, coordination and the like. There seems a stronger effort in this book compared to earlier ones to weave a main authorial narrative throughout and this helps to connect and explain the various insights, especially for readers who don't reach for a Janes' almanac as light reading.

Laird and Timperlake are providing a very important public service through these books. They are providing some of the clearest and in-depth analyses of how western armed forces are operating currently available in the public domain. Through reading this, I not only learned a lot about US military thought and capabilities but came to understand some of the choices and language from my own Australian Department of Defence.

Whether the Kill Web will radically change the modern armed forces remains to be seen. The war in Ukraine certainly shows that even a modest force that understands the essential principles of the new hider-finder competition of modern warfare can be very capable.

Recommended.]]> 4.00
author: Robbin F. Laird
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/26
date added: 2022/09/29
shelves:
review:
For most of human history, the 'sensor' and the 'shooter' were one and the same person. A First Nation's warrior saw a target and threw his spear, a Roman soldier defended himself with his sword, a Napoleonic officer aimed his musket and fired. This is no longer necessary.

The 'Kill Web' is a radical idea working its way through western military forces. By seperating sensors (plural) and shooters (plural), there is not only far greater capacity to make the right shot, but to be far more discriminating in which target, when targeted and how targeted in order to achieve the desired political effect. This is the broader organic system underpinning military operations now being developed, whether called a 'Kill Web' or 'Integrated' or 'Networked force' as you prefer.

To put this into a real world case, imagine a ship sailing through a contested archipelago. A long-range radar system identifies that something is on the move. Special forces on reconnaissance on an island nearby make a visual identification as the ship passes by. A drone is moved into position overhead to begin providing visual, while an F-35 over the horizon and two small infantry forces with long range missiles prepare their capabilities. The commander, in this idealised picture, has the ability to decide exactly what kind of force to apply and when against the target. After the strike, quick analysis of the site will be possible to consider what went right, what went wrong and to respond as needed.

This is, to be sure, an idealised picture, free from the usual fog and friction of war. Yet though those are eternals, the idea of a kill web, like any networked capacity, offers far more resilience and alternate options. At least some of these capabilities won't be working as intended, but instead of that meaning that the shot is missed because the sensor isn't able to fire, the new approach suggests a much greater range and discretion of military choices.

The authors get this, and one element I appreciated about this book, is that even though there is a focus and touch of enthusiasm for this new approach, there is also a deliberate air of uncertainty as well. A recognition that the challenges of this way of operating require such wholesale cultural and intellectual changes to the way military services have operated for potentially centuries.

An important insight for the wider readership is that this new capability is not being embraced simply because it can be, or because its plausibly a more efficient way to fight. It is an answer to a very real world problem: If China has a far greater quantity of military assets, how can the US and allies develop sufficient quality of assets to offset that challenge? Nor is this capability simply about the kind of future force that will be built, as so much military equipment debates focus on. As Laird and Timperlake stress, we already have 80% of the force we will have in 20 years, and if there's a need to fight tonight, the key question is not 'what can we get' but 'how do we best use what we have'.

A further significance of this capability is the contribution to responding across the spectrum in a crisis. The capacity to understand and discriminate in response is essential if we are to manage so-called 'grey-zone' threats. Laird and Timperlake rightly put as much emphasis on the competition and crisis implications from this new way of operating as they do the day 1 war fighting plans.

This book is part of a broad series on the development of US and allied forces (see my review of Laird' book on Australian defence reform) . The focus here is on the US Navy, though in a thoroughly integrated fashion, recognising that the above picture only works if the air force, army, marines and allies are all contributing to the web.

Like those other books, Laird and Timperlake take a backseat as authors, concentrating on highlighting the words and ideas of the hundreds of military personnel they interview. They discuss everything from the specifics of capability, the deployment and testing of forces in exercises through to the many organisational issues of training, logistics, coordination and the like. There seems a stronger effort in this book compared to earlier ones to weave a main authorial narrative throughout and this helps to connect and explain the various insights, especially for readers who don't reach for a Janes' almanac as light reading.

Laird and Timperlake are providing a very important public service through these books. They are providing some of the clearest and in-depth analyses of how western armed forces are operating currently available in the public domain. Through reading this, I not only learned a lot about US military thought and capabilities but came to understand some of the choices and language from my own Australian Department of Defence.

Whether the Kill Web will radically change the modern armed forces remains to be seen. The war in Ukraine certainly shows that even a modest force that understands the essential principles of the new hider-finder competition of modern warfare can be very capable.

Recommended.
]]> 2618648 256 Carl H. Builder 0801837766 Andrew 4
Carl Builder, in The Masks of War, argues that in order to understand how a military develops strategy, undertakes analysis and pursues public funding, we need to understand how they see themselves. What are the kinds of wars they expect to fight, what are the primary motivations and desires within their services, what groups within the services dominate the leadership, and how do they relate to the nation at large.

Builder argues there are distinct 'masks of war' that each service holds which shape how they answer these questions. The Air Force loves technology - the technology of flight - and so anything that improves their ability to fly better is affirmed. The Navy has the strongest sense of institution. Tradition and independence distinguish their approach, utterly confident in their value to the nation. The Army is the loyal servant, it goes where needed, and while starting to grow in its love of toys, is still more focused on personnel excellence. In turn, the airforce has the best analysts, army focuses most on what it needs to stay in the fight, the Navy resents the intrustion.

These 'masks' are of course, somewhat crude interpretations. Services change over time (this book was written in 1989) and differ between each country (Builder, a RAND analyst writes exclusively about the United States military). Yet there is enough seriousness and yet sensitivity to create a compelling picture here. Builder has a closer affinity with the Army, yet also raises some very significant questions about their role and identity over the long term.

Most importantly, this is not a cynical book. Builder argues there is nothing illegitimate or untoward about institutions having distinct interests, even while remaining loyal within a hierachy and wider nation. We should want our services to have a distinct sense about who they are, what they can do, and how they think we should fight. To be an advisor, you have to have a sense of self. Even if, as that advice feeds into debates over strategy, budgets or capability, we also need them to be flexible and willing to compromise and do what's best for the nation.

Builder's approach can be applied to a variety of organisations. He asks incisive questions, that with adaption can widely travel. As I learn more, I have come to realise how important organisational elements are for understanding the choices of nations. Builder's is therefore an insightful text and it is easy to understand why it remains popular over 30 years since it was published.
]]> 3.76 1989
author: Carl H. Builder
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/22
date added: 2022/09/23
shelves:
review:
It's easy to be cynical about military services. Their budgets keep going up, their rhetoric about threats never seems to change even as wars end, and they seem to either want to fight the last war, or very different wars from those in different uniforms just a few office doors down. Yet this would be a mistake.

Carl Builder, in The Masks of War, argues that in order to understand how a military develops strategy, undertakes analysis and pursues public funding, we need to understand how they see themselves. What are the kinds of wars they expect to fight, what are the primary motivations and desires within their services, what groups within the services dominate the leadership, and how do they relate to the nation at large.

Builder argues there are distinct 'masks of war' that each service holds which shape how they answer these questions. The Air Force loves technology - the technology of flight - and so anything that improves their ability to fly better is affirmed. The Navy has the strongest sense of institution. Tradition and independence distinguish their approach, utterly confident in their value to the nation. The Army is the loyal servant, it goes where needed, and while starting to grow in its love of toys, is still more focused on personnel excellence. In turn, the airforce has the best analysts, army focuses most on what it needs to stay in the fight, the Navy resents the intrustion.

These 'masks' are of course, somewhat crude interpretations. Services change over time (this book was written in 1989) and differ between each country (Builder, a RAND analyst writes exclusively about the United States military). Yet there is enough seriousness and yet sensitivity to create a compelling picture here. Builder has a closer affinity with the Army, yet also raises some very significant questions about their role and identity over the long term.

Most importantly, this is not a cynical book. Builder argues there is nothing illegitimate or untoward about institutions having distinct interests, even while remaining loyal within a hierachy and wider nation. We should want our services to have a distinct sense about who they are, what they can do, and how they think we should fight. To be an advisor, you have to have a sense of self. Even if, as that advice feeds into debates over strategy, budgets or capability, we also need them to be flexible and willing to compromise and do what's best for the nation.

Builder's approach can be applied to a variety of organisations. He asks incisive questions, that with adaption can widely travel. As I learn more, I have come to realise how important organisational elements are for understanding the choices of nations. Builder's is therefore an insightful text and it is easy to understand why it remains popular over 30 years since it was published.

]]> 3194018 400 James Boyce 1863951431 Andrew 4
Boyce's Van Diemen's Land is a land where the Settlers find themselves in a lush old-world type environment that offers as much feast as the settlers at Port Jackson faced famine. The extensive grasslands and abundant wildlife enable the island to become the second largest colony in the country. Social norms also develop in a very different way. The convicts are largely allowed - at least in the first few decades - to roam and work as servants, with many establishing a virtually independent life out in the bush. In time, the Free settlers would come, Port Arthur would be built, and this earlier way of life extinguished, but it's a powerful history of contingency, chance and what if.

This is a joyful history to read. Boyce is a fine writer, and though he does not try for any stirring heights, he never lags either. Within the chapters there are many side essays and sub-heading sections denoting specific areas of focus. A useful device for width without sacrificing coherence. The connected theme throughout is the effect of the land shaping the people, and in turn, the people shaping the land.

One element of this book that surprised me was the short treatment of the Frontier Wars. Boyce is certainly sensitive to the conflict between the First Nations and Settler populations. And in stressing the theme of change he shows how the nature of the conflict changed regularly. The relative sparsity of violence early on, the growth as competition for key resources grew, the shift to active guerrilla conflict - at a level of violence against the settlers unseen anywhere on the mainland - and the final tragic end. Yet moments that Nick Clements highlights such as the Black Line Operation are not covered. This isn't a complaint. No book can or should try to cover everything. But i was surprised that a major military operation that was inherently absurd due to the nature of the land itself was not a key story.

Van Diemen's Land isn't just a 'history of Tasmania'. It's a fine history of early Australia. It shows just how diverse, vibrant and non-linear the first few decades were. The story of this country is not the deterministic story we are often blandly presented with. In recovering these moments for one small part of the country, Boyce has helped open up the space for change everywhere else.

Recommended.]]> 4.23 2008
author: James Boyce
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/15
date added: 2022/09/16
shelves:
review:
The story of Australia is often told with an emphasis on continuity. An inevitable settler victory, an unwilling ignorant settler mismanagement, a reluctance to give up historic links. Perhaps this reflects the desire to establish a history by emphasizing consistency, perhaps it is a belief that nothing much of significance changed. Boyce offers a history that emphasises the significance of change, and in particular change shaped by the land itself.

Boyce's Van Diemen's Land is a land where the Settlers find themselves in a lush old-world type environment that offers as much feast as the settlers at Port Jackson faced famine. The extensive grasslands and abundant wildlife enable the island to become the second largest colony in the country. Social norms also develop in a very different way. The convicts are largely allowed - at least in the first few decades - to roam and work as servants, with many establishing a virtually independent life out in the bush. In time, the Free settlers would come, Port Arthur would be built, and this earlier way of life extinguished, but it's a powerful history of contingency, chance and what if.

This is a joyful history to read. Boyce is a fine writer, and though he does not try for any stirring heights, he never lags either. Within the chapters there are many side essays and sub-heading sections denoting specific areas of focus. A useful device for width without sacrificing coherence. The connected theme throughout is the effect of the land shaping the people, and in turn, the people shaping the land.

One element of this book that surprised me was the short treatment of the Frontier Wars. Boyce is certainly sensitive to the conflict between the First Nations and Settler populations. And in stressing the theme of change he shows how the nature of the conflict changed regularly. The relative sparsity of violence early on, the growth as competition for key resources grew, the shift to active guerrilla conflict - at a level of violence against the settlers unseen anywhere on the mainland - and the final tragic end. Yet moments that Nick Clements highlights such as the Black Line Operation are not covered. This isn't a complaint. No book can or should try to cover everything. But i was surprised that a major military operation that was inherently absurd due to the nature of the land itself was not a key story.

Van Diemen's Land isn't just a 'history of Tasmania'. It's a fine history of early Australia. It shows just how diverse, vibrant and non-linear the first few decades were. The story of this country is not the deterministic story we are often blandly presented with. In recovering these moments for one small part of the country, Boyce has helped open up the space for change everywhere else.

Recommended.
]]> 39086778 390 Elizabeth McMahon Andrew 3
Elizabeth McMahon (who I'm fairly sure is not the ŷ������ Author associated with this book) has helped establish and lead the Australian scholarship on 'Island Studies'. McMahon sees islands as representing a range of virtues and alternative conceptions. She argues that where modernity is inherently continentalist in its outlook, islands sit as sites of divergence and re-birth.

This book weaves literature, history and critical theory to cover the idea of Australia as an island, and traces links with other island nations, especially the countries of the West Indies. It makes a powerful case for the link between imagination and world view, and offers a fascinating set of proposals and ways of viewing the relationship between land and people.

Much as I wanted to like this book more, I find reading postmodern/critical works such as this a fragmentary experience. Both in the content and structure they offer. Content wise, there is the effort to deconstruct, contextualise or problematise, the concepts of others, with little effort to propose, develop or construct in its place. That is valuable scholarly work and these writers often identify insightful and alluring potentialities. Yet even within this format, those insights rarely seem pursued in an extended fashion.

Structurally, such works rely on a myriad of rapidly evolving networks of reference, citing heavily and widely, again this is valuable and respectful in a way other scholarship can lack. However the focus on the 'readings' of others can lead to a shifting and abruptly changing focus, both within sections and across larger works. In setting up this book, McMahon stresses the Australia-West Indies link, yet after the first chapter the theme largely disappears, as the focus turns to island-adjacent ideas of shipwrecks and utopias.

I think I understand the reasons behind these disciplinary choices, but I remain unconvinced as to their intellectual or rhetorical merits, particularly when applied in book form. The contribution of knowledge can occur in negative and positive forms. Negatively through the critique or challenge of existing ideas. This is a valuable service for which the blog post and article serve well. Many books open with the negative contribution, but I believe the format works best when it can then at least turn to directly consider the positive �� the so how should we think/understand/conceptualise. Even if that positive contribution is simply the establishment of a stronger starting foundation rather than a distinct new intellectual structure on its own.

I was suggested this book by someone on twitter, and I am grateful to them for doing so. I've quoted this work several times in a recent article, and I learned some interesting things. Yet I'm much more comfortable recommending a book such as Frank Broeze 'Island Nation' which covers the rise of maritime-focused art and literature, as well as the broader political and economic history. Critical studies doesn't need to simply replicate that, but I would read a lot more of it, and believe the cross-disciplinary discussions would be strengthened if works such as McMahon's saw it as necessary to try and take that next step of weaving something new, as much as they offer insights from the untanging - and re-tangling - of the threads of our society.

But maybe that's just the continentalist in me speaking...
]]> 3.00
author: Elizabeth McMahon
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/06
date added: 2022/09/11
shelves:
review:
Over the last few decades, recognition of how the environment shapes people has become an important thread for scholars. From scientists and sociologists studying modern climate change, to environmental historians restoring the role of the land as a way to explain past trends and developments. As someone who studies strategic questions, any effort to better ground our analysis in the specific situation, to recognise the complexity of operating on this planet is a welcome contribution.

Elizabeth McMahon (who I'm fairly sure is not the ŷ������ Author associated with this book) has helped establish and lead the Australian scholarship on 'Island Studies'. McMahon sees islands as representing a range of virtues and alternative conceptions. She argues that where modernity is inherently continentalist in its outlook, islands sit as sites of divergence and re-birth.

This book weaves literature, history and critical theory to cover the idea of Australia as an island, and traces links with other island nations, especially the countries of the West Indies. It makes a powerful case for the link between imagination and world view, and offers a fascinating set of proposals and ways of viewing the relationship between land and people.

Much as I wanted to like this book more, I find reading postmodern/critical works such as this a fragmentary experience. Both in the content and structure they offer. Content wise, there is the effort to deconstruct, contextualise or problematise, the concepts of others, with little effort to propose, develop or construct in its place. That is valuable scholarly work and these writers often identify insightful and alluring potentialities. Yet even within this format, those insights rarely seem pursued in an extended fashion.

Structurally, such works rely on a myriad of rapidly evolving networks of reference, citing heavily and widely, again this is valuable and respectful in a way other scholarship can lack. However the focus on the 'readings' of others can lead to a shifting and abruptly changing focus, both within sections and across larger works. In setting up this book, McMahon stresses the Australia-West Indies link, yet after the first chapter the theme largely disappears, as the focus turns to island-adjacent ideas of shipwrecks and utopias.

I think I understand the reasons behind these disciplinary choices, but I remain unconvinced as to their intellectual or rhetorical merits, particularly when applied in book form. The contribution of knowledge can occur in negative and positive forms. Negatively through the critique or challenge of existing ideas. This is a valuable service for which the blog post and article serve well. Many books open with the negative contribution, but I believe the format works best when it can then at least turn to directly consider the positive �� the so how should we think/understand/conceptualise. Even if that positive contribution is simply the establishment of a stronger starting foundation rather than a distinct new intellectual structure on its own.

I was suggested this book by someone on twitter, and I am grateful to them for doing so. I've quoted this work several times in a recent article, and I learned some interesting things. Yet I'm much more comfortable recommending a book such as Frank Broeze 'Island Nation' which covers the rise of maritime-focused art and literature, as well as the broader political and economic history. Critical studies doesn't need to simply replicate that, but I would read a lot more of it, and believe the cross-disciplinary discussions would be strengthened if works such as McMahon's saw it as necessary to try and take that next step of weaving something new, as much as they offer insights from the untanging - and re-tangling - of the threads of our society.

But maybe that's just the continentalist in me speaking...

]]> 58652519 336 Henry Kissinger 0241542006 Andrew 4
Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy is a profoundly wise book. It profiles six mid-2oth century figures (Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher) and details how they lead and reshaped their countries. Kissinger identifies each with a distinct and very different general theme - Humility, Will, Equilibrium, Transcendence, Excellence and Conviction, and convincingly explains how each idea defined their approach.

Where this book shines is in describing how each leader acted in person. The way they sought to shape their character and their approach to fit their moment. The word 'strategy' is somewhat apt, in that Kissinger shows how each of the 6 identified the biggest problems of their society, and in sympathy with the history and traditions of their society, sought to solve those problems. They adapted their approach to their times and themselves, while focused on the larger, longer term issues.

The wisdom in this book comes from the fact Kissinger knew each of them. He details their conversations and his observations of how they worked, often in moments of crisis. He shows how each quite deliberately shaped their character and approach to fit the times they were in and the problems their nation faced. Each taking a very different approach, but one appropriate to their times.

I found 'Leadership' a powerful counter to the view often put forward in the media today that there is only one model of leadership, the 'conviction' leader of values and strength. That nay have worked for Thatcher and Reagan, but it would have failed in all of the other leader's environments. It has failed an entire generation of leaders in the West who have taken it as the lode star.

The best of the essays are on Adenauer, de Gaulle and Lee. There is insight and clarity about their approach, and Kissinger remains only a sideline figure, having brief conversations to understand them in person, but without stakes in the fights of their times. Those where he struggles to separate his own role - Nixon and Sadat - read as more conventional accounts of their eras. Though the insights about Nixon's quixotic approach and personality are engaging. (And as an aside, I learned that the 1969 Guam Doctrine comments were planned carefully in the White House & flight over, rather than in any way being a spur of the moment declaration).

As such, I don't recommend trying to read this as a history lesson on these figures. I've already read plenty on Nixon and LKY, and have ordered a biography of de Gaulle based on this account. Kissinger offers a sometimes bloodless account of these figures, implying a clearer, linear and easier path than was felt at the time or than historians prefer. Indeed, in one near-self referential passage midway through he notes 'Historical memory is often endowed with the appearance of inevitability; gone are the doubt, risk and contingent nature of events that accompany - and, on occasion, threaten to overwhelm - participants in the moment'. Anyone reading this book should be careful to understand these events are likely more confusing in the detail than in the 60 page essays presented herein.

But there is a real, Plutarch-like value in looking at these as stories of character and leadership rather than efforts to nail down the historical record. The book offers a compelling critique of modern leadership, especially in the West: Where are the leaders who show a deep knowledge of their own societies? Where are the leaders who have molded their character to their times? And where are the leaders willing to directly confront the biggest problems, without suggesting there are easy resolutions that naturally fit their political party's worldview?

The example of Japan's Abe Shinzo, (not mentioned in the book) comes to mind as embodying a similar cast to the historical figures here. But in the US? In the UK? In Australia? It seems a long time since. Even if, as managers or fire-fighters we have had some of decency. But as statesmen* equal to these troubled times?

A book to drink deeply from, even if you shouldn't treat it as gospel.

*Please excuse the gendered language, but it's a useful word.]]> 4.16 2022
author: Henry Kissinger
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/03
date added: 2022/09/04
shelves:
review:
I've always found Kissinger a hard author to place. 'Diplomacy' is an enduring classic, his earlier books on nuclear weapons and foreign policy could be compelling, while I found 'World Order' a rambling banality, and 'On China' both engaging and self-indulgent.

Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy is a profoundly wise book. It profiles six mid-2oth century figures (Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher) and details how they lead and reshaped their countries. Kissinger identifies each with a distinct and very different general theme - Humility, Will, Equilibrium, Transcendence, Excellence and Conviction, and convincingly explains how each idea defined their approach.

Where this book shines is in describing how each leader acted in person. The way they sought to shape their character and their approach to fit their moment. The word 'strategy' is somewhat apt, in that Kissinger shows how each of the 6 identified the biggest problems of their society, and in sympathy with the history and traditions of their society, sought to solve those problems. They adapted their approach to their times and themselves, while focused on the larger, longer term issues.

The wisdom in this book comes from the fact Kissinger knew each of them. He details their conversations and his observations of how they worked, often in moments of crisis. He shows how each quite deliberately shaped their character and approach to fit the times they were in and the problems their nation faced. Each taking a very different approach, but one appropriate to their times.

I found 'Leadership' a powerful counter to the view often put forward in the media today that there is only one model of leadership, the 'conviction' leader of values and strength. That nay have worked for Thatcher and Reagan, but it would have failed in all of the other leader's environments. It has failed an entire generation of leaders in the West who have taken it as the lode star.

The best of the essays are on Adenauer, de Gaulle and Lee. There is insight and clarity about their approach, and Kissinger remains only a sideline figure, having brief conversations to understand them in person, but without stakes in the fights of their times. Those where he struggles to separate his own role - Nixon and Sadat - read as more conventional accounts of their eras. Though the insights about Nixon's quixotic approach and personality are engaging. (And as an aside, I learned that the 1969 Guam Doctrine comments were planned carefully in the White House & flight over, rather than in any way being a spur of the moment declaration).

As such, I don't recommend trying to read this as a history lesson on these figures. I've already read plenty on Nixon and LKY, and have ordered a biography of de Gaulle based on this account. Kissinger offers a sometimes bloodless account of these figures, implying a clearer, linear and easier path than was felt at the time or than historians prefer. Indeed, in one near-self referential passage midway through he notes 'Historical memory is often endowed with the appearance of inevitability; gone are the doubt, risk and contingent nature of events that accompany - and, on occasion, threaten to overwhelm - participants in the moment'. Anyone reading this book should be careful to understand these events are likely more confusing in the detail than in the 60 page essays presented herein.

But there is a real, Plutarch-like value in looking at these as stories of character and leadership rather than efforts to nail down the historical record. The book offers a compelling critique of modern leadership, especially in the West: Where are the leaders who show a deep knowledge of their own societies? Where are the leaders who have molded their character to their times? And where are the leaders willing to directly confront the biggest problems, without suggesting there are easy resolutions that naturally fit their political party's worldview?

The example of Japan's Abe Shinzo, (not mentioned in the book) comes to mind as embodying a similar cast to the historical figures here. But in the US? In the UK? In Australia? It seems a long time since. Even if, as managers or fire-fighters we have had some of decency. But as statesmen* equal to these troubled times?

A book to drink deeply from, even if you shouldn't treat it as gospel.

*Please excuse the gendered language, but it's a useful word.
]]> 59864505
In this timely intervention, Ali Wyne offers the first detailed critique of "great-power competition," warning that a foreign policy anchored in that now-ubiquitous construct could place the United States in a perpetually defensive, reactive mode. He exhorts Washington to find a middle ground between complacence and consternation, selectively contesting Beijing and Moscow but not allowing their decisions to determine its own course. Analyzing a resurgent China, a disruptive Russia, and a deepening Sino-Russian entente in depth, Wyne explains how the United States can seize the "great-power opportunity" at hand: to manage all three phenomena confidently while renewing itself at home and abroad.]]> Ali Wyne 1509545557 Andrew 3
In the years since, Trump has proven worse than anticipated, China a tougher opponent to handle, and the foreign policy community is once more divided. The traditional suggestions of either 'Strength' (The right wing argument) and 'firm engagement' (the left wing argument) have not panned out. And increasingly scholars wonder if the Cold War playbook makes any sense. Decoupling is not viable, and the competition seems to be harder to navigate and clarify than presumed.

Enter Ali Wyne with a sharp analysis of the challenges. Wyne rightly notes that while competition is descriptive of the world we're in, it isn't necessarily prescriptive. Everyone is using the term in different ways, and the idea itself doesn't automatically lead to particular choices and approaches. Hence the fraying of the sense of union and common purpose hoped for. Wyne also notes a number of significant problems with the US approach to competition thus far. It is often reactive, the Cold War analogy is a poor one given the significant changes (removed ideological edge, China's much bigger than the USSR ever was, the world order is very different etc). The risk, as Wyne offers quoting Kathleen Hicks (citing an episode of The Office), is akin to trusting a GPS even when it suggests driving into a lake. It's worked every time before, why would it be wrong now?

Yet having set up the big play, Wyne ends up taking the check-down. Rather than argue for getting rid of Great Power Competition as the defining framework, he argues for a US approach that is smarter, more self-directed and defined by its 'quiet confidence'. The main proposals in the concluding chapter turn on making the US a more efficient, thoughtful competitor. As policy recommendations, they are all compelling. I hope the Biden Administration has someone reading it closely and getting in touch.

But I couldn't help feel like an opportunity had been missed for putting down a book length marker on why Great Power Competition is the wrong framework. Or at least, could only ever be half (the description, not the prescription). That's not to suggest this book should have offered a full alternate approach. But there seems a disparity between the incisive critique and at least where I the reader thought the book was going, and where it ultimately ends up. Then again, with the title of the book offering 'great power opportunity' and to 'meet the challenges of strategic competition', the framing within competition is at least apparent for a sharper reader than I.

The other question that arose in reading it, was why there wasn't any mention of Andrew Marshall's Competitive Strategy approaches (or the Pentagon's programs of the same name from the 1980s). Wyne at one point references the need to make Net Assessments, but doesn't follow through. That framework is of course only one on offer, but it does at least provide the kind of prescription that Wyne argues current thinking about competition seems to lack. Of course no book can cover everything, and Wyne has engaged broadly on the literature, so perhaps it was too left-of-centre to fit the main arguments made herein.

These modest concern aside, this is a very well researched and thoughtful account of where the US stands today in 2022 and the nature of the struggle it is in. The chapters on China and Russia are strong, and the argument for seeing them as very distinct entities requiring very different areas of emphasis is compelling. For a one-volume account of the broad themes of how we got here and ways that we can do this better, this is a valuable account from which I've both learned a fair bit, and found a lot of great sources.

I don't read as many of these 'state of the world' books as I used to, and it's nice to get the chance to go through one that is very well done. It won't change the core framework, but for those wishing to get a better handle on US policy challenges and choices, and to know there is a better way, this is a thoughtful and substantive account.]]> 4.03
author: Ali Wyne
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.03
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/25
date added: 2022/08/28
shelves:
review:
When I last visited Washington D.C in 2019, there seemed a sense of relief in the Foreign Policy community. As bad as Trump was, the US finally had a clear sense of what it was doing. The aimless 1990s and 2000s had given way to Great Power Competition with China. This was a game they knew well and had won big in last time. Yet after having a coffee with just about everyone I could during my stay (over a few months) I came away somewhat pessimistic. Agreement seemed a mile wide, but an inch thick. China was a problem, but what kind of problem and how it should be responded to were divisive topics.

In the years since, Trump has proven worse than anticipated, China a tougher opponent to handle, and the foreign policy community is once more divided. The traditional suggestions of either 'Strength' (The right wing argument) and 'firm engagement' (the left wing argument) have not panned out. And increasingly scholars wonder if the Cold War playbook makes any sense. Decoupling is not viable, and the competition seems to be harder to navigate and clarify than presumed.

Enter Ali Wyne with a sharp analysis of the challenges. Wyne rightly notes that while competition is descriptive of the world we're in, it isn't necessarily prescriptive. Everyone is using the term in different ways, and the idea itself doesn't automatically lead to particular choices and approaches. Hence the fraying of the sense of union and common purpose hoped for. Wyne also notes a number of significant problems with the US approach to competition thus far. It is often reactive, the Cold War analogy is a poor one given the significant changes (removed ideological edge, China's much bigger than the USSR ever was, the world order is very different etc). The risk, as Wyne offers quoting Kathleen Hicks (citing an episode of The Office), is akin to trusting a GPS even when it suggests driving into a lake. It's worked every time before, why would it be wrong now?

Yet having set up the big play, Wyne ends up taking the check-down. Rather than argue for getting rid of Great Power Competition as the defining framework, he argues for a US approach that is smarter, more self-directed and defined by its 'quiet confidence'. The main proposals in the concluding chapter turn on making the US a more efficient, thoughtful competitor. As policy recommendations, they are all compelling. I hope the Biden Administration has someone reading it closely and getting in touch.

But I couldn't help feel like an opportunity had been missed for putting down a book length marker on why Great Power Competition is the wrong framework. Or at least, could only ever be half (the description, not the prescription). That's not to suggest this book should have offered a full alternate approach. But there seems a disparity between the incisive critique and at least where I the reader thought the book was going, and where it ultimately ends up. Then again, with the title of the book offering 'great power opportunity' and to 'meet the challenges of strategic competition', the framing within competition is at least apparent for a sharper reader than I.

The other question that arose in reading it, was why there wasn't any mention of Andrew Marshall's Competitive Strategy approaches (or the Pentagon's programs of the same name from the 1980s). Wyne at one point references the need to make Net Assessments, but doesn't follow through. That framework is of course only one on offer, but it does at least provide the kind of prescription that Wyne argues current thinking about competition seems to lack. Of course no book can cover everything, and Wyne has engaged broadly on the literature, so perhaps it was too left-of-centre to fit the main arguments made herein.

These modest concern aside, this is a very well researched and thoughtful account of where the US stands today in 2022 and the nature of the struggle it is in. The chapters on China and Russia are strong, and the argument for seeing them as very distinct entities requiring very different areas of emphasis is compelling. For a one-volume account of the broad themes of how we got here and ways that we can do this better, this is a valuable account from which I've both learned a fair bit, and found a lot of great sources.

I don't read as many of these 'state of the world' books as I used to, and it's nice to get the chance to go through one that is very well done. It won't change the core framework, but for those wishing to get a better handle on US policy challenges and choices, and to know there is a better way, this is a thoughtful and substantive account.
]]> 13789905 344 Thomas G. Mahnken 0804782415 Andrew 4
Competitive strategies are a distinct strain of strategic thought, that emerged from the work of Andrew Marshall of the Office of Net Assessment in the US Pentagon. Mahnken and several of his co-authors are intellectual descendants of this approach. The essence of a competitive strategy for Marshall was to identify your enduring strengths, and your opponents enduring weaknesses and seek to harness that asymmetry to your advantage.

In Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century, Mahnken and authors take those insights much further. While staying true to the original foundations, there is a lot of very substantial strategic thought in the book. This is less a book of what to do as I first thought, and much more one devoted to the critical question of how do you use the various actions (of yourself and your adversary) to shape your desired outcomes. The use of the engagements for the purpose of the war, as Clausewitz put it.

To use an analogy, war can be thought of like a tennis game. Early on in the Cold War, Marshall worried that the US military was obsessing only with the quality of the US Serve - since that's a potential point winner in its own right. Or at most, it would worry about how to counter the Soviet's serve - their own strong hand. But just focusing on when and how you win tactical games isn't a good way to win a big competition. Instead, Marshall wanted to look at the deeper characteristics of our adversary. Maybe they don't have a lot of endurance. If so, the focus might shift to trying to extend every rally, to make the match a 5-set marathon. As such, when it counts the final set will be one where your strengths shine, while your adversary is weakened.

The shift is therefore a subtle one. Rather than trying to win by just 'dominating' each specifc point, how can you use the flow of points, (some of which you inevitably will lose), to achieve your goals? Some of the chapters are particularly rich, especially conceptual pieces by Stephen Peter Rosen's, Bradford Lee, and Thomas Mahnken, as well as the future policy piece by James P. Thomas and Evan Braden Montgomery.

For an edited book there's also a pleasing sense of integration and cross-chapter communication. Similar themes and arguments are woven through, supporting the value of the entire book as one contribution. I had planned only on skimming a few chapters on a long plane flight, but ended up reading it virtually cover to cover such was my sense of admiration and insight from the book.

A decade on, there is a lot to gain from revisiting this book. Like our tennis players of yore, the US still seems to obsess with its great serve or countering one powerful return of its adversary, rather than looking at the whole game. We do better today, but I'm still not sure the idea of competition as distinct from mere 'responsiveness' has broken through. Marshall's framework was also explicitly developed to support a Great Power state against a neer-peer. How can other states in alliance with the US support this approach (as two chapters begin to address). Or in a world where the US is smaller than its adversary. The game is only getting harder, and we need to get better.

It's refreshing just to see a book with the word 'strategy' in the title that is genuinely strategic in nature. I didn't realise that when I first read it a decade ago, so I missed out. But if you know what the word 'strategy' means, you'll find much to admire about this book. Recommended.]]> 4.35 2012
author: Thomas G. Mahnken
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/24
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves:
review:
I first read this in 2012 when it came out, but I remember finding it only interesting, mainly for it recommendations of what do to. In so doing, I missed the best part.

Competitive strategies are a distinct strain of strategic thought, that emerged from the work of Andrew Marshall of the Office of Net Assessment in the US Pentagon. Mahnken and several of his co-authors are intellectual descendants of this approach. The essence of a competitive strategy for Marshall was to identify your enduring strengths, and your opponents enduring weaknesses and seek to harness that asymmetry to your advantage.

In Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century, Mahnken and authors take those insights much further. While staying true to the original foundations, there is a lot of very substantial strategic thought in the book. This is less a book of what to do as I first thought, and much more one devoted to the critical question of how do you use the various actions (of yourself and your adversary) to shape your desired outcomes. The use of the engagements for the purpose of the war, as Clausewitz put it.

To use an analogy, war can be thought of like a tennis game. Early on in the Cold War, Marshall worried that the US military was obsessing only with the quality of the US Serve - since that's a potential point winner in its own right. Or at most, it would worry about how to counter the Soviet's serve - their own strong hand. But just focusing on when and how you win tactical games isn't a good way to win a big competition. Instead, Marshall wanted to look at the deeper characteristics of our adversary. Maybe they don't have a lot of endurance. If so, the focus might shift to trying to extend every rally, to make the match a 5-set marathon. As such, when it counts the final set will be one where your strengths shine, while your adversary is weakened.

The shift is therefore a subtle one. Rather than trying to win by just 'dominating' each specifc point, how can you use the flow of points, (some of which you inevitably will lose), to achieve your goals? Some of the chapters are particularly rich, especially conceptual pieces by Stephen Peter Rosen's, Bradford Lee, and Thomas Mahnken, as well as the future policy piece by James P. Thomas and Evan Braden Montgomery.

For an edited book there's also a pleasing sense of integration and cross-chapter communication. Similar themes and arguments are woven through, supporting the value of the entire book as one contribution. I had planned only on skimming a few chapters on a long plane flight, but ended up reading it virtually cover to cover such was my sense of admiration and insight from the book.

A decade on, there is a lot to gain from revisiting this book. Like our tennis players of yore, the US still seems to obsess with its great serve or countering one powerful return of its adversary, rather than looking at the whole game. We do better today, but I'm still not sure the idea of competition as distinct from mere 'responsiveness' has broken through. Marshall's framework was also explicitly developed to support a Great Power state against a neer-peer. How can other states in alliance with the US support this approach (as two chapters begin to address). Or in a world where the US is smaller than its adversary. The game is only getting harder, and we need to get better.

It's refreshing just to see a book with the word 'strategy' in the title that is genuinely strategic in nature. I didn't realise that when I first read it a decade ago, so I missed out. But if you know what the word 'strategy' means, you'll find much to admire about this book. Recommended.
]]> 43535 A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A compelling look inside the mind and powerful leadership methods of America's coaching legend, John Wooden

"Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination. . . . Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow."
--Coach John Wooden

John Wooden's goal in 41 years of coaching never changed; namely, to get maximum effort and peak performance from each of his players in the manner that best served the team. Wooden on Leadership explains step-by-step how he pursued and accomplished this goal. Focusing on Wooden's 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success, it outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to "be at your best when your best is needed"--and teach your organization to do the same.

Praise for Wooden on Leadership

"What an all-encompassing Pyramid of Success for leadership! Coach Wooden's moral authority and brilliant definition of success encompass all of life. How I admire his life's work and concept of what it really means to win!"
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

"Wooden On Leadership offers valuable lessons no matter what your endeavor. 'Competitive Greatness' is our goal and that of any successful organization. Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success is where it all starts."
--Jim Sinegal, president & CEO, Costco]]> 302 John Wooden 0071453393 Andrew 5
One partial answer to that puzzle I found in Bill Walsh's The Score Takes Care of Itself. Another critical piece, is 'Wooden on Leadership'. Both co-authored by Steve Jamison.

Wooden was coach of the UCLA Bruins and won 10 national college championships. Yet, he almost never spoke to his players about winning. Like Walsh, he saw the scoreboard as first and foremost a reflection of our own performance. In that mindset, success is not the final result, but rather 'Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming'.

To be clear, this isn't participation trophy language. Wooden was a strict teacher who coached from the 1940s to 1970s. But he realised focusing on results was often highly misleading "A good leader determines what occupies the team's attention, what they work on and worry about. This process begins with what you, the leader are preoccupied with. The scoreboard? Championships?...As goals, predictions, hopes or dreams to be sealed up and filed away, fine. But as a day-to-day preoccupation they're a waste of time, stealing attention and effort from the present and squandering it on the future. You control the former, not the latter".

Much of Wooden's views of leadership come from an earlier generation, crediting and often quoting his (greatest generation era) father's approach to life. His core principles and areas of emphasis would be familiar to those who have read their way into Stoicism. This is anything but about awarding participation trophies.

Instead, Wooden describes his approach as one of building 'competitive greatness', defined as 'A real love for the hard battle, knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required'. He wanted to win fiercely, but he knew the way to get there was by getting all the little details right and executing them as well as possible. Wooden's book details the meticulous notes he took, the extremely detailed planning of every session down to the minute, and the way he searched for advantage in all the little things, ever willing to update or adapt if there was a better way.

There's a fascinating tension in this book between the general homespun wisdom and a man who clearly worked to turn it into explicit frameworks and action whenever he could. He developed a 'pyramid of success' which sorts and organises themes such as Cooperation, Team Spirit and Poise. Words that are often meaningless motherhood statements in the hands of some, but which he defined specifically, and ordered in a hierarchy, thinking carefully about their relationship with other parts of the pyramid.

I found Walsh's book the more compelling, but together they speak to a very different way of thinking about both individual and organisational success. Not only what counts as success, but perhaps more importantly, how we get there, recognising it will always and forever be a journey.

Some legacies endure. It's easy to see why John Wooden's has.]]> 4.38 2005
author: John Wooden
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/22
date added: 2022/08/22
shelves:
review:
Over the last 6 months I've been looking to articulate ways of leading and competing that are internally-driven. Rather than set big rar-rar goals, or end up in reactive spirals, how can we set clear personal standards and excel in competitive situations while focused on internal achievements?

One partial answer to that puzzle I found in Bill Walsh's The Score Takes Care of Itself. Another critical piece, is 'Wooden on Leadership'. Both co-authored by Steve Jamison.

Wooden was coach of the UCLA Bruins and won 10 national college championships. Yet, he almost never spoke to his players about winning. Like Walsh, he saw the scoreboard as first and foremost a reflection of our own performance. In that mindset, success is not the final result, but rather 'Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming'.

To be clear, this isn't participation trophy language. Wooden was a strict teacher who coached from the 1940s to 1970s. But he realised focusing on results was often highly misleading "A good leader determines what occupies the team's attention, what they work on and worry about. This process begins with what you, the leader are preoccupied with. The scoreboard? Championships?...As goals, predictions, hopes or dreams to be sealed up and filed away, fine. But as a day-to-day preoccupation they're a waste of time, stealing attention and effort from the present and squandering it on the future. You control the former, not the latter".

Much of Wooden's views of leadership come from an earlier generation, crediting and often quoting his (greatest generation era) father's approach to life. His core principles and areas of emphasis would be familiar to those who have read their way into Stoicism. This is anything but about awarding participation trophies.

Instead, Wooden describes his approach as one of building 'competitive greatness', defined as 'A real love for the hard battle, knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required'. He wanted to win fiercely, but he knew the way to get there was by getting all the little details right and executing them as well as possible. Wooden's book details the meticulous notes he took, the extremely detailed planning of every session down to the minute, and the way he searched for advantage in all the little things, ever willing to update or adapt if there was a better way.

There's a fascinating tension in this book between the general homespun wisdom and a man who clearly worked to turn it into explicit frameworks and action whenever he could. He developed a 'pyramid of success' which sorts and organises themes such as Cooperation, Team Spirit and Poise. Words that are often meaningless motherhood statements in the hands of some, but which he defined specifically, and ordered in a hierarchy, thinking carefully about their relationship with other parts of the pyramid.

I found Walsh's book the more compelling, but together they speak to a very different way of thinking about both individual and organisational success. Not only what counts as success, but perhaps more importantly, how we get there, recognising it will always and forever be a journey.

Some legacies endure. It's easy to see why John Wooden's has.
]]> 36204380 A controversial call to put honor at the center of morality
To the modern mind, the idea of honor is outdated, sexist, and barbaric. It evokes Hamilton and Burr and pistols at dawn, not visions of a well-organized society. But for philosopher Tamler Sommers, a sense of honor is essential to living moral lives. In Why Honor Matters, Sommers argues that our collective rejection of honor has come at great cost. Reliant only on Enlightenment liberalism, the United States has become the home of the cowardly, the shameless, the selfish, and the alienated. Properly channeled, honor encourages virtues like courage, integrity, and solidarity, and gives a sense of living for something larger than oneself. Sommers shows how honor can help us address some of society's most challenging problems, including education, policing, and mass incarceration. Counterintuitive and provocative, Why Honor Matters makes a convincing case for honor as a cornerstone of our modern society.
]]> 272 Tamler Sommers 0465098878 Andrew 3
Sommers is an academic philosopher with a particular interest in the way society deals with crime. Our current approach, he rightly argues makes no sense. Not only is it deeply unfair to minorities, extremely punitive, and unable to prevent further crime, it goes against our basic human nature. It strips the victim from the equation, forcing an impersonal 'state' and a justice system that seeks 'consistency' in punishments above all else. Hence the spiral towards ever longer punishments, while victims feel ignored, left to forever be victims and so unable to move on.

What's missing from this picture Sommers argues, is honor. Most crime is not against the state, it is against a specific person. Both individuals, and their moral communities. We have depersonalised crime, and are now surprised that 'justice' seems to work for neither side. We have forgotten the human element.

Honor Societies (which may in fact be the most common way human society is organised) offer a different way of thinking about organizing society compared to what we in the liberal west know well. These societies establish strong standards of behaviour that bind members to their code. They offer a sense of identity and security which ensures far lower rates of depression or mental health issues than in the west. And when working well, they can offer outlets for the base but real elements of human nature - such as anger or revenge - while also reigning in the excesses that we too often see or have to work so hard against.

Sommers know's he's up against a tough crowd. The kind of person in the west who reads academic texts on ethics probably isn't comfortable with a discussion of why standing up for a fight can be a deep demonstration of character. And to be honest, the way Sommers makes the case isn't always that persuasive. He's at once quick to recognise the limits and counter-arguments, but often seems stuck in a tautological loop. Where the 'honor code' that helps break a cycle of ill-behaviour, is needed first and foremost because that same honor code took some small act and made it into a far larger issue of honor that escalated.

One element I was surprised by was Sommer's focus only on honor as a social construct. Obviously, if you're looking to change laws and society that's the logical foundation. But when I think of honor, I begin with honorable individuals. They were products of their society, but not merely derivative of them either. Take a George Washington or a Friedrich Nietzsche. They had standards which many around them could not match, and this is what made them stand out and live lives we venerate. There has been a revival in recent years of Stoicism, in part because it establishes internal standards for honorable living. One that accepts the world around you is fallen, and does not require or expect society to operate within those codes. Indeed, Stoics see their approach as all the more important because the drive for character comes from within, despite the contradictory pressures from without.

As this review suggests, I am still not entirely sure what I take away from this book. I found Sommer compelling when he argues that liberal notions of 'dignity' sit at odds with how humans actually function. Dignity theories do not reflect real people, and require vast and often extremely harmful and distorting states to enforce. Many liberal ideas are the ultimate square peg for our decidedly round shapes, and can't even begin to understand the pressure release valves which imperfect human society needs. He's also right that many of us feel called to the kinds of attachments which honor societies excel at. The contrast between Sommer's love of Boston sports and Adam Grant's genuine confusion at why people are fans of professional sports teams is stark and amusing. FWIW I'm with Sommers here.

Yet, at the same time, I've lived much of my life and grounded my intellectual and moral character on the notion that society should not be able to bind or control my judgement. That I can and sometimes must stand apart from society, and feel no loss if such a distinction occurs. That I am not 'honor-bound' to respond in predefined ways. I may do so ultimately, but it's not society judgement. It's mine. Nor do I think the kind of societies Sommer's highlights reflect the kind of societies I wish to live in. As sociologists have noted, Honor society norms tended to emerge in more precarious forms of life - the shepherds for whom one robbery could cause a family's starvation. The street kids who need each other to simply survive the night. Who have nothing but their status to hold onto. Can developed, prosperous, secure societies revitalize and bind in Honor codes of significance? I genuinely don't know.

So maybe my views have evolved. They certainly haven't been re-enforced. That seems a learning experience well worth honoring.]]> 3.96
author: Tamler Sommers
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/15
date added: 2022/08/15
shelves:
review:
There's a nice line in Adam Grant's book 'Think Again', where he says the point of learning isn't to re-enforce our beliefs, but to evolve them. 'Why Honor Matters' by Tamler Sommers probably won't evolve my beliefs too much, but reading it was a genuine learning experience.

Sommers is an academic philosopher with a particular interest in the way society deals with crime. Our current approach, he rightly argues makes no sense. Not only is it deeply unfair to minorities, extremely punitive, and unable to prevent further crime, it goes against our basic human nature. It strips the victim from the equation, forcing an impersonal 'state' and a justice system that seeks 'consistency' in punishments above all else. Hence the spiral towards ever longer punishments, while victims feel ignored, left to forever be victims and so unable to move on.

What's missing from this picture Sommers argues, is honor. Most crime is not against the state, it is against a specific person. Both individuals, and their moral communities. We have depersonalised crime, and are now surprised that 'justice' seems to work for neither side. We have forgotten the human element.

Honor Societies (which may in fact be the most common way human society is organised) offer a different way of thinking about organizing society compared to what we in the liberal west know well. These societies establish strong standards of behaviour that bind members to their code. They offer a sense of identity and security which ensures far lower rates of depression or mental health issues than in the west. And when working well, they can offer outlets for the base but real elements of human nature - such as anger or revenge - while also reigning in the excesses that we too often see or have to work so hard against.

Sommers know's he's up against a tough crowd. The kind of person in the west who reads academic texts on ethics probably isn't comfortable with a discussion of why standing up for a fight can be a deep demonstration of character. And to be honest, the way Sommers makes the case isn't always that persuasive. He's at once quick to recognise the limits and counter-arguments, but often seems stuck in a tautological loop. Where the 'honor code' that helps break a cycle of ill-behaviour, is needed first and foremost because that same honor code took some small act and made it into a far larger issue of honor that escalated.

One element I was surprised by was Sommer's focus only on honor as a social construct. Obviously, if you're looking to change laws and society that's the logical foundation. But when I think of honor, I begin with honorable individuals. They were products of their society, but not merely derivative of them either. Take a George Washington or a Friedrich Nietzsche. They had standards which many around them could not match, and this is what made them stand out and live lives we venerate. There has been a revival in recent years of Stoicism, in part because it establishes internal standards for honorable living. One that accepts the world around you is fallen, and does not require or expect society to operate within those codes. Indeed, Stoics see their approach as all the more important because the drive for character comes from within, despite the contradictory pressures from without.

As this review suggests, I am still not entirely sure what I take away from this book. I found Sommer compelling when he argues that liberal notions of 'dignity' sit at odds with how humans actually function. Dignity theories do not reflect real people, and require vast and often extremely harmful and distorting states to enforce. Many liberal ideas are the ultimate square peg for our decidedly round shapes, and can't even begin to understand the pressure release valves which imperfect human society needs. He's also right that many of us feel called to the kinds of attachments which honor societies excel at. The contrast between Sommer's love of Boston sports and Adam Grant's genuine confusion at why people are fans of professional sports teams is stark and amusing. FWIW I'm with Sommers here.

Yet, at the same time, I've lived much of my life and grounded my intellectual and moral character on the notion that society should not be able to bind or control my judgement. That I can and sometimes must stand apart from society, and feel no loss if such a distinction occurs. That I am not 'honor-bound' to respond in predefined ways. I may do so ultimately, but it's not society judgement. It's mine. Nor do I think the kind of societies Sommer's highlights reflect the kind of societies I wish to live in. As sociologists have noted, Honor society norms tended to emerge in more precarious forms of life - the shepherds for whom one robbery could cause a family's starvation. The street kids who need each other to simply survive the night. Who have nothing but their status to hold onto. Can developed, prosperous, secure societies revitalize and bind in Honor codes of significance? I genuinely don't know.

So maybe my views have evolved. They certainly haven't been re-enforced. That seems a learning experience well worth honoring.
]]> 33154385 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781847941831.

Transform your life with tiny changes in behaviour �� starting now.

*The instant New York Times bestseller*
*Financial Times Book of the Month*

People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions �� doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call.

He calls them atomic habits.

In this ground-breaking book, Clears reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks (the forgotten art of Habit Stacking, the unexpected power of the Two Minute Rule, or the trick to entering the Goldilocks Zone), and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs, and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated, and happy.

These small changes will have a revolutionary effect on your career, your relationships, and your life.
________________________________

��A supremely practical and useful book.�� Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck

‘James Clear has spent years honing the art and studying the science of habits. This engaging, hands-on book is the guide you need to break bad routines and make good ones.�� Adam Grant, author of Originals

��Atomic Habits is a step-by-step manual for changing routines.�� Books of the Month, Financial Times

‘A special book that will change how you approach your day and live your life.�� Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way]]> 306 James Clear Andrew 4 Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules), but this one justifies the reception. Clear is extremely clear. Everything is set out with effective descriptions, and an underlying logic and relationship between them.

Clear's model of humanity is very much that of B.F Skinner. Give the pigeon its crumb after hitting the button, ring the bell before the dog's dinner, and do it enough times and you'll get the right responses. Where Clear then builds on and shines is recognising such behaviours are harder to sustain in humans without being tied to a larger identity. Being the kind of person who does these things because that's who they are, rather than a person with the willpower to endure them each time.

One reason i think I've always struggled with good habits is my perspective on time. I've always wanted to make *this* moment count, even at the expense of later moments. I stayed up late, I partied a lot in my 20's and today always was more important than tomorrow. As I get older, it has become easier to value tomorrow over today. To set good habits, to not leave problems to future Andrew. I can't claim to be any wiser or more virtuous, but it's certainly less challenging to be more future-oriented these days.

Around the time I was reading this book, I decided to make some changes in my approach to work. 2 years of being a pandemic bum were getting to me, as easy as that life sometimes was. I can't say this was directly motivated by this book (which I'd bought about a year earlier and hadn't yet got around to reading), but this was a serendipitous read at this moment to help think through some of the relationships between choices, and the broader identity factors.

There are a lot of books on habit out there, many seem terrible (I found 'Willpower' by Tierney and Baumeister good a few years ago). This one clearly seems to stand out in popular reception. I certainly enjoyed it, and think i've picked up a few things from it. Worth your time if you're in the right headspace to think about your habits.]]> 4.38 2018
author: James Clear
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/26
date added: 2022/07/30
shelves:
review:
Some books I pick up simply to see why they're so popular. Often I walk away wondering what all the fuss is (see my review of Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules), but this one justifies the reception. Clear is extremely clear. Everything is set out with effective descriptions, and an underlying logic and relationship between them.

Clear's model of humanity is very much that of B.F Skinner. Give the pigeon its crumb after hitting the button, ring the bell before the dog's dinner, and do it enough times and you'll get the right responses. Where Clear then builds on and shines is recognising such behaviours are harder to sustain in humans without being tied to a larger identity. Being the kind of person who does these things because that's who they are, rather than a person with the willpower to endure them each time.

One reason i think I've always struggled with good habits is my perspective on time. I've always wanted to make *this* moment count, even at the expense of later moments. I stayed up late, I partied a lot in my 20's and today always was more important than tomorrow. As I get older, it has become easier to value tomorrow over today. To set good habits, to not leave problems to future Andrew. I can't claim to be any wiser or more virtuous, but it's certainly less challenging to be more future-oriented these days.

Around the time I was reading this book, I decided to make some changes in my approach to work. 2 years of being a pandemic bum were getting to me, as easy as that life sometimes was. I can't say this was directly motivated by this book (which I'd bought about a year earlier and hadn't yet got around to reading), but this was a serendipitous read at this moment to help think through some of the relationships between choices, and the broader identity factors.

There are a lot of books on habit out there, many seem terrible (I found 'Willpower' by Tierney and Baumeister good a few years ago). This one clearly seems to stand out in popular reception. I certainly enjoyed it, and think i've picked up a few things from it. Worth your time if you're in the right headspace to think about your habits.
]]> 55539565 Think Again is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong. Evidence has shown that creative geniuses are not attached to one identity, but constantly willing to rethink their stances and that leaders who admit they don't know something and seek critical feedback lead more productive and innovative teams.

New evidence shows us that as a mindset and a skilllset, rethinking can be taught and Grant explains how to develop the necessary qualities to do it. Section 1 explores why we struggle to think again and how we can learn to do it as individuals, arguing that 'grit' alone can actually be counterproductive. Section 2 discusses how we can help others think again through learning about 'argument literacy'. And the final section 3 looks at how schools, businesses and governments fall short in building cultures that encourage rethinking.

In the end, learning to rethink may be the secret skill to give you the edge in a world changing faster than ever.]]> 307 Adam M. Grant 1984878107 Andrew 3
The closest Grant comes to an over-riding narrative is that we often think like Preachers (defending values), Politicians (seeking to persuade) or Prosecutors (finding flaws in others arguments). Instead, Grant wants us to be a Scientist. To say that we have hypotheses about the world - instead of beliefs, and that we act to test those beliefs, enjoying the value of being wrong. As he nicely puts it "the purpose of learning isn't to affirm our beliefs, its to evolve our beliefs".

Grant's model of science is a very Popperian 'falsifiability' logic. It's a slightly unfortunate approach, one that perhaps helps this book fit into an airport bookstore lineup, but means its view of scientists is rather one-sided. In turn it then leaves some of the harder problems of changing our thinking unaddressed. Scientists often resist new arguments and ideas because their acceptance might affect other ideas validity (so it's never just one, it's often a bundle) and because these can then be tied to our identity or other goals.

Grant touches on these themes, he's diligent and thoughtful. But he often seems to enjoy the description by a student of him as a 'logic bully', logic chopping his way through the world. It's not quite as grating as the IDW mob, but it's not far off either. The best sections for me, were the areas directed at how our thinking interacts with others. In those areas, Grant highlights the power of being unsure, of displaying our assumptions, of admitting the merits of part of someone elses' argument as a way to persuade an onlooking audience.

Overall, an enjoyable collection of chapters. I made quite a few notes, and I enjoyed reading it. I certainly will use some of the ideas in my teaching and work. But I suspect it's a book i'll have a hard time remembering its big insights for. But maybe with time i'll think again about that.]]> 4.12 2021
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/24
date added: 2022/07/30
shelves:
review:
This book is the sum of its (quite good) parts. There are a range of interesting and well explained discussions of critical thinking, humility debating skills, loyalties and identities, and importance of making errors and enjoying our learning from it. Do these disparate chapters amount to a clear argument about re-thinking? I'm not sure.

The closest Grant comes to an over-riding narrative is that we often think like Preachers (defending values), Politicians (seeking to persuade) or Prosecutors (finding flaws in others arguments). Instead, Grant wants us to be a Scientist. To say that we have hypotheses about the world - instead of beliefs, and that we act to test those beliefs, enjoying the value of being wrong. As he nicely puts it "the purpose of learning isn't to affirm our beliefs, its to evolve our beliefs".

Grant's model of science is a very Popperian 'falsifiability' logic. It's a slightly unfortunate approach, one that perhaps helps this book fit into an airport bookstore lineup, but means its view of scientists is rather one-sided. In turn it then leaves some of the harder problems of changing our thinking unaddressed. Scientists often resist new arguments and ideas because their acceptance might affect other ideas validity (so it's never just one, it's often a bundle) and because these can then be tied to our identity or other goals.

Grant touches on these themes, he's diligent and thoughtful. But he often seems to enjoy the description by a student of him as a 'logic bully', logic chopping his way through the world. It's not quite as grating as the IDW mob, but it's not far off either. The best sections for me, were the areas directed at how our thinking interacts with others. In those areas, Grant highlights the power of being unsure, of displaying our assumptions, of admitting the merits of part of someone elses' argument as a way to persuade an onlooking audience.

Overall, an enjoyable collection of chapters. I made quite a few notes, and I enjoyed reading it. I certainly will use some of the ideas in my teaching and work. But I suspect it's a book i'll have a hard time remembering its big insights for. But maybe with time i'll think again about that.
]]> 43250134 A revelatory biography of Australia’s longest-serving prime minister.

Robert Menzies claimed the prime ministership in 1939 and led the nation during the early years of the war, but resigned two years later when he lost the confidence of his party. His political career seemed over, and yet he staged one of the great comebacks to forge a new political party, devise a new governing philosophy, and craft a winning electoral approach that as to make him Australia’s longest-serving prime minister.

The lessons Menzies learned �� and the way he applied them �� made him a model that every Liberal leader since has looked to for inspiration. But debate over Menzies�� life and legacy has never settled.

Who was Robert Menzies, what did he stand for, what did he achieve? Troy Bramston has not only researched the official record and published accounts, but has also interviewed members of Menzies�� family, and his former advisers and ministers. He has also been given exclusive access to family letters, as well as to a series of interviews that Menzies gave that have never been revealed before. They are a major historical find, in which Menzies talks about his life, reflects on political events and personalities, offers political lessons, and candidly assesses his successors.

Robert Menzies is the first biography in 20 years of the Liberal icon �� and it contains important contemporary lessons for those who want to understand, and master, the art and science of politics.]]> 384 Troy Bramston 1925713679 Andrew 4
In focusing on how Menzies operated, Bramston keys in on central reason why. Menzies had clear principles and purpose (which were liberal as he rightly stresses), but his time as a democratic leader was as much about his democratic temperament, as his willingness to use democratic power for particular policy ends. Menzies upheld and believed in the institutions of parliament and British forms of governance, and in his character in sustaining and championing a form of government - not always perfectly - he leaves his most important legacy.

A biography of a man who was Prime Minister for such a long period could easily get bogged down in the miniature of particular scandals or policy options. It's to Bramston's credit that he avoids this, offering a highly readable and fresh biography by focusing on the question of character and means of conducting politics, rather than just its content. Menzies is one of the great political performers of the Western world in the 20th century (much like Deakin a generation before), and this should be better understood and appreciated by Australians.

In my 20s I used to devour books like this. These days, my academic responsibilities lead me to far more detailed, niche (and poorly written) tomes. At times I found myself wishing the story had been told slightly differently, the conventional themes prodded open a bit more and that classic academic phrase coming to my lips - 'well, there's a bit more to it than that'. But I stopped myself, because an expansion here, a rounding out there, and the book would become the vast tome I am glad it was not. More than mere page count, Bramston's choice style is critically important because knowing about the country's political history should never be the preserve of just the scholars and book worms. In a democracy such knowledge must be the common currency of the common person. We need more books like this, and we need a nation of readers who want to know how their country operated before, so that they can help guide it through its own challenges today.

Not that the scholars miss out. There is a number of new and previously unpublished details, mainly stemming from interviews Menzies conducted with a would-be biographer after retirement. Bramston makes good use of these to round out the story. His comment's linking the F-111 to the worries about Indonesia in particular are important. While the book offers a generally conventional and supportive take on Menzies era, Bramston is careful to mark out the moral and political failings of Robert Menzies, especially in his embrace of the White Australia policy, disinterest in First Nation's people, failure on apartheid, and several international failings.

An enjoyable and insightful one-volume biography. It wisely avoids trying to capture everything, and instead manages to latch onto one very important theme: the art of politics, of which Menzies was the supreme master in 20th century Australia. ]]> 3.91
author: Troy Bramston
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/17
date added: 2022/07/17
shelves:
review:
The dichotomy of the Menzies era is that it lasted longer than any other in Australian politics (18 years as Prime Minister), yet was forgotten quicker than most. As Chavura and Melleuish have noted, just 6 years seperated Menzies and Whitlam's time as Prime Ministers. Yet modern Australian political language and forms of argument are almost entirely responses to the later, and seem untouched by the former.

In focusing on how Menzies operated, Bramston keys in on central reason why. Menzies had clear principles and purpose (which were liberal as he rightly stresses), but his time as a democratic leader was as much about his democratic temperament, as his willingness to use democratic power for particular policy ends. Menzies upheld and believed in the institutions of parliament and British forms of governance, and in his character in sustaining and championing a form of government - not always perfectly - he leaves his most important legacy.

A biography of a man who was Prime Minister for such a long period could easily get bogged down in the miniature of particular scandals or policy options. It's to Bramston's credit that he avoids this, offering a highly readable and fresh biography by focusing on the question of character and means of conducting politics, rather than just its content. Menzies is one of the great political performers of the Western world in the 20th century (much like Deakin a generation before), and this should be better understood and appreciated by Australians.

In my 20s I used to devour books like this. These days, my academic responsibilities lead me to far more detailed, niche (and poorly written) tomes. At times I found myself wishing the story had been told slightly differently, the conventional themes prodded open a bit more and that classic academic phrase coming to my lips - 'well, there's a bit more to it than that'. But I stopped myself, because an expansion here, a rounding out there, and the book would become the vast tome I am glad it was not. More than mere page count, Bramston's choice style is critically important because knowing about the country's political history should never be the preserve of just the scholars and book worms. In a democracy such knowledge must be the common currency of the common person. We need more books like this, and we need a nation of readers who want to know how their country operated before, so that they can help guide it through its own challenges today.

Not that the scholars miss out. There is a number of new and previously unpublished details, mainly stemming from interviews Menzies conducted with a would-be biographer after retirement. Bramston makes good use of these to round out the story. His comment's linking the F-111 to the worries about Indonesia in particular are important. While the book offers a generally conventional and supportive take on Menzies era, Bramston is careful to mark out the moral and political failings of Robert Menzies, especially in his embrace of the White Australia policy, disinterest in First Nation's people, failure on apartheid, and several international failings.

An enjoyable and insightful one-volume biography. It wisely avoids trying to capture everything, and instead manages to latch onto one very important theme: the art of politics, of which Menzies was the supreme master in 20th century Australia.
]]> 6671901 262 Robert C.H. Chia 0521895502 Andrew 3
In 'Strategy without Design', Chia and Holt propose that strategy could also reflect those intuitive, cultural and situationally derived habits of mind and deed that, small step by small step help us find a way through life's challenges. As they put it, it is the 'unconsciously acquired practice complexes..and the patterns of regularity that we call strategy'.

In this view, strategy reflects the bundle of knowledge and practices which we all develop to navigate life, as socially constituted systems, with our practices reflecting our culture, histories, antecedents and traditions as much as any specific intentionality. In day to day life, many of us are incredibly successful at managing complex social tasks, achieving critical goals of well being and influence across a variety of audiences, personal and professional. In professional politics, many practice the 'art' of politics, shifting this way and that to keep and maintain their coalitions. Some even do it so well that they are seen to dominate their era (think a Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the US, or Robert Menzies in Australia.). These are all successful ways of acting in the world, yet none of these approaches involve written plans or ends-ways-means calculations.

Strategy Without Design is a beguiling idea that is explored in an indirect, sometimes oblique way. As the authors note in the epilogue, in their view 'the writer does not collect or build things, but tries to encounter and absorb them as they are, in all their inconsistency and contradiction, and all their latency and potential'. This form of writing, which is very common within critical theory scholarship can be illuminating at breaking open the cracks of light, the 'potentialities' of alternate ways of thinking. But it can also prove frustratingly illusive.

Not so much in revealing its ideas, as in grappling with them in their full complexities. I went into this book very hopeful for its value. I walk away somewhat unconvinced. The authors have a tendency to critique all planning approaches by reference to the occasional catastrophic failure (a questionable basis), and then never subjecting the value of their own approach to such a test. Perhaps since they're only 'encountering' such a view, rather than building it out.

I also wonder if a different word would better capture the spirit of what they seek. Rather than 'strategy', what I came to see Chia and Holt as describing was in fact 'Statecraft'. Wherein leading politicians navigate the ship of state day by day, hour by hour, document and meeting by document and meeting, towards often unexpressed but valuable goals of advantage and thriving. Their sense of expertise, habit, tacit knowledge, and culturally bound constitution seems to me to better match what we think of when we imagine the 'statesman' (statesperson?) as distinct from the 'strategist'. Though to be fair, within the world of business strategy which Chia and Holt write in, there is no synonymous term.

These concerns aside, I do think this is a valuable and insightful book. The authors spend quite a bit of time exploring the distinctions between methodological collectivism and methodological individualism, a revealing assessment for considering where we believe strategic ideas and impulses come from, and proposing their own 'weak' form of individualism. In doing so, they locate their work in the tradition of Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek and the Scottish Enlightenment, who emphasise the individual made by a society and with great humility about the limits of the individual - as opposed to the European tradition of Descarte and others for whom the individual can rationally build out their world, one reasoned proposition at a time. I've long thought Hayek is deeply under-appreciated as a philosopher, and this book helps show his prescient insight again and again. (especially for any studying complexity theories)

This is definitely a book to chew through, but for all those wanting to really think hard about what we mean by the term strategy and how humans achieve their needs in a challenging world, this is a thought-provoking analysis. I'm sure I'll return to it many times in the years to come.]]> 4.45 2009
author: Robert C.H. Chia
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/13
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:
The iconic image of a 'strategist' is the chess player. The doer, who has plans, goals and purpose. But that player is often defeated. Their grand schemes often fail. Their confident predictions about the world five minutes from now evaporate as the hot air they always were. So is there a different way of approaching the task?

In 'Strategy without Design', Chia and Holt propose that strategy could also reflect those intuitive, cultural and situationally derived habits of mind and deed that, small step by small step help us find a way through life's challenges. As they put it, it is the 'unconsciously acquired practice complexes..and the patterns of regularity that we call strategy'.

In this view, strategy reflects the bundle of knowledge and practices which we all develop to navigate life, as socially constituted systems, with our practices reflecting our culture, histories, antecedents and traditions as much as any specific intentionality. In day to day life, many of us are incredibly successful at managing complex social tasks, achieving critical goals of well being and influence across a variety of audiences, personal and professional. In professional politics, many practice the 'art' of politics, shifting this way and that to keep and maintain their coalitions. Some even do it so well that they are seen to dominate their era (think a Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the US, or Robert Menzies in Australia.). These are all successful ways of acting in the world, yet none of these approaches involve written plans or ends-ways-means calculations.

Strategy Without Design is a beguiling idea that is explored in an indirect, sometimes oblique way. As the authors note in the epilogue, in their view 'the writer does not collect or build things, but tries to encounter and absorb them as they are, in all their inconsistency and contradiction, and all their latency and potential'. This form of writing, which is very common within critical theory scholarship can be illuminating at breaking open the cracks of light, the 'potentialities' of alternate ways of thinking. But it can also prove frustratingly illusive.

Not so much in revealing its ideas, as in grappling with them in their full complexities. I went into this book very hopeful for its value. I walk away somewhat unconvinced. The authors have a tendency to critique all planning approaches by reference to the occasional catastrophic failure (a questionable basis), and then never subjecting the value of their own approach to such a test. Perhaps since they're only 'encountering' such a view, rather than building it out.

I also wonder if a different word would better capture the spirit of what they seek. Rather than 'strategy', what I came to see Chia and Holt as describing was in fact 'Statecraft'. Wherein leading politicians navigate the ship of state day by day, hour by hour, document and meeting by document and meeting, towards often unexpressed but valuable goals of advantage and thriving. Their sense of expertise, habit, tacit knowledge, and culturally bound constitution seems to me to better match what we think of when we imagine the 'statesman' (statesperson?) as distinct from the 'strategist'. Though to be fair, within the world of business strategy which Chia and Holt write in, there is no synonymous term.

These concerns aside, I do think this is a valuable and insightful book. The authors spend quite a bit of time exploring the distinctions between methodological collectivism and methodological individualism, a revealing assessment for considering where we believe strategic ideas and impulses come from, and proposing their own 'weak' form of individualism. In doing so, they locate their work in the tradition of Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek and the Scottish Enlightenment, who emphasise the individual made by a society and with great humility about the limits of the individual - as opposed to the European tradition of Descarte and others for whom the individual can rationally build out their world, one reasoned proposition at a time. I've long thought Hayek is deeply under-appreciated as a philosopher, and this book helps show his prescient insight again and again. (especially for any studying complexity theories)

This is definitely a book to chew through, but for all those wanting to really think hard about what we mean by the term strategy and how humans achieve their needs in a challenging world, this is a thought-provoking analysis. I'm sure I'll return to it many times in the years to come.
]]> 22529127 The retired four-star general and and bestselling author of My Share of the Task shares a powerful new leadership model

As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal played a crucial role in the War on Terror. But when he took the helm in 2004, America was losing that war badly: despite vastly inferior resources and technology, Al Qaeda was outmaneuvering America’s most elite warriors.

McChrystal came to realize that today’s faster, more interdependent world had overwhelmed the conventional, top-down hierarchy of the US military. Al Qaeda had seen the future: a decentralized network that could move quickly and strike ruthlessly. To defeat such an enemy, JSOC would have to discard a century of management wisdom, and pivot from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. Under McChrystal’s leadership, JSOC remade itself, in the midst of a grueling war, into something entirely new: a network that combined robust centralized communication with decentralized managerial authority. As a result, they beat back Al Qaeda.

In this book, McChrystal shows not only how the military made that transition, but also how similar shifts are possible in all organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to governments. In a turbulent world, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what they’ve learned.

Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career, the private sector, and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA’s space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today’s organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution.]]> 304 Stanley McChrystal 1591847486 Andrew 4
For much of the 20th century, organisation meant top-down control. Whether Frederick Taylor's Scientific Management or Karl Marx's Scientific Marxism, the organisational model reflected the technology and times: Power and information flow up from discrete silos and decisions flow down. This model achieved remarkable things compared to earlier eras of humanity. More people, doing more, far more efficiently than was possible in the past. But there are fundamental limits to it. Anytime it's applied to problems that can not be broken down into constituent parts, for which a structured process can not solve the problem each and every time, and in the face of genuine complexity, this model will break.

This was the challenge facing McChrystal and the Special Operations Task Force in Iraq in 2004. They were being thoroughly out-fought by Al Qaeda. It wasn't a question of resources, they had far more than their adversary. It wasn't a question of hard work or efficiency, small gains could only achieve small steps. Instead, the challenge was organisational. They realised they needed a network to defeat a network. They needed the purpose and trust that defined a small team but expand across a vast organisation, spanning multiple agencies and multiple continents. And so, like a pilot rebuilding the plane in mid-air, they set about changing their organisational structure.

Team of Teams is a thoroughly enjoyable intellectual investigation: How do you re-imagine the structure of organisations in a way that would make them resilient, fast and cooperative? The answer McChrystal and his co-authors (Collins, Silverman & Fussell) came to was a 'team of teams' approach, embodying insights from complexity science and a range of bottom-up models of organisation. Power was radically devolved. McChrystal took himself out of the process for ordering operations, speeding up the time taken, and giving extra power and responsibility to those below. Information was radically shared, helping each and every member to have a holistic view of the entire organisation. Rather than being 'need to know' where information might fall into the cracks inbetween groups, everything was shared as much as possible. The culture of the organisation, of shared purpose and trust became essential to their work, enabling the sharing and voluntary relinquishment of key resources (such as overhead drones) to enable clear priorities and rapid action.

Along with a well told tale of the organisational change in Iraq, Team of Teams is an engaging review of the broader literature and ways of thinking about this change. Taylor's Scientific Management is explored in depth as a baseline for how organisations such as the Military have historically approached problems. Then a wide number of good books and stories are drawn on to illustrate the way they learned, developed and eventually implemented a radically new system. Useful metaphors are offered: McChrystal likens the shift in his leadership approach as one from a Chess 'Grand Master' to 'Gardener'. His job was no longer to move the pieces, but to tend to the eco-system allowing all of the plants to thrive. As such, you'll walk away with a long to-read list from their research and explanations.

This book is a good example of complexity science applied to organisational problems. It explains how those changes can be actually implemented, and what the culture, norms and processes. Of course, it also implicitly shows the limits of it as well. Such a vast effort enabled the Task Force to be far more effective at dealing with Al Qaeda tactically, but in a point the book almost never mentions, the challenge was just as much one of strategy. That is, why Al Qaeda was able to have such influence and appeal among the population. I say almost never, as buried in a footnote 8 pages from the end of the book is an admission of this very limitation. Still, that isn't to take away from their achievement. You can't win strategically if you're always losing thoroughly tactically.

This is an inspiring book, because it shows new ways of thinking and working are possible, even under what seem the most extreme and challenging of organisational situations: a literal war zone, and within an organisation famous for its centuries of martial tradition and hierarchy. It takes many ideas that are out there already, and reformulates them in compelling ways and then, perhaps most importantly, follows them to their conclusion. Instead of just taking the comfortable half-steps of talking about networks, adaptability and speed, it walks the walk of what this means for acting and the often radical and initially uncomfortable changes in mindset and process this requires.]]> 4.12 2015
author: Stanley McChrystal
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/10
date added: 2022/07/09
shelves:
review:
Increasingly, I think most problems are organisational problems. Humans are innovative, intelligent, generally good-willed and hard working. But how do we organise those capacities to achieve what we need to?

For much of the 20th century, organisation meant top-down control. Whether Frederick Taylor's Scientific Management or Karl Marx's Scientific Marxism, the organisational model reflected the technology and times: Power and information flow up from discrete silos and decisions flow down. This model achieved remarkable things compared to earlier eras of humanity. More people, doing more, far more efficiently than was possible in the past. But there are fundamental limits to it. Anytime it's applied to problems that can not be broken down into constituent parts, for which a structured process can not solve the problem each and every time, and in the face of genuine complexity, this model will break.

This was the challenge facing McChrystal and the Special Operations Task Force in Iraq in 2004. They were being thoroughly out-fought by Al Qaeda. It wasn't a question of resources, they had far more than their adversary. It wasn't a question of hard work or efficiency, small gains could only achieve small steps. Instead, the challenge was organisational. They realised they needed a network to defeat a network. They needed the purpose and trust that defined a small team but expand across a vast organisation, spanning multiple agencies and multiple continents. And so, like a pilot rebuilding the plane in mid-air, they set about changing their organisational structure.

Team of Teams is a thoroughly enjoyable intellectual investigation: How do you re-imagine the structure of organisations in a way that would make them resilient, fast and cooperative? The answer McChrystal and his co-authors (Collins, Silverman & Fussell) came to was a 'team of teams' approach, embodying insights from complexity science and a range of bottom-up models of organisation. Power was radically devolved. McChrystal took himself out of the process for ordering operations, speeding up the time taken, and giving extra power and responsibility to those below. Information was radically shared, helping each and every member to have a holistic view of the entire organisation. Rather than being 'need to know' where information might fall into the cracks inbetween groups, everything was shared as much as possible. The culture of the organisation, of shared purpose and trust became essential to their work, enabling the sharing and voluntary relinquishment of key resources (such as overhead drones) to enable clear priorities and rapid action.

Along with a well told tale of the organisational change in Iraq, Team of Teams is an engaging review of the broader literature and ways of thinking about this change. Taylor's Scientific Management is explored in depth as a baseline for how organisations such as the Military have historically approached problems. Then a wide number of good books and stories are drawn on to illustrate the way they learned, developed and eventually implemented a radically new system. Useful metaphors are offered: McChrystal likens the shift in his leadership approach as one from a Chess 'Grand Master' to 'Gardener'. His job was no longer to move the pieces, but to tend to the eco-system allowing all of the plants to thrive. As such, you'll walk away with a long to-read list from their research and explanations.

This book is a good example of complexity science applied to organisational problems. It explains how those changes can be actually implemented, and what the culture, norms and processes. Of course, it also implicitly shows the limits of it as well. Such a vast effort enabled the Task Force to be far more effective at dealing with Al Qaeda tactically, but in a point the book almost never mentions, the challenge was just as much one of strategy. That is, why Al Qaeda was able to have such influence and appeal among the population. I say almost never, as buried in a footnote 8 pages from the end of the book is an admission of this very limitation. Still, that isn't to take away from their achievement. You can't win strategically if you're always losing thoroughly tactically.

This is an inspiring book, because it shows new ways of thinking and working are possible, even under what seem the most extreme and challenging of organisational situations: a literal war zone, and within an organisation famous for its centuries of martial tradition and hierarchy. It takes many ideas that are out there already, and reformulates them in compelling ways and then, perhaps most importantly, follows them to their conclusion. Instead of just taking the comfortable half-steps of talking about networks, adaptability and speed, it walks the walk of what this means for acting and the often radical and initially uncomfortable changes in mindset and process this requires.
]]> 6342995 288 Bill Walsh 1591842662 Andrew 5
'The Score Takes Care of Itself' is a profound book because it directly answers that question. Walsh took over the worst team in the NFL in 1979, the San Francisco 49ers. By the time he left a decade later, they were an iconic dynasty, and his style of play replicated across the league. But, as a assistant coach once complained, he didn't get there by being obsessed with wins.

Walsh's focus, a relentless, perfectionist obsession, was with teaching a 'Standard of Performance' to his team. If that internal standard, and the drive to improve on it in each and every way by each and everyone one in the organisation was pursued, well... the score would take care of itself. Walsh saw himself first as a teacher. One who sought a new culture, seeking everywhere to instill in others the same 'Standard of Performance' and internal drive to meet it, that he had in himself.

There's nothing surprising about Walsh's particular standards - exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continuous improvement; be fair; demonstrate character; use positive language and have a positive attitude' etc, (you can find the full list via google). And they reflect his particular position and challenge. But together with his other maximums, they reflect a way to turn a feeling of internal standards, into explicit goals which you can be measured against, and which others can work to incorporate and embody as well.

With a bit of effort, I think anyone could create their own personal list, one that reflected their time and situation. And in doing so, establish a way to make their internal goals, an accountable platform on which to measure and continually seek to improve. "Today's effort becomes tomorrow's result. The quality of those efforts becomes the quality of your work...Your standard of performance becomes who and what you are".

Walsh saw leadership as a puzzle to be figured out. How to change the pieces, how to move them around, how to find the clues that indicated whether you were moving in the right direction, at the right speed, and how to keep forever teaching the importance of improvement. That for him was the artistry of football. It's fascinating to learn that his famous 'West Coast Offense' was driven not by an open-creativity, but from his specific limitations: A QB who could not throw the long ball, a limited selection of wide receivers, hence the focus on short, ultra precise passes that relentlessly gained yard after yard. The paradox of art (as Jed Perl puts it), that the deepest creativity and originality emerged from an imposition of limits and restrictions.

This book, while ostensibly about a NFL coach from the 1980s, is therefore one of the best books about how to achieve excellence. In far more of a detailed, specific, and applicable fashion than I have yet seen. There's elements that seem to walk both sides of the fence - 'be firm' followed immediately by 'be flexible', and Walsh was clearly a perfectionist who worked himself to the bone and had his daemons, but this is a very powerful and inspiring book.

I can't wait to read it again.]]> 4.18 2009
author: Bill Walsh
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/07
date added: 2022/07/07
shelves:
review:
One of the big lessons I've gained over the last few years is that the only goals worth a damn are internal. Those who make external results and external validation their focus will go mad. It'll never come, or never be enough. But how do you set and achieve internal goals, without being self-satisfied?

'The Score Takes Care of Itself' is a profound book because it directly answers that question. Walsh took over the worst team in the NFL in 1979, the San Francisco 49ers. By the time he left a decade later, they were an iconic dynasty, and his style of play replicated across the league. But, as a assistant coach once complained, he didn't get there by being obsessed with wins.

Walsh's focus, a relentless, perfectionist obsession, was with teaching a 'Standard of Performance' to his team. If that internal standard, and the drive to improve on it in each and every way by each and everyone one in the organisation was pursued, well... the score would take care of itself. Walsh saw himself first as a teacher. One who sought a new culture, seeking everywhere to instill in others the same 'Standard of Performance' and internal drive to meet it, that he had in himself.

There's nothing surprising about Walsh's particular standards - exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continuous improvement; be fair; demonstrate character; use positive language and have a positive attitude' etc, (you can find the full list via google). And they reflect his particular position and challenge. But together with his other maximums, they reflect a way to turn a feeling of internal standards, into explicit goals which you can be measured against, and which others can work to incorporate and embody as well.

With a bit of effort, I think anyone could create their own personal list, one that reflected their time and situation. And in doing so, establish a way to make their internal goals, an accountable platform on which to measure and continually seek to improve. "Today's effort becomes tomorrow's result. The quality of those efforts becomes the quality of your work...Your standard of performance becomes who and what you are".

Walsh saw leadership as a puzzle to be figured out. How to change the pieces, how to move them around, how to find the clues that indicated whether you were moving in the right direction, at the right speed, and how to keep forever teaching the importance of improvement. That for him was the artistry of football. It's fascinating to learn that his famous 'West Coast Offense' was driven not by an open-creativity, but from his specific limitations: A QB who could not throw the long ball, a limited selection of wide receivers, hence the focus on short, ultra precise passes that relentlessly gained yard after yard. The paradox of art (as Jed Perl puts it), that the deepest creativity and originality emerged from an imposition of limits and restrictions.

This book, while ostensibly about a NFL coach from the 1980s, is therefore one of the best books about how to achieve excellence. In far more of a detailed, specific, and applicable fashion than I have yet seen. There's elements that seem to walk both sides of the fence - 'be firm' followed immediately by 'be flexible', and Walsh was clearly a perfectionist who worked himself to the bone and had his daemons, but this is a very powerful and inspiring book.

I can't wait to read it again.
]]> 56904341 From one of our most widely admired art critics comes a bold and timely manifesto reaffirming the independence of all the arts--musical, literary, and visual--and their unique and unparalleled power to excite, disturb, and inspire us.

As people look to the arts to promote a particular ideology, whether radical, liberal, or conservative, Jed Perl argues that the arts have their own laws and logic, which transcend the controversies of any one moment. "Art's relevance," he writes, "has everything to do with what many regard as its irrelevance." Authority and Freedom will find readers from college classrooms to foundation board meetings--wherever the arts are confronting social, political, and economic ferment and heated debates about political correctness and cancel culture.

Perl embraces the work of creative spirits as varied as Mozart, Michelangelo, Jane Austen, Henry James, Picasso, and Aretha Franklin. He contends that the essence of the arts is their ability to free us from fixed definitions and categories. Art is inherently uncategorizable--that's the key to its importance. Taking his stand with artists and thinkers ranging from W. H. Auden to Hannah Arendt, Perl defends works of art as adventuresome dialogues, simultaneously dispassionate and impassioned. He describes the fundamental sense of vocation--the engagement with the tools and traditions of a medium--that gives artists their purpose and focus. Whether we're experiencing a poem, a painting, or an opera, it's the interplay between authority and freedom--what Perl calls "the lifeblood of the arts"--that fuels the imaginative experience. This book will be essential reading for everybody who cares about the future of the arts in a democratic society.
]]> 176 Jed Perl 0593320050 Andrew 4
If art can serve additional goals, such as social or political commentary, that is to its benefit. But to set out with that as the purpose of art is to half ass two things. Either by degrading the power of art, or by pursuing a means of political change which we know to be almost entirely ineffective.

Perl's concern may be with the desire of many contemporary artists to be activists, but he is not so crude (or perhaps brave) as to directly attack. Instead, he builds his case through an exploration of the purpose and nature of art. In particular, the paradoxical relationship between authority and freedom. The painter's square canvas, the need to master the tools, the legacy and context of a vocation all impose a form of authority. True freedom, real freedom, emerges in the struggle to both work within these constraints and yet produce something that excels.

At heart, Perl wants to restore a place for art as a free-flowing part of society, one that has its power because it is apart from time and place, and has the power to pull us out of our particular context. To feel and intuit the deeper senses of the world. "Art is a lie that makes us realise truth" as Picasso said. Therein is its power, to be for and in-itself, in a way denied to almost everything else in our hyper-utilitarian world. Where in life we 'do', in art we 'make' Perl argues.

This paradoxical tension is a powerful way to understand the creative act. Making requires both authority - in the sense of foundations, expertise, techniques, limitations, history and responsibility - and freedom - to reshape meaning, to view anew, to challenge, and push boundaries, and find forms that are valuable. Often we ask if Strategy is an 'art' or 'science', meaning creative and structured. The more I learn about art and science, the more absurd that distinction seems to become. Science is a fundamentally creative act, art is fundamentally about foundations. Authority and freedom need each other, and to abandon one is generally an act for attention, not creation.

As noted above, Perl comes at his target somewhat obliquely. You'd want some background in the various debates about modern art to understand some of the references or critiques he offers. Personally, with my own engagement with the Atelier school, I am generally supportive of his view, even if i think politics suffuses the act of art more than Perl lets on. This is a long essay more than a book, and you'd get most of the general themes with a subscription to the New York Review of Books (where I first saw it reviewed), but a thoughtful and compelling little mediation none the less.]]> 3.57
author: Jed Perl
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/05
date added: 2022/07/05
shelves:
review:
The TV Character Ron Swanson once said 'Never half ass two things. Whole ass one thing'. Art, Perl argues, is about whole assing one thing - art in and for itself. It's techniques and foundations. Its history and traditions. Its forms and finding, forcing and fighting for genuine creativity and freedom within those constraints.

If art can serve additional goals, such as social or political commentary, that is to its benefit. But to set out with that as the purpose of art is to half ass two things. Either by degrading the power of art, or by pursuing a means of political change which we know to be almost entirely ineffective.

Perl's concern may be with the desire of many contemporary artists to be activists, but he is not so crude (or perhaps brave) as to directly attack. Instead, he builds his case through an exploration of the purpose and nature of art. In particular, the paradoxical relationship between authority and freedom. The painter's square canvas, the need to master the tools, the legacy and context of a vocation all impose a form of authority. True freedom, real freedom, emerges in the struggle to both work within these constraints and yet produce something that excels.

At heart, Perl wants to restore a place for art as a free-flowing part of society, one that has its power because it is apart from time and place, and has the power to pull us out of our particular context. To feel and intuit the deeper senses of the world. "Art is a lie that makes us realise truth" as Picasso said. Therein is its power, to be for and in-itself, in a way denied to almost everything else in our hyper-utilitarian world. Where in life we 'do', in art we 'make' Perl argues.

This paradoxical tension is a powerful way to understand the creative act. Making requires both authority - in the sense of foundations, expertise, techniques, limitations, history and responsibility - and freedom - to reshape meaning, to view anew, to challenge, and push boundaries, and find forms that are valuable. Often we ask if Strategy is an 'art' or 'science', meaning creative and structured. The more I learn about art and science, the more absurd that distinction seems to become. Science is a fundamentally creative act, art is fundamentally about foundations. Authority and freedom need each other, and to abandon one is generally an act for attention, not creation.

As noted above, Perl comes at his target somewhat obliquely. You'd want some background in the various debates about modern art to understand some of the references or critiques he offers. Personally, with my own engagement with the Atelier school, I am generally supportive of his view, even if i think politics suffuses the act of art more than Perl lets on. This is a long essay more than a book, and you'd get most of the general themes with a subscription to the New York Review of Books (where I first saw it reviewed), but a thoughtful and compelling little mediation none the less.
]]> 61148913
A bold and illuminating vision of the future, from one of Europe’s foremost speakers on global trends in economics, business and society.

What will the world look like in 2050? How will complex forces of change—demography, the environment, finance, technology and ideas about governance—affect our global society? And how, with so many unknowns, should we think about the future?

One of Europe’s foremost voices on global trends in economics, business and society, Hamish McRae takes us on an exhilarating journey through the next 30 years. Drawing on decades of research, and combining economic judgement with historical perspective, Hamish weighs up the opportunities and dangers we face, analysing the economic tectonic plates of the past and present in order to help us chart a map of the future.

A bold and vital vision of our planet, The World in 2050 is an essential guide for anyone worried about what the future holds. For if we understand how our world is changing, we will be in a better position to secure our future in the decades to come.]]> Hamish McRae Andrew 3
The picture McRae presents is an optimistic one. A world of 10 billion people. A much older world. A wealthy one (2/3rds will be middle class or rich). He predicts a revitalization of America, and the rapid rise of Africa. If we apply the framing of Roberts & Lamp's 'Six Faces of Globalization', McRae, a British economist, offers an establishment view, where hopefully countries sort out their political problems reasonably enough to embrace the mutual benefits of trade and growth. While I am not as sanguine that politics can be put aside, I still think there is much to this view, and its benefits remain extremely attractive.

There are of course, many things that could go wrong. McRae acknowledges early on that he assumes there will not be a cataclysmic war - for such an event would make all prediction's impossible, and since we have at least reasons such as nuclear deterrence and 20th century memories to dissuade such campaigns. He also acknowledges many challenges across the world. Each region gets two chapters, one on the here and now, one in 3 decades hence, and the picture for some countries remains dire. Usually attributable to poor quality of governance, over-reliance on limited economic resources, or restrictions that inhibit their people from excelling. Again, the establishment view writ-large.

'Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future' as the old saying goes. McRae offers a view of what we should expect if the world of the future largely resembles its past. In doing so, he offers a reminder that for all our current anxieties, the present world is a very good one. As Barack Obama noted in 2016 (invoking the spirit of John Rawls), if you were to be born at any time in history, not knowing your race, gender, location etc, then you would absolutely want to be born today. We worry about 'inequality' because we are in a world awash with goods and capacity. Malnutrition since 1990 has reduced from 25% to just 10% of the global population. Far too high, but we also added 2 billion people while making such dramatic reductions in that same period.

For strategists, what does a world that is older and richer want from conflict and war? How will it seek to engage, support or wall-off those parts of the world that are young and poor? If the 20th century saw the dominance of working-class ideological movements, what will the global middle class produce? What of their values will dominate or evolve?

So, to return full circle, the value of such books may not be what the author can guess about the future, but about what we may learn about the present. For all the challenges that must be addressed, the changes that need to occur, we are on a very good path in human history. Let's not mess that up.]]> 3.61
author: Hamish McRae
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.61
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/04
date added: 2022/07/04
shelves:
review:
The value of a book like this is not so much the specific predictions, as the effort to think about which trends will matter most in the foreseeable future. As McRae rightly argues, there are many things we can know about the future. Demography, environmental change, and even cultures are all relatively stable. At least over 30 year periods.

The picture McRae presents is an optimistic one. A world of 10 billion people. A much older world. A wealthy one (2/3rds will be middle class or rich). He predicts a revitalization of America, and the rapid rise of Africa. If we apply the framing of Roberts & Lamp's 'Six Faces of Globalization', McRae, a British economist, offers an establishment view, where hopefully countries sort out their political problems reasonably enough to embrace the mutual benefits of trade and growth. While I am not as sanguine that politics can be put aside, I still think there is much to this view, and its benefits remain extremely attractive.

There are of course, many things that could go wrong. McRae acknowledges early on that he assumes there will not be a cataclysmic war - for such an event would make all prediction's impossible, and since we have at least reasons such as nuclear deterrence and 20th century memories to dissuade such campaigns. He also acknowledges many challenges across the world. Each region gets two chapters, one on the here and now, one in 3 decades hence, and the picture for some countries remains dire. Usually attributable to poor quality of governance, over-reliance on limited economic resources, or restrictions that inhibit their people from excelling. Again, the establishment view writ-large.

'Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future' as the old saying goes. McRae offers a view of what we should expect if the world of the future largely resembles its past. In doing so, he offers a reminder that for all our current anxieties, the present world is a very good one. As Barack Obama noted in 2016 (invoking the spirit of John Rawls), if you were to be born at any time in history, not knowing your race, gender, location etc, then you would absolutely want to be born today. We worry about 'inequality' because we are in a world awash with goods and capacity. Malnutrition since 1990 has reduced from 25% to just 10% of the global population. Far too high, but we also added 2 billion people while making such dramatic reductions in that same period.

For strategists, what does a world that is older and richer want from conflict and war? How will it seek to engage, support or wall-off those parts of the world that are young and poor? If the 20th century saw the dominance of working-class ideological movements, what will the global middle class produce? What of their values will dominate or evolve?

So, to return full circle, the value of such books may not be what the author can guess about the future, but about what we may learn about the present. For all the challenges that must be addressed, the changes that need to occur, we are on a very good path in human history. Let's not mess that up.
]]> 60714287 383 Allan Behm 1743822278 Andrew 4
In the twentieth century the 'radical nationalist' school of left-wing historians and writers (Horne, Clarke, Ball etc) focused almost exclusively on the problems. Australia was ugly, dependent and afraid. When Behm writes about the nation's history, this is the story he also tells. Yet when he turns to the nation's future, he powerfully offers a new imagination by emphasising hope. Australia has much to offer, many deep wells of historical achievement to draw from, and to quote the final line of the book "The task for Australia - its citizens and its leaders - is to recognise our potential and to realise it".

Why start a review of a book on foreign policy with a discussion about the character of the people? Because, as Allan Behm rightly argues, this is an essential shortfall in how we discuss these issues. Who we are as a people defines how we approach the world. Yet Behm observes "when one combs the shelves for books on the cultural dynamics of Australian security, there is not much to be found". This is a profoundly important recognition. One that helps break through the high church pretense that security is all about classified intelligence reports and arcane technical details. That material matters, but only in a tactical sense of how we act. The more important question, the strategic one, is why we act and towards what ends we act. That is what is often missing from our national conversation.

No Enemies, No Friends is an eloquent and engagingly written call for a different kind of Australian conversation. It tackles head on much of the self-satisfied national security dynamic which is at once obsessed with growing threats, yet hostile to the notion anything about current policy settings could be at fault. Behm works through the problems in Australia's approach to the US, China, the Pacific and on the major issues of Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons and development.

A central thesis of the book is that to secure Australia we need to get beyond a focus on defence spending (the Defence budget is 16 times that of our diplomatic and aid spending), and embrace a broad view of human security. It is the well being of our people at home - material and spiritual - as well as that of the people in our region which will see Australia 'secure'. A word, Behm observes created by the Roman statesman Cicero, to mean 'without worry'.

Early on Behm quotes Alfred Deakin to illustrate the racial basis for Australian identity and security. What's remarkable is how Deakin goes beyond mere border control to urge 'the multiplying of their homes...the maintenance of conditions of life...equal laws and opportunities for all; it means protection against the unpaid labor...social justice so far as we can establish it'. To be sure, this was a profoundly racist vision by Deakin. The group secure was the white man and the white man only. Yet, they did not envisage this as simply keeping others out, but building up what was within. Therein lies both a different history that could be told, but also some of the danger of this supposedly 'new' approach. Treating all that is important as deserving the label security may lead to actions 'to secure' which we are profoundly uncomfortable with.

The power of No Enemies, No Friends is that it forces the reader to grapple with such questions head on. We are a country that has not always sought security in conventional ways, yet some of those unconventional ends have been ugly indeed (racism, dependency etc). Behm carries along a rapid narrative, always pushing and provoking, always enlivening the broader significance of the questions at hand.

Whether you agree with it all or not is decidedly secondary to the improvement in what you gain from better understanding of who we are as a country and why we need to get back to thinking and talking openly about these issues. Who we are and who contributes to this discussion is essential to what the outcome of those discussions are. I therefore hope that Behm's words will inspire a new generation to offer their own views and interpretations. As radical in their ambition and as supportive of the national interest as those of the 20th century. Even if, as it must, their primary concerns and answers to the big questions will hopefully change with the times.
]]> 4.14
author: Allan Behm
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/19
date added: 2022/06/19
shelves:
review:
'No Enemies, No Friends' is a fascinating read as it sits on a fault line of Australian progressive thought. Is it better to achieve change by condemning (and so showing need to reform) or by praising (and so building courage to build)?

In the twentieth century the 'radical nationalist' school of left-wing historians and writers (Horne, Clarke, Ball etc) focused almost exclusively on the problems. Australia was ugly, dependent and afraid. When Behm writes about the nation's history, this is the story he also tells. Yet when he turns to the nation's future, he powerfully offers a new imagination by emphasising hope. Australia has much to offer, many deep wells of historical achievement to draw from, and to quote the final line of the book "The task for Australia - its citizens and its leaders - is to recognise our potential and to realise it".

Why start a review of a book on foreign policy with a discussion about the character of the people? Because, as Allan Behm rightly argues, this is an essential shortfall in how we discuss these issues. Who we are as a people defines how we approach the world. Yet Behm observes "when one combs the shelves for books on the cultural dynamics of Australian security, there is not much to be found". This is a profoundly important recognition. One that helps break through the high church pretense that security is all about classified intelligence reports and arcane technical details. That material matters, but only in a tactical sense of how we act. The more important question, the strategic one, is why we act and towards what ends we act. That is what is often missing from our national conversation.

No Enemies, No Friends is an eloquent and engagingly written call for a different kind of Australian conversation. It tackles head on much of the self-satisfied national security dynamic which is at once obsessed with growing threats, yet hostile to the notion anything about current policy settings could be at fault. Behm works through the problems in Australia's approach to the US, China, the Pacific and on the major issues of Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons and development.

A central thesis of the book is that to secure Australia we need to get beyond a focus on defence spending (the Defence budget is 16 times that of our diplomatic and aid spending), and embrace a broad view of human security. It is the well being of our people at home - material and spiritual - as well as that of the people in our region which will see Australia 'secure'. A word, Behm observes created by the Roman statesman Cicero, to mean 'without worry'.

Early on Behm quotes Alfred Deakin to illustrate the racial basis for Australian identity and security. What's remarkable is how Deakin goes beyond mere border control to urge 'the multiplying of their homes...the maintenance of conditions of life...equal laws and opportunities for all; it means protection against the unpaid labor...social justice so far as we can establish it'. To be sure, this was a profoundly racist vision by Deakin. The group secure was the white man and the white man only. Yet, they did not envisage this as simply keeping others out, but building up what was within. Therein lies both a different history that could be told, but also some of the danger of this supposedly 'new' approach. Treating all that is important as deserving the label security may lead to actions 'to secure' which we are profoundly uncomfortable with.

The power of No Enemies, No Friends is that it forces the reader to grapple with such questions head on. We are a country that has not always sought security in conventional ways, yet some of those unconventional ends have been ugly indeed (racism, dependency etc). Behm carries along a rapid narrative, always pushing and provoking, always enlivening the broader significance of the questions at hand.

Whether you agree with it all or not is decidedly secondary to the improvement in what you gain from better understanding of who we are as a country and why we need to get back to thinking and talking openly about these issues. Who we are and who contributes to this discussion is essential to what the outcome of those discussions are. I therefore hope that Behm's words will inspire a new generation to offer their own views and interpretations. As radical in their ambition and as supportive of the national interest as those of the 20th century. Even if, as it must, their primary concerns and answers to the big questions will hopefully change with the times.

]]> 51700803
Growing up in Virginia, the son of Korean immigrant parents, Chang struggled with feelings of abandonment, isolation and loneliness throughout his childhood. After failing to find a job after graduating, he convinced his father to loan him money to open a restaurant. Momofuku's unpretentious air and great-tasting simple staples - ramen bowls and pork buns - earned it rave reviews, culinary awards and before long, Chang had a cult following.

Momofuku's popularity continued to grow with Chang opening new locations across the U.S. and beyond. In 2009, his Ko restaurant received two Michelin stars and Chang went on to open Milk Bar, Momofuku's bakery. By 2012, he had become a restaurant mogul with the opening of the Momofuku building in Toronto, encompassing three restaurants and a bar.

Chang's love of food and cooking remained a constant in his life, despite the adversities he had to overcome. Over the course of his career, the chef struggled with suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety. He shied away from praise and begged not to be given awards. In Eat a Peach, Chang opens up about his feelings of paranoia, self-confidence and pulls back the curtain on his struggles, failures and learned lessons. Deeply personal, honest and humble, Chang's story is one of passion and tenacity, against the odds.]]> 291 David Chang 152475921X Andrew 3
Eat a Peach is an intriguing mix of both.

There is a surprising amount of pain in this book. Chang is open and raw in his battles with depression, his difficult family and work relationships, and constant worries. He's also proud, funny, and enthusiastic about what he has achieved and what his restaurants are able to do. Or rather, not only what they do, but what they say as well. Chang's love of food is cultural. He not only wants you to walk away going 'that's amazing' but realizing that what you ate is not all one way or all another, but thrives on the paradoxes of its parts.

Chang argues that the perfectly seasoned dish is not uniformly seasoned. It must have parts that are too salty and parts under-seasoned. So that together, it works. So too his restaurants are fine dining in the Michelin star sense of the term. But they were also small noodle bars, with no backs to the seats and no coffee or desserts at first. Just get in, eat and ideally the stock broker has to rub shoulders with the students next to them, since both can afford it. Likewise, his work is clearly drawn from Korean food, but he became famous for a Japanese dish (Ramen) which he serves in a form he considers classic Americana. (Just don't call it fusion).

Culture and the broader society suffuses the stories which Chang tells. This makes Eat A Peach, very much a book of this moment. The story of Asian Americans has too rarely been told and understood, and the Korean immigrant part especially. Chang brings it to life, not only in his insights, but in his rage and grievances, against both the wider society but also the oddities of his own family. He can offer the cut through line. Such as explaining that his parents valued professions of science, maths, and quantified skills above all else 'since anything subjective could be taken away from you'. That's a line which leaves a mark.

In all industries there is a tension that the better you are at the technical side (actually cooking food), the sooner you are promoted out and away from it (management, running businesses). Chang made that shift relatively early on, starting his own restaurant without many of the usual steps, and its success quickly lead to a range of expansions and cross-media endeavors. As such, Eat A Peach is as much a memoir of a leader as a cook. It's clear, the practice of management has clearly not come easy for Chang. Yet he approaches the task with serious principles and obviously excels in being about to build and manage a team. This was, like the chef sections, raw and compelling.

Ultimately, I think you'd want to know and like David Chang to want to pick this up. But if you do, if you've always wondered what the world of celebrity chefs is really like, you'll find no more honest and insightful a guide. ]]> 3.87 2020
author: David Chang
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/16
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
review:
Chef Memoirs are a particular favorite genre of mine. While I've never worked in a professional kitchen, I love cooking and the thought of doing it for a living has been an occasional daydream. Through these books I get to live vicariously, though they often come in two distinct forms. One is the 'How lucky am I' form, where a sense of gratefulness and joy overwhelms the pages. Julia Child & Jacques Pépin define this approach. The other is the 'Everything sucks, but I would never quit' form, of which Anthony Bourdain mastered.

Eat a Peach is an intriguing mix of both.

There is a surprising amount of pain in this book. Chang is open and raw in his battles with depression, his difficult family and work relationships, and constant worries. He's also proud, funny, and enthusiastic about what he has achieved and what his restaurants are able to do. Or rather, not only what they do, but what they say as well. Chang's love of food is cultural. He not only wants you to walk away going 'that's amazing' but realizing that what you ate is not all one way or all another, but thrives on the paradoxes of its parts.

Chang argues that the perfectly seasoned dish is not uniformly seasoned. It must have parts that are too salty and parts under-seasoned. So that together, it works. So too his restaurants are fine dining in the Michelin star sense of the term. But they were also small noodle bars, with no backs to the seats and no coffee or desserts at first. Just get in, eat and ideally the stock broker has to rub shoulders with the students next to them, since both can afford it. Likewise, his work is clearly drawn from Korean food, but he became famous for a Japanese dish (Ramen) which he serves in a form he considers classic Americana. (Just don't call it fusion).

Culture and the broader society suffuses the stories which Chang tells. This makes Eat A Peach, very much a book of this moment. The story of Asian Americans has too rarely been told and understood, and the Korean immigrant part especially. Chang brings it to life, not only in his insights, but in his rage and grievances, against both the wider society but also the oddities of his own family. He can offer the cut through line. Such as explaining that his parents valued professions of science, maths, and quantified skills above all else 'since anything subjective could be taken away from you'. That's a line which leaves a mark.

In all industries there is a tension that the better you are at the technical side (actually cooking food), the sooner you are promoted out and away from it (management, running businesses). Chang made that shift relatively early on, starting his own restaurant without many of the usual steps, and its success quickly lead to a range of expansions and cross-media endeavors. As such, Eat A Peach is as much a memoir of a leader as a cook. It's clear, the practice of management has clearly not come easy for Chang. Yet he approaches the task with serious principles and obviously excels in being about to build and manage a team. This was, like the chef sections, raw and compelling.

Ultimately, I think you'd want to know and like David Chang to want to pick this up. But if you do, if you've always wondered what the world of celebrity chefs is really like, you'll find no more honest and insightful a guide.
]]> 56603361 The strategic shift from land wars to full spectrum crisis management requires liberal democracies to have forces lethal enough, survivable enough, and agile enough to support full spectrum crisis management. The book provides an overview of the evolution of Australian defence modernization over the past seven years, and the strategic shift underway.]]> 330 Robbin Laird 1098342860 Andrew 4
It is this troubling division which makes 'Joint by Design' an important book. It gives the military the space to speak, and for readers to hear what they are actually saying. What they have to say is important. Joint By Design argues there has been a fundamental shift in the way the Australian Defence Force is seeking to operate, especially led by the RAAF. This new form is intellectually rich and surprisingly radical compared to where public debates about what a military is and how it operates still remain.

The catalyst for this change is the adoption of the F-35. Well before the planes have even arrived the RAAF begun working through how this capability offers a very different way of thinking about war: One which divorces the idea of the sensor and the shooter, gets away from a focus on specific platforms, and links - by design - the various services and capacities to more effectively fight. Popularly known as the 'kill web', this is a very different way of operating.

Joint by Design is not a normal book with a dominant author's voice imposing a central narrative. Instead, Laird builds his story from several years of the Williams Foundations' seminars, allowing the various speakers to explore, contrast, and develop their arguments and ideas over time. The overall effect is however to reveal through the military's own language, how they are thinking and the way these ideas have developed and changed as the world around Australia has changed.

As Laird stresses, while this book is primarily about the ADF's debates and decisions, its status as a first-mover in some areas means there are many insights for how other armed forces are developing. At virtually every seminar, there were speakers from other countries offering their distinct perspective, both learning and offering lessons to the ADF. As such, this is very much a book about how western armed forces are evolving, even if the context is the ADF and RAAF's own evolution.

This is the kind of book I wish we had far more of. It's the kind of book that a country with a substantive defence media would produce regularly. Unfortunately, Australia has very few dedicated defence journalists. And while they are all dedicated, in the best sense of the word, few tend to produce regular books. Or if they do it's often in the general International Affairs category (Sheridan), or right in the weeds of military operations (McMasters). The Defence bit, of structures, organisations, concepts and strategy often seems under-served. Hence the value of Laird, an American strategist brought out by the Williams Foundation to support their conferences, penning this account.

There are not many books on Australia's defence. This is genuinely one of the most important in a long time, and I hope it gets read by my scholarly colleagues. And indeed the wider public. Only by better listening to the military can we hope to rebuild the link between the armed forces and the society they serve. And understand the nature of war in our own times.]]> 4.00
author: Robbin Laird
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/16
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
review:
A central challenges to understanding modern warfare is the many barriers and distances between the Military and the Public. Though the military put out glossy documents and their leaders give regular speeches, it still remains a challenge to learn what they are actually thinking, or why they think as they do. On the other side the public (especially scholars) too rarely pay serious attention to what the military is saying and doing, preferring their own dialogues and debates, and presuming their intellectual superiority.

It is this troubling division which makes 'Joint by Design' an important book. It gives the military the space to speak, and for readers to hear what they are actually saying. What they have to say is important. Joint By Design argues there has been a fundamental shift in the way the Australian Defence Force is seeking to operate, especially led by the RAAF. This new form is intellectually rich and surprisingly radical compared to where public debates about what a military is and how it operates still remain.

The catalyst for this change is the adoption of the F-35. Well before the planes have even arrived the RAAF begun working through how this capability offers a very different way of thinking about war: One which divorces the idea of the sensor and the shooter, gets away from a focus on specific platforms, and links - by design - the various services and capacities to more effectively fight. Popularly known as the 'kill web', this is a very different way of operating.

Joint by Design is not a normal book with a dominant author's voice imposing a central narrative. Instead, Laird builds his story from several years of the Williams Foundations' seminars, allowing the various speakers to explore, contrast, and develop their arguments and ideas over time. The overall effect is however to reveal through the military's own language, how they are thinking and the way these ideas have developed and changed as the world around Australia has changed.

As Laird stresses, while this book is primarily about the ADF's debates and decisions, its status as a first-mover in some areas means there are many insights for how other armed forces are developing. At virtually every seminar, there were speakers from other countries offering their distinct perspective, both learning and offering lessons to the ADF. As such, this is very much a book about how western armed forces are evolving, even if the context is the ADF and RAAF's own evolution.

This is the kind of book I wish we had far more of. It's the kind of book that a country with a substantive defence media would produce regularly. Unfortunately, Australia has very few dedicated defence journalists. And while they are all dedicated, in the best sense of the word, few tend to produce regular books. Or if they do it's often in the general International Affairs category (Sheridan), or right in the weeds of military operations (McMasters). The Defence bit, of structures, organisations, concepts and strategy often seems under-served. Hence the value of Laird, an American strategist brought out by the Williams Foundation to support their conferences, penning this account.

There are not many books on Australia's defence. This is genuinely one of the most important in a long time, and I hope it gets read by my scholarly colleagues. And indeed the wider public. Only by better listening to the military can we hope to rebuild the link between the armed forces and the society they serve. And understand the nature of war in our own times.
]]> 21068359
In this Very Short Introduction , one of the leading figures in the field, John Holland, introduces the key elements and conceptual framework of complexity. From complex physical systems such as fluid flow and the difficulties of predicting weather, to complex adaptive systems such as the highly diverse and interdependent ecosystems of rainforests, he combines simple, well-known examples -- Adam Smith's pin factory, Darwin's comet orchid, and Simon's 'watchmaker' -- with an account of the approaches, involving agents and urn models, taken by complexity theory.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.]]> 112 John H. Holland 0199662541 Andrew 3
There's two essences to this book. First, introducing the ideas of complexity as a field, what it is, how complex systems work and what these ideas offer. Second, establishing that even if we don't have a overarching theory of complexity, one is plausible. That second question leads to lots of interesting, if slightly challenging attempts at modeling and designing such systems.

Mitchell Waldrop's book 'Complexity' is probably the best starting point. I certainly benefited from knowing a bit about the subject before reading this. The second theme in particular is more of an introduction for those wanting to contribute to the field, than the general public wanting to know what the field is about. That's no bad thing, as Holland is a very good guide, both in his knowledge but also clear and welcoming passion for the ideas involved. I'm now looking forward to diving into his longer works when i get the opportunity.]]> 3.42 2014
author: John H. Holland
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/05
date added: 2022/06/13
shelves:
review:
An enjoyable and insightful quick tour of some of the big ideas of Complexity. Holland is one of the foremost early thinkers on Complexity Science, and having bought several of his works on the topic, I figured this book, his last and shortest, would be the best entry point to his thought.

There's two essences to this book. First, introducing the ideas of complexity as a field, what it is, how complex systems work and what these ideas offer. Second, establishing that even if we don't have a overarching theory of complexity, one is plausible. That second question leads to lots of interesting, if slightly challenging attempts at modeling and designing such systems.

Mitchell Waldrop's book 'Complexity' is probably the best starting point. I certainly benefited from knowing a bit about the subject before reading this. The second theme in particular is more of an introduction for those wanting to contribute to the field, than the general public wanting to know what the field is about. That's no bad thing, as Holland is a very good guide, both in his knowledge but also clear and welcoming passion for the ideas involved. I'm now looking forward to diving into his longer works when i get the opportunity.
]]> 22891824 528 Alan Atkinson 0868409979 Andrew 4
In Volume 3 of his history of 'The Europeans in Australia', Atkinson traces how they grappled with the tension of state and national identities, formed a federation and went to war. That's a well known story, but it's rarely told as well as it is here.

Atkinson's goal is far from the simple repetition of famous dates and quotes. Rather, he seeks to merge the cultural and local history with the national, bringing the era to life through the figures and their views of the world. As such, even for those who think they know Australian history, there is a lot here to appreciate.

(If you're wondering about the odd title, don't worry, this book doesn't ignore the First Nation's people. There's a dual meaning here. First, I think Atkinson is admirably honest in identifying his the main focus, as opposed to many earlier generations of historians who treated 'Australia' as synonymous with the settlers). Second, his story is one of how Europeans became Australians. The translation from one to the other is at the core of the themes explored here. Each of the three volumes (Beginning, Democracy, Nation) has similar sections, charting the evolution of intellectual, cultural and emotional life, as well as the broad historical and political sweep.)]]> 3.50 2014
author: Alan Atkinson
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/06
date added: 2022/06/06
shelves:
review:
Broad, rich, thoughtful, this is a masterly work of national history.

In Volume 3 of his history of 'The Europeans in Australia', Atkinson traces how they grappled with the tension of state and national identities, formed a federation and went to war. That's a well known story, but it's rarely told as well as it is here.

Atkinson's goal is far from the simple repetition of famous dates and quotes. Rather, he seeks to merge the cultural and local history with the national, bringing the era to life through the figures and their views of the world. As such, even for those who think they know Australian history, there is a lot here to appreciate.

(If you're wondering about the odd title, don't worry, this book doesn't ignore the First Nation's people. There's a dual meaning here. First, I think Atkinson is admirably honest in identifying his the main focus, as opposed to many earlier generations of historians who treated 'Australia' as synonymous with the settlers). Second, his story is one of how Europeans became Australians. The translation from one to the other is at the core of the themes explored here. Each of the three volumes (Beginning, Democracy, Nation) has similar sections, charting the evolution of intellectual, cultural and emotional life, as well as the broad historical and political sweep.)
]]> 57423855
Today, liberalism faces threats from across the political spectrum. While right-wing populists and leftist purists righteously violate liberal norms, theorists of liberalism seem to have little to say. In Liberalism in Dark Times, Joshua Cherniss issues a rousing defense of the liberal tradition, drawing on a neglected strand of liberal thought.

Assaults on liberalism―a political order characterized by limits on political power and respect for individual rights―are nothing new. Early in the twentieth century, democracy was under attack around the world, with one country after another succumbing to dictatorship. While many intellectuals dismissed liberalism as outdated, unrealistic, or unworthy, a handful of writers defended and reinvigorated the liberal ideal, including Max Weber, Raymond Aron, Albert Camus, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Isaiah Berlin―each of whom is given a compelling new assessment here.

Building on the work of these thinkers, Cherniss urges us to imagine liberalism not as a set of policies but as a temperament or disposition―one marked by openness to complexity, willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, tolerance for difference, and resistance to ruthlessness. In the face of rising political fanaticism, he persuasively argues for the continuing importance of this liberal ethos.]]> 328 Joshua L. Cherniss 0691217033 Andrew 4
In 'Liberalism in Dark Times' Joshua Cherniss provides a remarkable book. It's not only a fine, easy to read intellectual history that recovers a strain of thought 'Ethos' explored across four very different thinkers in Albert Camus, Raymond Aron, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Isiah Berlin. It's also a book that speaks directly to our own times, highlighting the yawning absence of higher standards of personal behaviour that threatens to undermine our democratic project.

Most of our political debate - and political theory - is consumed with the 'what' of politics. Doctrines, policies, ideas. Very little of it focuses on 'How'. How should we act towards one another. How does our behaviour reflect, reinforce or undermine our goals? How do we remain loyal to our values in the face of ruthless opponents? Cherniss argues that these four 'tempered liberals' offered a way ahead by emphasising 'ethos', roughly a 'conception of the activity of politics itself, and the standards of conduct appropriate to it' (33).

This is a challenge for all political actors and political theorists. Yet it is particularly a challenge for liberals. To be a liberal requires a certain kind of character. It requires an endurance and indeed comfort with “contradiction, complexity, diversity and the risks of freedom�� argues Judith Shklar. This is often seen as a weak or squishy 'centrism', yet true ease lies in the retreat to abstract principles and pre-ordained doctrine at the expense of trying to both enter the arena yet keep our heads.

For those who have read Iain McGilchrist's work on left/right hemisphere differences, this book has a seemingly special resonance. I'm not sure if Cherniss is familiar with his argument (it's not directly referenced), but this sentence early on leapt out to me: 'We have tended to be trained to focus on concepts, principles and processes more than the web of sensibilities, dispositions, aspirations and evaluative assumptions that shape thinking and link it to acting...to attend to ethos is to sacrifice a degree of simplicity and a certain sort of precision, for the sake of greater richness and (hopefully) truthfulness' (p.34-35). That just about perfectly maps McGilchrist's concern we have strayed too far into Left Hemisphere thinking at the expense of the Right Hemisphere's way of engaging the world.

This is also a very rich book for those interested in Strategy. That may seem odd given it's focus on liberal, often domestic political theory. Yet this is a book fundamentally about the relationship between ends, ways and means. The tempered liberals were all part of the Cold War, and at times accepted the need for a strain of realism and hard-headed effectiveness to succeed. Yet, they condemned the retreat into 'ruthelessness', of ends justifying any ways. As Cherniss concludes ‘They based their commitments to, and defense of, liberalism in an analysis of human passions and motives and a diagnosis of the relation”ship between ends and means…informed by the experience of seeing noble ends inspire and be subverted by ruthless means. In this, they arguably returned to some of liberalism’s deepest roots �� but departed from many more recent forms of liberalism�� (202). No one can look at the Wests' deep failure during the war on terror - trying to impose democracy at gun point, declaring our love of freedom while policing the globe and torturing suspects - and fail to see the essential importance of character. It will matter just as much in the contest with China.

I could go on. There's so many threads to pull out of this text. Non-liberals will gain just as much reading this book and thinking about the nature of political action and engagement, as will those looking to try and resurrect and revive a liberal strain that can lend a shoulder to today's Sisyphean political tasks.

Strongly recommended.]]> 3.63 2021
author: Joshua L. Cherniss
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/29
date added: 2022/05/28
shelves:
review:
The value of 'character' is widely demeaned these days. The Right have indulged barbarity in the pursuit of cultural and political victory. While the Left dismiss any notion of striving for better individual practice, and treat as irrelevant the personal decency of leaders in the face of vast systemic challenges. To care about 'how' you act seems almost a quaint indulgence.

In 'Liberalism in Dark Times' Joshua Cherniss provides a remarkable book. It's not only a fine, easy to read intellectual history that recovers a strain of thought 'Ethos' explored across four very different thinkers in Albert Camus, Raymond Aron, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Isiah Berlin. It's also a book that speaks directly to our own times, highlighting the yawning absence of higher standards of personal behaviour that threatens to undermine our democratic project.

Most of our political debate - and political theory - is consumed with the 'what' of politics. Doctrines, policies, ideas. Very little of it focuses on 'How'. How should we act towards one another. How does our behaviour reflect, reinforce or undermine our goals? How do we remain loyal to our values in the face of ruthless opponents? Cherniss argues that these four 'tempered liberals' offered a way ahead by emphasising 'ethos', roughly a 'conception of the activity of politics itself, and the standards of conduct appropriate to it' (33).

This is a challenge for all political actors and political theorists. Yet it is particularly a challenge for liberals. To be a liberal requires a certain kind of character. It requires an endurance and indeed comfort with “contradiction, complexity, diversity and the risks of freedom�� argues Judith Shklar. This is often seen as a weak or squishy 'centrism', yet true ease lies in the retreat to abstract principles and pre-ordained doctrine at the expense of trying to both enter the arena yet keep our heads.

For those who have read Iain McGilchrist's work on left/right hemisphere differences, this book has a seemingly special resonance. I'm not sure if Cherniss is familiar with his argument (it's not directly referenced), but this sentence early on leapt out to me: 'We have tended to be trained to focus on concepts, principles and processes more than the web of sensibilities, dispositions, aspirations and evaluative assumptions that shape thinking and link it to acting...to attend to ethos is to sacrifice a degree of simplicity and a certain sort of precision, for the sake of greater richness and (hopefully) truthfulness' (p.34-35). That just about perfectly maps McGilchrist's concern we have strayed too far into Left Hemisphere thinking at the expense of the Right Hemisphere's way of engaging the world.

This is also a very rich book for those interested in Strategy. That may seem odd given it's focus on liberal, often domestic political theory. Yet this is a book fundamentally about the relationship between ends, ways and means. The tempered liberals were all part of the Cold War, and at times accepted the need for a strain of realism and hard-headed effectiveness to succeed. Yet, they condemned the retreat into 'ruthelessness', of ends justifying any ways. As Cherniss concludes ‘They based their commitments to, and defense of, liberalism in an analysis of human passions and motives and a diagnosis of the relation”ship between ends and means…informed by the experience of seeing noble ends inspire and be subverted by ruthless means. In this, they arguably returned to some of liberalism’s deepest roots �� but departed from many more recent forms of liberalism�� (202). No one can look at the Wests' deep failure during the war on terror - trying to impose democracy at gun point, declaring our love of freedom while policing the globe and torturing suspects - and fail to see the essential importance of character. It will matter just as much in the contest with China.

I could go on. There's so many threads to pull out of this text. Non-liberals will gain just as much reading this book and thinking about the nature of political action and engagement, as will those looking to try and resurrect and revive a liberal strain that can lend a shoulder to today's Sisyphean political tasks.

Strongly recommended.
]]> 37822468 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Town, an equally merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force, pro football, at a moment of peak success and high anxiety.

Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life than he'd care to admit tuned into pro football. Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up with a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most ruthlessly efficient sports dynasty of the 21st century, its organization the most polarizing in the NFL, and its fans the most irritating in all of Pigskin America. Leibovich kept his obsession relatively private, in the meantime making a nice career for himself covering that other playground for rich and overgrown children, American politics. Still, every now and then Leibovich would reach out to Tom Brady to gauge his willingness to subject himself to a profile in the New York Times Magazine. He figured that the chances of Brady agreeing to this were a Hail Mary at best, but Leibovich kept trying, at least to indulge his fan-boy within. To his surprise, Brady returned the call, in the summer of 2014. He agreed to let Mark spend time with him through the coming season, which proved to be a fateful one for all parties. It included another epic Patriots Super Bowl win and, yes, a scandal involving Brady--Deflategate--whose grip on sports media was as profound as its true significance was ridiculous.

So began a four-year odyssey that has taken Mark Leibovich deeper inside the NFL than anyone has gone before. Ultimately, this is a chronicle of what may come to be seen as "peak football"--the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the moment when it all began to turn. From the owners meeting to the NFL draft to the sidelines of crucial games, he takes in the show, at the elbow of everyone from Brady to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, who is cordially hated by even casual football fans to an extent that is almost weird. It is an era of explosive revenue growth, as deluxe new stadiums spring up all over the country, but also one of creeping existential fear. Football was never thought to be easy on the body--players joke darkly that the NFL stands for "not for long" for good reason. But as the impact of concussions on brains became has become the inescapable ear-ring in the background, it became increasingly difficult to enjoy the simple glory of football without the buzz-kill of its obvious toll.

And that was before Donald Trump. In 2016, Mark Leibovich's day job caught up with him, and the NFL slammed headlong into America's culture wars. Big Game is a journey through an epic storm. Through it all, Leibovich always keeps one eye cocked on Tom Brady and his beloved Patriots, through to the end of the 2017-1018 season. Pro football, this hilarious and enthralling book proves, may not be the sport America needs, but it is most definitely the sport we deserve.]]> 400 Mark Leibovich 0399185429 Andrew 3 3.62 2018
author: Mark Leibovich
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/22
date added: 2022/05/24
shelves:
review:
The NFL organisation and its ownership are a wild absurd zoo. Leibovich has just the right degree of sarcasm, well-placed shots and yet genuine love for the game and experience it produces to make this a thoroughly enjoyable safari.
]]> 21977717 The life and works of Seneca pose a number of fascinating challenges. How can we reconcile his bloody, passionate tragedies with his prose works advocating a life of Stoic tranquility? Furthermore, how are we to reconcile Seneca the Stoic philosopher, the man of principle, who advocated a life of calm and simplicity, with Seneca the man of the moment, who amassed a vast personal fortune in the service of an emperor seen by many, at the time and afterwards, as an insane tyrant? In this vivid biography, Emily Wilson presents Seneca as a man under enormous pressure, struggling for compromise in a world of absolutism. The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca thusoffers us, in fascinating ways, the portrait of a man with all the fissures and cracks formed by the clash of the ideal and the real: the gulf between political hopes and fears, and philosophical ideals; the gap between what we want to be, and what we are.]]> 272 Emily Wilson 0199926646 Andrew 3
I'd been meaning to read this book for a few years as part of my general interest in the Stoics, though having recently read Wilson's brilliant translation of Homer's The Odyssey, this became a must read. Wilson is a fantastic guide to Seneca. Her writing is both steeped enough in the history and archaeology to tell us about the real man. Yet she is sage and compassionate in exploring who Seneca was trying to be and become through his writing.

Many famous people have a vast gap between reality and reputation, but Seneca is fascinating because he was aware of it - even if often approaching the subject obliquely. This is part of why his works have come down to us and remain so treasured by millions. In a classical world often remembered for its god-like figures, Seneca is genuinely human. And he will have few more thoughtful interpreters than Wilson. ]]> 3.85 2014
author: Emily Wilson
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/10
date added: 2022/05/10
shelves:
review:
Seneca is one of those beguiling figures of history, whose words went one way, and deeds often another. That's one thing for a famous politician, quite another for a famous philosopher! "A Life of Seneca" is a wise and humane account of this Roman stoic. Both of his writing, and of his notable career as tutor to the emperor Nero.

I'd been meaning to read this book for a few years as part of my general interest in the Stoics, though having recently read Wilson's brilliant translation of Homer's The Odyssey, this became a must read. Wilson is a fantastic guide to Seneca. Her writing is both steeped enough in the history and archaeology to tell us about the real man. Yet she is sage and compassionate in exploring who Seneca was trying to be and become through his writing.

Many famous people have a vast gap between reality and reputation, but Seneca is fascinating because he was aware of it - even if often approaching the subject obliquely. This is part of why his works have come down to us and remain so treasured by millions. In a classical world often remembered for its god-like figures, Seneca is genuinely human. And he will have few more thoughtful interpreters than Wilson.
]]> 337123 Drawing from diverse fields, scientific luminaries such as Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow are studying complexity at a think tank called The Santa Fe Institute. The revolutionary new discoveries researchers have made there could change the face of every science from biology to cosmology to economics. M. Mitchell Waldrop's groundbreaking bestseller takes readers into the hearts and minds of these scientists to tell the story behind this scientific revolution as it unfolds.]]> 384 M. Mitchell Waldrop 0671872346 Andrew 4 Science for the last few hundred years has been - and remains to this day - dominated by a Newtonian metaphor of the universe and parts within akin to a giant machine. They operate on timeless principles, there is order, consistency and logic, and if you break the machine down into its smallest parts, you can learn its essence and then put it back together richly informed as to its full nature.

Complexity science has a very different guiding metaphor. The seed which sprouts, forming a tree and later an ecosystem. Constantly developing and evolving. Where the former model emphasises things, this approach focuses on relationships. Where the former wants fixed causal outcomes, complexity is about dispositions over time. Where the former is uniform, complexity is adaptive, and where the parts make the whole under the machine model, complexity celebrates 'emergent' phenomena which are not found in any one part but emerge through their interactions.

This may seem like a lot to chew on, and I'm not doing justice here to the many many different strands of thought. But this book isn't simply about trying to lay out these theories. It does that, but what it does even more so is highlight the background of a dozen or so figures in the US who helped lead the charge for this new approach in the 1970s and 1980s. The intellectual energy and enthusiasm leaps of the page as they seek to find a new way of thinking about the core tasks of science, and understanding our world.

As such, this book is part introduction to a way of thinking (ably handled by the writer who has a PhD in Physics) along with part group biography. I've not read a lot of biographies of academics, but there's a joy in following along as people struggle and try both to discover a new idea, as well as to persuade a skeptical academy of its value. That this group ultimately succeeded makes it even sweeter.

I remember reading a far few articles and the like on complexity at the start of my PhD (i think everyone does for a little while), but while I was emotionally attracted to it, given the very different world view that just feels *right* compared to the sterile machine logic of the mainstream, I ultimately did not pursue it as an interest or see a way to apply it to my own research. Many years later I am giving it another go and it remains just as compelling. This time however, I can start to see some of the links to my own areas of interest, and perhaps better appreciate the many different strands within the approach.

This isn't the book if you're looking simply to apply Complexity to your own areas of concern. But it might be the best book to read, before you read the book on applying it. ]]> 4.05 1992
author: M. Mitchell Waldrop
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/07
date added: 2022/05/08
shelves:
review:
A joyous account of the intellectual search for a new way of viewing the world.
Science for the last few hundred years has been - and remains to this day - dominated by a Newtonian metaphor of the universe and parts within akin to a giant machine. They operate on timeless principles, there is order, consistency and logic, and if you break the machine down into its smallest parts, you can learn its essence and then put it back together richly informed as to its full nature.

Complexity science has a very different guiding metaphor. The seed which sprouts, forming a tree and later an ecosystem. Constantly developing and evolving. Where the former model emphasises things, this approach focuses on relationships. Where the former wants fixed causal outcomes, complexity is about dispositions over time. Where the former is uniform, complexity is adaptive, and where the parts make the whole under the machine model, complexity celebrates 'emergent' phenomena which are not found in any one part but emerge through their interactions.

This may seem like a lot to chew on, and I'm not doing justice here to the many many different strands of thought. But this book isn't simply about trying to lay out these theories. It does that, but what it does even more so is highlight the background of a dozen or so figures in the US who helped lead the charge for this new approach in the 1970s and 1980s. The intellectual energy and enthusiasm leaps of the page as they seek to find a new way of thinking about the core tasks of science, and understanding our world.

As such, this book is part introduction to a way of thinking (ably handled by the writer who has a PhD in Physics) along with part group biography. I've not read a lot of biographies of academics, but there's a joy in following along as people struggle and try both to discover a new idea, as well as to persuade a skeptical academy of its value. That this group ultimately succeeded makes it even sweeter.

I remember reading a far few articles and the like on complexity at the start of my PhD (i think everyone does for a little while), but while I was emotionally attracted to it, given the very different world view that just feels *right* compared to the sterile machine logic of the mainstream, I ultimately did not pursue it as an interest or see a way to apply it to my own research. Many years later I am giving it another go and it remains just as compelling. This time however, I can start to see some of the links to my own areas of interest, and perhaps better appreciate the many different strands within the approach.

This isn't the book if you're looking simply to apply Complexity to your own areas of concern. But it might be the best book to read, before you read the book on applying it.
]]> 55716065
The Way Out offers an escape from this morass. The social psychologist Peter T. Coleman explores how conflict resolution and complexity science provide guidance for dealing with seemingly intractable political differences. Deploying the concept of attractors in dynamical systems, he explains why we are stuck in this rut as well as the unexpected ways that deeply rooted oppositions can and do change. Coleman meticulously details principles and practices for navigating and healing the difficult divides in our homes, workplaces, and communities, blending compelling personal accounts from his years of working on entrenched conflicts with lessons from leading-edge research. The Way Out is a vital and timely guide to breaking free from the cycle of mutual contempt in order to better our lives, relationships, and country.]]> 296 Peter T. Coleman 0231197403 Andrew 3
Yet it's also a clear sign that Coleman is attempting to do something different in this book. This is not simply about 'applying the science'. At least not in the traditional sense. Instead, Coleman takes his inspiration for trying to solve America's deep political polarization from the insights of Complexity Science.

This book works really well for two reasons. First, Coleman has a mastery of the underlying theory, and an adept and easy way of explaining the various elements. Complexity science can be, well complex, yet he manages to get across his key points clearly and effectively. Second, as he himself explicitly mentions, while many have been encouraged by the idea of applying complexity science to various world problems, translating theory into action is really hard. How do you actually implement these ideas drawn from physics and computer simulations, emphasizing the edge of chaos, evolution and vast impersonal forces?

To overcome that challenge, the book is structured around 6 major practical contributions - think different, reset, Bolster and Break, Complicate, Move, and Adapt - each with a discussion of the broad ideas as well as the practical way it can be implemented. The emphasis is resolutely practical, trying to find ways it can be adopted and implemented, highlighting examples of those many groups already pursuing parts and pieces of a broader solution.

While I didn't think much of Coleman's empirical analysis of American polarisation (the first two chapters can skimmed quickly by most informed readers), I was struck by how many different NGOs and social movements he mentioned who are already working hard to address polarization in interesting ways. From groups encouraging cross-cultural meals, to efforts to physically transport people into different communities and various kinds of dialogue and engagement. All akin to an immune system showing signs of life in fighting off the disease of bitter polarization.

Ultimately I remain in two minds about Coleman's broader approach. I tend to believe that the answer to political disputes is political resolution. Efforts to moderate, conciliate, postpone can work, but only for so long. What really matters is the direct changing of minds, either through persuasion or the clear political denial of a groups objectives such that they abandon their cause. Too much 'peace' research seems to simply try and postpone issues or moderate attitudes, without getting directly at the problems between disputants.

Yet at the same time, complexity science isn't simply about trying to achieve a casual change. It's an attempt to fundamentally change the nature of the landscape and how actors respond to that environment. As such, there's something far richer and deeper on offer here than a mere effort to lower the temperature, but to change the way incentives, attitudes and structures work. It therefore offers a chance to put those problems in a fundamentally different light and in turn, create real space for change to occur.

Overall, this is a good read on an important topic. It offers a new yet deeply research and ably presented take on one of the big issues facing US society (and with many lessons for other polarized societies around the world). I know i'll be referring to its suggestions and insights for thinking about conflict resolution for a long time to come. Hopefully with more luck than the aforementioned senior diplomats at their meeting at least....]]> 3.69 2021
author: Peter T. Coleman
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/06
date added: 2022/05/07
shelves:
review:
One of the first and most memorable scenes of this book, comes from a meeting of high level diplomats, scholars and peace and conflict negotiators. One takes offence, another denies the charge, and these senior advocates of peace all fall into bitter conflict, with no one able to solve their dispute. It's a stark image, one that admittedly given my low opinion of a lot of 'peace' research, was somewhat amusing.

Yet it's also a clear sign that Coleman is attempting to do something different in this book. This is not simply about 'applying the science'. At least not in the traditional sense. Instead, Coleman takes his inspiration for trying to solve America's deep political polarization from the insights of Complexity Science.

This book works really well for two reasons. First, Coleman has a mastery of the underlying theory, and an adept and easy way of explaining the various elements. Complexity science can be, well complex, yet he manages to get across his key points clearly and effectively. Second, as he himself explicitly mentions, while many have been encouraged by the idea of applying complexity science to various world problems, translating theory into action is really hard. How do you actually implement these ideas drawn from physics and computer simulations, emphasizing the edge of chaos, evolution and vast impersonal forces?

To overcome that challenge, the book is structured around 6 major practical contributions - think different, reset, Bolster and Break, Complicate, Move, and Adapt - each with a discussion of the broad ideas as well as the practical way it can be implemented. The emphasis is resolutely practical, trying to find ways it can be adopted and implemented, highlighting examples of those many groups already pursuing parts and pieces of a broader solution.

While I didn't think much of Coleman's empirical analysis of American polarisation (the first two chapters can skimmed quickly by most informed readers), I was struck by how many different NGOs and social movements he mentioned who are already working hard to address polarization in interesting ways. From groups encouraging cross-cultural meals, to efforts to physically transport people into different communities and various kinds of dialogue and engagement. All akin to an immune system showing signs of life in fighting off the disease of bitter polarization.

Ultimately I remain in two minds about Coleman's broader approach. I tend to believe that the answer to political disputes is political resolution. Efforts to moderate, conciliate, postpone can work, but only for so long. What really matters is the direct changing of minds, either through persuasion or the clear political denial of a groups objectives such that they abandon their cause. Too much 'peace' research seems to simply try and postpone issues or moderate attitudes, without getting directly at the problems between disputants.

Yet at the same time, complexity science isn't simply about trying to achieve a casual change. It's an attempt to fundamentally change the nature of the landscape and how actors respond to that environment. As such, there's something far richer and deeper on offer here than a mere effort to lower the temperature, but to change the way incentives, attitudes and structures work. It therefore offers a chance to put those problems in a fundamentally different light and in turn, create real space for change to occur.

Overall, this is a good read on an important topic. It offers a new yet deeply research and ably presented take on one of the big issues facing US society (and with many lessons for other polarized societies around the world). I know i'll be referring to its suggestions and insights for thinking about conflict resolution for a long time to come. Hopefully with more luck than the aforementioned senior diplomats at their meeting at least....
]]> 60450540 352 John Fitzgerald 1742237487 Andrew 4
In the traditional account, China is a normal sovereign nation, one that happens to be ruled by a communist party, though it has reformed to enable significant capital markets to grow rich. It denies the public a say on the issues, yet there are clear responsibilities for the leadership (such as economic growth) which drive the political landscape.

In Fitzgerald's account, almost all of these claims are wrong. The title 'Cadre Country' one realises by the end of the book, should be taken literally. 'China' (a word only the CPC is allowed to use), is a 'defacto political nation' of around 40 million party loyalists, and ruling elite families. This 'Party-State' conquered the Chinese people in 1949 and remains, akin to a colonial regime, superimposed on top of the other nation. It rules by and for itself. It lives virtually distinct in life, from the services used and the food available to it, from the other nation. That second nation, the 'People-State' of 1.4 billion Chinese people are not simply prevent from having a say in how 'China' runs, they are not even part of the same system.

Though Fitzgerald does not raise this question, I came away from the book wondering if it is even meaningful to call China a sovereign nation. Its 1.4 billion people are not the foundation of sovereignty in the eyes of the Party. Rather, it is the fact they were conquered and remain subservient across an extended history which has granted the legitimacy of rule for the Party-State to remain in control. When 'China' goes into the world, especially under Xi Jinping, the explicit core interests sought are the interests, preservation and welfare of the Party-State. Not the People-State.

Like a careful detective, Fitzgerald builds his case slowly, allowing the reader to come to these radical conclusions at their own pace. Across issues such as the use of language, the availability of services, the role of the legal frameworks, migration, corruption, history and memory, he charts how the Party-State operates distinct from the People State.

Take the famous urban-influx of migrants, where farmers left their fields and moved into Chinese big cities, fueling economic growth. Fitzgerald cites studies suggesting there are at least 130 million such migrant laborers (up to 10% of the population), who while working in the cities are still legally treated as part of their former rural environments. As such, they cannot gain access to urban healthcare, education or welfare services. Absent secure housing or support, as many as 60 million children are left behind with grandparents in rural environments, or taught in near-illicit migrant schools on the outskirts of the major cities. These workers have contributed as much as 1/3rd of the total growth of China over the last few decades, yet they remain virtual foreign workers in their own country.

Managing two countries within one isn't easy, and Fitzgerald points to many points of tension. Notably, there's a cast-within-a-cast when it comes to the role of family ties. The Party-State is ruled by elite families, who explicitly invoke blood ties to appoint sons and daughters to key positions as a necessary element of their rule. Nepotism among the Cadres, the 40 million or so who make the 'Party-State' actually function, is however actively discouraged. And while many of the ruling families are billionaires, corruption has been cracked down on, within the Cadres under Xi Jinping. Not because it is 'bad' or may exploit the 'people-state', but rather because it began to undermine the loyalty and capacity of the Cadres in ensuring the survival and stability of the 'Party-State'.

Is Fitzgerald's account correct? I honestly don't know. I am not a China expert, nor even if I read 100 books like this could I be. He is one however, and even if it's wrong in parts, or pushes the line too far, it's a very helpful and compelling insight into the PRC. If this thesis is right, then other countries need to have - if I can be somewhat cheeky here - a 'Two China' policy. That is, a sense in every engagement with the PRC, whether they are dealing with the Party-State or the People-State, and how their actions may be interpreted or reflected by these two nations within the one entity we call 'China'.

I read because I want to know how the world actually works. This feels like one of those books that offers such a lens. Even if it's not the whole story, it offers a way of viewing which is powerful and compelling about a country we all need to know more about. It's also a very easy and quick read, a testament to the decades of careful thought and scholarship behind it.
Recommended.]]> 4.25
author: John Fitzgerald
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/28
date added: 2022/04/28
shelves:
review:
Over the years I have read many books on 'what' occurs within China, very few are as good as 'Cadre Country' at explaining 'how' China actually operates. This is a compelling, confronting account that offers a very different reading of modern day China.

In the traditional account, China is a normal sovereign nation, one that happens to be ruled by a communist party, though it has reformed to enable significant capital markets to grow rich. It denies the public a say on the issues, yet there are clear responsibilities for the leadership (such as economic growth) which drive the political landscape.

In Fitzgerald's account, almost all of these claims are wrong. The title 'Cadre Country' one realises by the end of the book, should be taken literally. 'China' (a word only the CPC is allowed to use), is a 'defacto political nation' of around 40 million party loyalists, and ruling elite families. This 'Party-State' conquered the Chinese people in 1949 and remains, akin to a colonial regime, superimposed on top of the other nation. It rules by and for itself. It lives virtually distinct in life, from the services used and the food available to it, from the other nation. That second nation, the 'People-State' of 1.4 billion Chinese people are not simply prevent from having a say in how 'China' runs, they are not even part of the same system.

Though Fitzgerald does not raise this question, I came away from the book wondering if it is even meaningful to call China a sovereign nation. Its 1.4 billion people are not the foundation of sovereignty in the eyes of the Party. Rather, it is the fact they were conquered and remain subservient across an extended history which has granted the legitimacy of rule for the Party-State to remain in control. When 'China' goes into the world, especially under Xi Jinping, the explicit core interests sought are the interests, preservation and welfare of the Party-State. Not the People-State.

Like a careful detective, Fitzgerald builds his case slowly, allowing the reader to come to these radical conclusions at their own pace. Across issues such as the use of language, the availability of services, the role of the legal frameworks, migration, corruption, history and memory, he charts how the Party-State operates distinct from the People State.

Take the famous urban-influx of migrants, where farmers left their fields and moved into Chinese big cities, fueling economic growth. Fitzgerald cites studies suggesting there are at least 130 million such migrant laborers (up to 10% of the population), who while working in the cities are still legally treated as part of their former rural environments. As such, they cannot gain access to urban healthcare, education or welfare services. Absent secure housing or support, as many as 60 million children are left behind with grandparents in rural environments, or taught in near-illicit migrant schools on the outskirts of the major cities. These workers have contributed as much as 1/3rd of the total growth of China over the last few decades, yet they remain virtual foreign workers in their own country.

Managing two countries within one isn't easy, and Fitzgerald points to many points of tension. Notably, there's a cast-within-a-cast when it comes to the role of family ties. The Party-State is ruled by elite families, who explicitly invoke blood ties to appoint sons and daughters to key positions as a necessary element of their rule. Nepotism among the Cadres, the 40 million or so who make the 'Party-State' actually function, is however actively discouraged. And while many of the ruling families are billionaires, corruption has been cracked down on, within the Cadres under Xi Jinping. Not because it is 'bad' or may exploit the 'people-state', but rather because it began to undermine the loyalty and capacity of the Cadres in ensuring the survival and stability of the 'Party-State'.

Is Fitzgerald's account correct? I honestly don't know. I am not a China expert, nor even if I read 100 books like this could I be. He is one however, and even if it's wrong in parts, or pushes the line too far, it's a very helpful and compelling insight into the PRC. If this thesis is right, then other countries need to have - if I can be somewhat cheeky here - a 'Two China' policy. That is, a sense in every engagement with the PRC, whether they are dealing with the Party-State or the People-State, and how their actions may be interpreted or reflected by these two nations within the one entity we call 'China'.

I read because I want to know how the world actually works. This feels like one of those books that offers such a lens. Even if it's not the whole story, it offers a way of viewing which is powerful and compelling about a country we all need to know more about. It's also a very easy and quick read, a testament to the decades of careful thought and scholarship behind it.
Recommended.
]]> 57933306 Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening--and how to get our attention back.

In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding that constantly switching from device to device and tab to tab was a diminishing and depressing way to live. He tried all sorts of self-help solutions--even abandoning his phone for three months--but nothing seemed to work. So Hari went on an epic journey across the world to interview the leading experts on human attention--and he discovered that everything we think we know about this crisis is wrong.

We think our inability to focus is a personal failure to exert enough willpower over our devices. The truth is even more disturbing: our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces that have left us uniquely vulnerable to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit. Hari found that there are twelve deep causes of this crisis, from the decline of mind-wandering to rising pollution, all of which have robbed some of our attention. In Stolen Focus, he introduces readers to Silicon Valley dissidents who learned to hack human attention, and veterinarians who diagnose dogs with ADHD. He explores a favela in Rio de Janeiro where everyone lost their attention in a particularly surreal way, and an office in New Zealand that discovered a remarkable technique to restore workers' productivity.

Crucially, Hari learned how we can reclaim our focus--as individuals, and as a society--if we are determined to fight for it. Stolen Focus will transform the debate about attention and finally show us how to get it back.]]> 357 Johann Hari 0593138511 Andrew 5
That life seems faster is almost incontestable. Sociologists identify this view as a 'constituent part' of modern life (whether the world actually is faster or we just believe it to be is unresolved). And in response to this, we seem to have, perversely, decided to try and speed up even more. We multi-task, trying to do many things badly. We sacrifice childhood in the name of preparing kids for their future. We constantly raise technology to our faces, allowing a wave of noise (and often hate) wash over us (yet when was the last time you took a moment to wash your face, pause, and breathe?). Many of us spend as little as 3 minutes on any one thing, all day long. No wonder we're buggered, yet unable to achieve what we want to achieve.

Many people have pointed to parts of these problems over the years, but Johann Hari's 'Stolen Focus' is by far the sharpest effort to try and pull it all together. We face an 'attention crisis' as Hari calls it, one that is aided and abetted by technology, but rightly he argues this is far from the only problem. We have chosen to live like this, we have chosen to be ok with a world which steals our focus, and if anything we seem intent on trashing it even further in a mad bid to try and catch up.

Hari's book covers a broad range of topics that help explain our inability to pay attention. We don't sleep enough and often eat badly. We don't allow our minds to rest and wander, training them to endlessly switch and skim at a surface level. We have encouraged media and entertainment systems that abuse our biological nature to capture our attention, while they sell our private information so that others can also exploit our focus. And we restrict our lives in the name of productivity (long hours at work) and security (long hours at home especially for kids), creating an environment which has us bouncing off the walls.

Hari is an outstanding guide through out these discussions. He gives experts space to talk, does not pretend to have all (or even most) of the answers, and tries to be fair and think things through in his writing. There's an engaging sense of actual learning and discovery across the book, when it would have been so easy for him to repeat the self-help tone of 'i've solved this problem and you can to!'.

Indeed, it's the very clarity of Hari's own humane and non-ideological view that sometimes makes the book jar (at least to my own ears). In some sections when talking about social media (especially Chapter 8 on the mislabeled 'cruel optimism'), the thoughtful language of Hari seems to be replaced by more traditional left-wing language that belittles the role of individuals and individual actions while demanding systemic fixes to our our attention crisis. Then a few pages later Hari's voice re-appears, acknowledging that of course we actually need both. We need our political representatives to take on those who exploit and harm us, and we can and must make meaningful steps in our own lives to help replenish your own ability to focus. It's Hari's own good sense that makes the one-sidedness of some of those he endorses seem so, well, one-dimensional.

Can we fix our attention crisis? I remain an optimist. There is nothing automatic or necessary about having a 'sped up' world. A world where we devalue time and reward inanity. We have made those choices consciously, and we can and will change. The pandemic showed that we can make significant changes (such as abandoning the hated commute and office-clock-ins) and still be effective. We can and must keep working to make governance simpler, trusting people more, and reducing the administrative burden society imposes on them.

Indeed, I wonder if a change is already underway. From the many 'sea change' and 'slow food' movements, experiments with policies such as 4 day weeks and Universal Basic Income, and of course books such as Hari's (or McGilchrist' The Matter with Things' & Rosa' 'Resonance') pointing to a different way of living and perceiving our place in the world. In the 1910s & 1920s a proto-fascist/aesthetic group called 'The Futurists' emerged, embracing change-for-change's sake, technology and speed. In some ways, life in the 2020s resembles the dreams of the futurists. Yet, they were no more than cultural road-kill in the early 20th century, tossed to the side for other cultural orientations. So too can we overhaul our culture. Each of us can make meaningful changes that will reverberate to help others, each of us can demand more of our society and its leaders to help restore our ability to focus.

This is a powerful, compelling, timely and beautifully written book. It is one of the best analyses of the problems of the current world. If we are to find solutions to our stress, to truly relieve that mental burden which weights us down as much as hunger weakened our forefathers, this book ought be read widely. Strongly recommended.]]> 4.22 2022
author: Johann Hari
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/20
date added: 2022/04/23
shelves:
review:
The biggest challenge of the 20th century was reducing material absence. In this we have succeeded admirably. I firmly believe that he biggest challenge of the 21st century will be reducing mental burden. Today's problem for much of humanity is not that they are starving, but that they are stressed!

That life seems faster is almost incontestable. Sociologists identify this view as a 'constituent part' of modern life (whether the world actually is faster or we just believe it to be is unresolved). And in response to this, we seem to have, perversely, decided to try and speed up even more. We multi-task, trying to do many things badly. We sacrifice childhood in the name of preparing kids for their future. We constantly raise technology to our faces, allowing a wave of noise (and often hate) wash over us (yet when was the last time you took a moment to wash your face, pause, and breathe?). Many of us spend as little as 3 minutes on any one thing, all day long. No wonder we're buggered, yet unable to achieve what we want to achieve.

Many people have pointed to parts of these problems over the years, but Johann Hari's 'Stolen Focus' is by far the sharpest effort to try and pull it all together. We face an 'attention crisis' as Hari calls it, one that is aided and abetted by technology, but rightly he argues this is far from the only problem. We have chosen to live like this, we have chosen to be ok with a world which steals our focus, and if anything we seem intent on trashing it even further in a mad bid to try and catch up.

Hari's book covers a broad range of topics that help explain our inability to pay attention. We don't sleep enough and often eat badly. We don't allow our minds to rest and wander, training them to endlessly switch and skim at a surface level. We have encouraged media and entertainment systems that abuse our biological nature to capture our attention, while they sell our private information so that others can also exploit our focus. And we restrict our lives in the name of productivity (long hours at work) and security (long hours at home especially for kids), creating an environment which has us bouncing off the walls.

Hari is an outstanding guide through out these discussions. He gives experts space to talk, does not pretend to have all (or even most) of the answers, and tries to be fair and think things through in his writing. There's an engaging sense of actual learning and discovery across the book, when it would have been so easy for him to repeat the self-help tone of 'i've solved this problem and you can to!'.

Indeed, it's the very clarity of Hari's own humane and non-ideological view that sometimes makes the book jar (at least to my own ears). In some sections when talking about social media (especially Chapter 8 on the mislabeled 'cruel optimism'), the thoughtful language of Hari seems to be replaced by more traditional left-wing language that belittles the role of individuals and individual actions while demanding systemic fixes to our our attention crisis. Then a few pages later Hari's voice re-appears, acknowledging that of course we actually need both. We need our political representatives to take on those who exploit and harm us, and we can and must make meaningful steps in our own lives to help replenish your own ability to focus. It's Hari's own good sense that makes the one-sidedness of some of those he endorses seem so, well, one-dimensional.

Can we fix our attention crisis? I remain an optimist. There is nothing automatic or necessary about having a 'sped up' world. A world where we devalue time and reward inanity. We have made those choices consciously, and we can and will change. The pandemic showed that we can make significant changes (such as abandoning the hated commute and office-clock-ins) and still be effective. We can and must keep working to make governance simpler, trusting people more, and reducing the administrative burden society imposes on them.

Indeed, I wonder if a change is already underway. From the many 'sea change' and 'slow food' movements, experiments with policies such as 4 day weeks and Universal Basic Income, and of course books such as Hari's (or McGilchrist' The Matter with Things' & Rosa' 'Resonance') pointing to a different way of living and perceiving our place in the world. In the 1910s & 1920s a proto-fascist/aesthetic group called 'The Futurists' emerged, embracing change-for-change's sake, technology and speed. In some ways, life in the 2020s resembles the dreams of the futurists. Yet, they were no more than cultural road-kill in the early 20th century, tossed to the side for other cultural orientations. So too can we overhaul our culture. Each of us can make meaningful changes that will reverberate to help others, each of us can demand more of our society and its leaders to help restore our ability to focus.

This is a powerful, compelling, timely and beautifully written book. It is one of the best analyses of the problems of the current world. If we are to find solutions to our stress, to truly relieve that mental burden which weights us down as much as hunger weakened our forefathers, this book ought be read widely. Strongly recommended.
]]> 17555430 The study of anti-access or area denial strategies for use against American power projection capabilities has strong naval roots-which have been largely ignored by the most influential commentators. Sustained long-range power projection is both a unique strength of U.S. military forces and a requirement for an activist foreign policy and forward defense. In more recent years, the logic of the anti-access approach has been identified by the Department of Defense as a threat to this U.S. capability and the joint force.
The conclusions in Anti-Access Warfare differ from most commentary on anti-access strategy. Rather than a technology-driven post-Cold War phenomenon, the anti-access approach has been a routine element of grand strategy used by strategically weaker powers to confront stronger powers throughout history. But they have been largely unsuccessful when confronting a stronger maritime power. Although high technology weapons capabilities enhance the threat, they also can be used to mitigate the threat. Rather than arguing against reliance on maritime forces-presumably because they are no longer survivable-the historical analysis argues that maritime capabilities are key in "breaking the great walls" of countries like Iran and China.]]> 320 Sam J. Tangredi 1612511864 Andrew 4
Anti-Access/Area-Denial (or A2/AD as it is known) has been the nightmare that wakes up US strategists in the middle of the night. How, they wonder, could you possibly use the vast American military, if your enemy could set up a virtual wall of precision guided missiles, backed by the latest satellite intelligence systems. This seemed the challenge China was posing the US from the early 2000s onward, and so was unleashed a flood of reports and, in 2013 this fine book.

While most reports, naturally enough focus on a single historic scenario, and tend to love talking about the latest technology and weapon systems, Tangredi sets out to think conceptually about Anti-Access warfare. There is nothing inherently special about such a strategy he observes. Indeed, on one level, it's almost indistinguishable from normal combat operations where you try to keep an opposing force from advancing into your area.

It's also far from new, pointing to the Ancient Greeks, led by Themistocles, seeking to delay and deny access to the peninsula to Xerxes great army. (The Spartans at Thermopylae, as featured in the film 300, were merely a small if iconic effort of a broader approach that was mainly decided at sea). Other historical accounts Tangredi features, reflecting both the success and failure of anti-access include Queen Elizabeth 1 defeating the Spanish Armada, the Turkish defeat of the British & ANZAC's in the Dardanelles/Gallipoli, the Allied invasion of Europe at D-Day, and the Argentinian failure to hold the Falklands post-invasion.

Tangredi argues there are several common conceptual elements to all such strategies. AA is chosen by the weaker against a strategically stronger adversary. Geography is of primary importance. The maritime domain is the defining feature in that geography. Information and intelligence are critical. And finally, extrinsic events can often determine the ultimate success or failure (for instance, whether the attacking party has the determination to succeed at any cost - as the Allies did in 1944, or will abandon the cause if the costs are too high - as the British in 1915 and Xerxes 2500 years earlier did).

This is a conceptual book first and foremost. While Tangredi uses history relatively deftly, and relates the issues to the contemporary AA challenges the US faces - Against China, Iran and Russia - he keeps the focus on the broad themes and how each raise 'issues for consideration' rather than specific policy recommendations or deliberate technological investments. Indeed, there's a welcome caution about technology and innovation in this book, given the A2/AD debate is so often wrapped up in the assumption that cutting edge technology is what defines or will resolve the problem.

What's striking reading this book nearly a decade after it was published is that the whole orientation of US policy is shifting. Tangredi writes about Anti-Access warfare, but his unapologetic focus is on Countering-Anti-Access warfare. In the early 2010s when he wrote, US policy was all about how to 'punch through' any such bubble/wall established by regional adversaries. Today, however in the 2020s, if we read closely into US service concepts - such as the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 - we see a different perspective emerging. Now the question is, how can the US and allies establish their own AA bubbles? Perhaps as rapid war-fighting protections of allies, or building links along the first-island-chain that could be used to track and contain Chinese forces.

This is the kind of conceptual, strategic analysis I wish there were dozens of books akin to. It's understandable why many concepts never receive the depth of research and thought you'll find here. Since their proposal and replacement is one of the wheels that drive careers within the military and think tank community - but this is a reminder of what is possible. It's not a perfect book, i'd have liked a little more history, a little more depth in places. And Tangredi, a formal Naval officer, is unabashed about telling the other services to take a back seat at some points. But it is an important read on a still critically important concept. ]]> 4.00 2013
author: Sam J. Tangredi
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/18
date added: 2022/04/18
shelves:
review:
Many years ago, as I was beginning my journey from foreign policy to strategic studies, I complained to a friend that while it was easy to find historical studies of military action, conceptual books on military issues are rare. I've since come to see there are some, indeed a good number, even if you'll almost never find them in the 'military' section of the local bookstore. This is one of the best such examples.

Anti-Access/Area-Denial (or A2/AD as it is known) has been the nightmare that wakes up US strategists in the middle of the night. How, they wonder, could you possibly use the vast American military, if your enemy could set up a virtual wall of precision guided missiles, backed by the latest satellite intelligence systems. This seemed the challenge China was posing the US from the early 2000s onward, and so was unleashed a flood of reports and, in 2013 this fine book.

While most reports, naturally enough focus on a single historic scenario, and tend to love talking about the latest technology and weapon systems, Tangredi sets out to think conceptually about Anti-Access warfare. There is nothing inherently special about such a strategy he observes. Indeed, on one level, it's almost indistinguishable from normal combat operations where you try to keep an opposing force from advancing into your area.

It's also far from new, pointing to the Ancient Greeks, led by Themistocles, seeking to delay and deny access to the peninsula to Xerxes great army. (The Spartans at Thermopylae, as featured in the film 300, were merely a small if iconic effort of a broader approach that was mainly decided at sea). Other historical accounts Tangredi features, reflecting both the success and failure of anti-access include Queen Elizabeth 1 defeating the Spanish Armada, the Turkish defeat of the British & ANZAC's in the Dardanelles/Gallipoli, the Allied invasion of Europe at D-Day, and the Argentinian failure to hold the Falklands post-invasion.

Tangredi argues there are several common conceptual elements to all such strategies. AA is chosen by the weaker against a strategically stronger adversary. Geography is of primary importance. The maritime domain is the defining feature in that geography. Information and intelligence are critical. And finally, extrinsic events can often determine the ultimate success or failure (for instance, whether the attacking party has the determination to succeed at any cost - as the Allies did in 1944, or will abandon the cause if the costs are too high - as the British in 1915 and Xerxes 2500 years earlier did).

This is a conceptual book first and foremost. While Tangredi uses history relatively deftly, and relates the issues to the contemporary AA challenges the US faces - Against China, Iran and Russia - he keeps the focus on the broad themes and how each raise 'issues for consideration' rather than specific policy recommendations or deliberate technological investments. Indeed, there's a welcome caution about technology and innovation in this book, given the A2/AD debate is so often wrapped up in the assumption that cutting edge technology is what defines or will resolve the problem.

What's striking reading this book nearly a decade after it was published is that the whole orientation of US policy is shifting. Tangredi writes about Anti-Access warfare, but his unapologetic focus is on Countering-Anti-Access warfare. In the early 2010s when he wrote, US policy was all about how to 'punch through' any such bubble/wall established by regional adversaries. Today, however in the 2020s, if we read closely into US service concepts - such as the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 - we see a different perspective emerging. Now the question is, how can the US and allies establish their own AA bubbles? Perhaps as rapid war-fighting protections of allies, or building links along the first-island-chain that could be used to track and contain Chinese forces.

This is the kind of conceptual, strategic analysis I wish there were dozens of books akin to. It's understandable why many concepts never receive the depth of research and thought you'll find here. Since their proposal and replacement is one of the wheels that drive careers within the military and think tank community - but this is a reminder of what is possible. It's not a perfect book, i'd have liked a little more history, a little more depth in places. And Tangredi, a formal Naval officer, is unabashed about telling the other services to take a back seat at some points. But it is an important read on a still critically important concept.
]]> 542639 448 Robert Hughes 0500275823 Andrew 5
Hughes is an intellectual pugilist in the way Australia used to regularly produce. He seems to have read and seen it all, but -and this is essential - he still has a deep passion for the subject. His arguments rarely feel like efforts at cleverness, and instead are attempts to better grapple with the subject at hand, looking at it from this way and that, setting it in context and stripping it out, in order to properly seize it up. This is a deeply elitist book in the very best sense of the term, it always demands the best of its subjects, and invites you to celebrate it when it finds it.

It is eminently readable and astute. I filled at least a dozen pages of my reading notebook with quotes from this book. Many about the social world as much as about the art and artists who are his focus.

Strongly recommended.]]> 3.74 1980
author: Robert Hughes
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/16
date added: 2022/04/15
shelves:
review:
A brilliant tour of 20th century art. Hughes treats his subject with respect, exploring and explaining, while also making demands of it, to justify and demonstrate its contribution. Cubism and the Impressionists are given their due as efforts to respond to their environment, while there mere innovation is never treated as sufficient. You'll find a fine guide to understanding and making sense of modern art, while also a deep and powerful critique of many of its more indulgent, detached nonsense.

Hughes is an intellectual pugilist in the way Australia used to regularly produce. He seems to have read and seen it all, but -and this is essential - he still has a deep passion for the subject. His arguments rarely feel like efforts at cleverness, and instead are attempts to better grapple with the subject at hand, looking at it from this way and that, setting it in context and stripping it out, in order to properly seize it up. This is a deeply elitist book in the very best sense of the term, it always demands the best of its subjects, and invites you to celebrate it when it finds it.

It is eminently readable and astute. I filled at least a dozen pages of my reading notebook with quotes from this book. Many about the social world as much as about the art and artists who are his focus.

Strongly recommended.
]]> 2208918 424 Shimon Naveh 0714642770 Andrew 3
Beyond simply recognising the need to link the parts to the whole, Operational thinkers as Naveh extensively details, have come to see in this level a new way of fighting. Moving beyond the mere destruction of the adversary (killing as many as possible in each battle) many saw operational activity as a way of targeting our actions to 'shock' the adversary's system, so that they neither want to, nor are able to keep fighting. It's the surgeon's scalpel instead of the butcher's cleaver approach to war.

Tracing these twin logics across the Russian, German and American experience, Naveh provides a history and bold advocacy of the operational level and way of fighting. While the book wears the garb of a scholarly, scientific analysis, this is a book of advocacy. Naveh has his heroes (especially the early 20th century Russian strategists such as Tukhachevskii) and his villans (dismissing much of Blitzkrig and any US Generals who resisted the Operational/Maneuver reformers). Much of the book is also dressed in 'systems' thinking, though it's not always clear how much this is genuinely informing the logic developed throughout.

You'll learn a lot about how operations actually proceed. Naveh's history of Blitzkrig is not the full story, but he correctly punctures many of the myths highlighting the gambles rather than genius inherent within much of its activity. Likewise, he's very good on highlighting how actions such as maneuver, often portrayed as relying on nothing more than pure speed, actually critically depend on some very slow elements - from infantry preceding the tanks, to 'hold' actions which fix an adversary in order to then enable the 'strike'. You have to work through the arguments slowly, but you'll come away realising how much the story of 'get good tech and go fast' we're often told is simply ignorant bullshit.

In 1997 the Operational level was still on the rise, seemingly vindicated by Desert Storm and informing the 'transformational' agenda of the coming Bush Administration in the US. Today however, this book shows its age. First, because Naveh's writing is verbose and overly complex. This may lend an aura of intellectual weight, but it left me suspecting he wasn't as clear in understanding his ideas as he claimed. I'd love to read a similar history by someone who could write clearly and wasn't as fervent in their advocacy.

Second, the luster of the operational level has been slowly punctured. Some times directly (such as B.A Friedman's excellent 'On Operations'), often indirectly, as the actual results of Operational approaches have fallen short of expectations. The US' 'Shock and Awe' campaign against Saddam in 2003 produced neither. 'Effects Based Operations' can't seem to produce the effects they claim. The unintended problems of this level have also become increasingly apparent, diverging military practice from civilian guidance, interfering with both good strategy and appropriate management and oversight of war.

This isn't to say the Operational level of war doesn't have it's place. The 'Operational Art' as Friedman argues, is essential. Indeed though Naveh is quick to throw punches at the dead prussian, Clausewitz' own definition of strategy as 'the use of the engagement for the purposes of the war' is effectively an operational-level effort to link tactical actions to strategic goals. Such coordination is a critical skill. Yet the optimism about what Operational thinking can provide, both in terms of its distinctiveness and decisiveness seem highly questionable these days.

I found this a worthwhile read. It was however a slog, one I put down several times to read other things. Still, you'll learn a lot in the book and its footnotes, and as a work of a moment in time, presenting a particular view as strongly and passionately as its advocates could muster, it retains of value.]]> 3.95 1997
author: Shimon Naveh
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2022/04/03
date added: 2022/04/07
shelves:
review:
One of the biggest intellectual shift in military thinking over the 20th century is the creation of the Operational Level of war. If 'tactics' involve the standard battle, and 'strategy' reflects the politician deciding when and how to fight an adversary, then 'operations' - so the theory goes - connect the various battles to the broad strategic goals of the war.

Beyond simply recognising the need to link the parts to the whole, Operational thinkers as Naveh extensively details, have come to see in this level a new way of fighting. Moving beyond the mere destruction of the adversary (killing as many as possible in each battle) many saw operational activity as a way of targeting our actions to 'shock' the adversary's system, so that they neither want to, nor are able to keep fighting. It's the surgeon's scalpel instead of the butcher's cleaver approach to war.

Tracing these twin logics across the Russian, German and American experience, Naveh provides a history and bold advocacy of the operational level and way of fighting. While the book wears the garb of a scholarly, scientific analysis, this is a book of advocacy. Naveh has his heroes (especially the early 20th century Russian strategists such as Tukhachevskii) and his villans (dismissing much of Blitzkrig and any US Generals who resisted the Operational/Maneuver reformers). Much of the book is also dressed in 'systems' thinking, though it's not always clear how much this is genuinely informing the logic developed throughout.

You'll learn a lot about how operations actually proceed. Naveh's history of Blitzkrig is not the full story, but he correctly punctures many of the myths highlighting the gambles rather than genius inherent within much of its activity. Likewise, he's very good on highlighting how actions such as maneuver, often portrayed as relying on nothing more than pure speed, actually critically depend on some very slow elements - from infantry preceding the tanks, to 'hold' actions which fix an adversary in order to then enable the 'strike'. You have to work through the arguments slowly, but you'll come away realising how much the story of 'get good tech and go fast' we're often told is simply ignorant bullshit.

In 1997 the Operational level was still on the rise, seemingly vindicated by Desert Storm and informing the 'transformational' agenda of the coming Bush Administration in the US. Today however, this book shows its age. First, because Naveh's writing is verbose and overly complex. This may lend an aura of intellectual weight, but it left me suspecting he wasn't as clear in understanding his ideas as he claimed. I'd love to read a similar history by someone who could write clearly and wasn't as fervent in their advocacy.

Second, the luster of the operational level has been slowly punctured. Some times directly (such as B.A Friedman's excellent 'On Operations'), often indirectly, as the actual results of Operational approaches have fallen short of expectations. The US' 'Shock and Awe' campaign against Saddam in 2003 produced neither. 'Effects Based Operations' can't seem to produce the effects they claim. The unintended problems of this level have also become increasingly apparent, diverging military practice from civilian guidance, interfering with both good strategy and appropriate management and oversight of war.

This isn't to say the Operational level of war doesn't have it's place. The 'Operational Art' as Friedman argues, is essential. Indeed though Naveh is quick to throw punches at the dead prussian, Clausewitz' own definition of strategy as 'the use of the engagement for the purposes of the war' is effectively an operational-level effort to link tactical actions to strategic goals. Such coordination is a critical skill. Yet the optimism about what Operational thinking can provide, both in terms of its distinctiveness and decisiveness seem highly questionable these days.

I found this a worthwhile read. It was however a slog, one I put down several times to read other things. Still, you'll learn a lot in the book and its footnotes, and as a work of a moment in time, presenting a particular view as strongly and passionately as its advocates could muster, it retains of value.
]]> 25744928 One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.]]> 296 Cal Newport 1455586692 Andrew 4
‘Deep�� work, that is focused concentrated work at the upper edges of your cognitive performance is hard. And if you’re tired or distracted by family, office mundanity or the internet it’s very easy to spend long times not doing deep work.

You can even be productive and fool yourself into believing you’ve hit that zone. For calendar year 2016 I’ve published five academic papers, but in truth there’s issues with at least 3 of them and I’m only really proud of one of them. All the while sending countless emails, supervising students, administering a Masters program, teaching two courses, writing blogs and op-eds, co-editing a policy paper series and an academic journal and writing several (unsuccessful) grant applications.

This is work, and lots of it, but it’s not the life of the mind I’d envisaged academia to be. Much of it is ‘shallow�� in the sense of helping sustain my job rather than advancing it. Nor is it entirely satisfying. Cal Newport, another young father and academic (computer science at Georgetown University, Washington DC), however has an answer: Deep Work.

In this short and very readable text, Newport not only makes the argument for why deep work matters (it’s likely to make you happier and more successful compared to your more distracted colleagues) but also discusses how to achieve it with a variety of practical suggestions.

It was only after I’d read the book I realised this is a self-help text (a genre I avoid), because it often doesn’t feel like one. There’s a seriousness of topic, and lack of rar-rar “unlock your hidden genius�� waffle that is welcome. The fact Newport is a fellow academic made the insights and discussions far more telling for me, though he rightly extends the discussion across all knowledge workers.

Most of his insights and suggestions are obvious. Schedule your time, limit distractions, don’t respond immediately to emails. But there’s also a recognition that no one technique will work and the point is to slowly develop the deep work skills. Rather than simply encouraging everyone to become hermits, Newport is focused on encouraging ways of thinking and habits which make it easier to do more, more often, within a normal life.

Likewise, there’s also a welcome recognition that this need not become your only focus in life. Elite professionals, whether orchestra players or writers can usually only manage four hours of true deep work each day. Yet like many young academics I view work in the evenings and weekends as the norm, though this has become increasingly difficult with a young family.

Newport however, argues that true deep work requires long periods where you’re not working. No email, no work related websites, and time spent relaxing and even bored, so as to ensure those four hours each working day are used as productively as possible.

Learning to say no is also a big challenge. The fun of academic life is writing and speaking with the belief people care what you have to say. And sometimes they do. But you don’t need to do so at every occasion and without deep work behind it, do you have anything worth saying?

Increasingly, my fear is that the answer to that is no. That these last years I’ve burned through my intellectual capital to produce that work, but without it really amounting to much. I’d been wondering —worrying? �� about this for a while, hence reaching for Newport’s book. But through his clear prose and engaging arguments it has helped build my conviction that change in how I work is necessary.

Many academics are coming to similar conclusions. Far from the stereotyped cloistered life of quiet contemplation, the modern academy is a myriad of meetings and mundanity. Voluminous administration, organisation, and education commitments take away from the very point of the career: the production and distribution of knowledge worth having for society.

Part of this is our own fault. Hyper-specialisation has made the “knowledge worth having�� part questionable, while our working environments increasingly impede the “production and distribution�� of knowledge in the first place.

There’s also a troubling collective action problem here. Many academics seek to escape these challenges simply by shirking responsibility and transferring the burden to others in their department. They may feel entitled to this by dint of their own genius, but it’s not a sensible or responsible approach.

Changing how effectively we work, along with challenging in an open and direct way a culture which privileges ‘shallow�� over ‘deep�� work is therefore a necessary and important step. To that end, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is a welcome and important contribution.]]> 4.16 2016
author: Cal Newport
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/29
date added: 2022/04/02
shelves:
review:
A common refrain from high achieving new parents is that having kids has made them more productive at work. With less hours in the day to control, their time in the office is used more effectively. But as I’ve found over the last year of fatherhood, that doesn’t happen automatically.

‘Deep�� work, that is focused concentrated work at the upper edges of your cognitive performance is hard. And if you’re tired or distracted by family, office mundanity or the internet it’s very easy to spend long times not doing deep work.

You can even be productive and fool yourself into believing you’ve hit that zone. For calendar year 2016 I’ve published five academic papers, but in truth there’s issues with at least 3 of them and I’m only really proud of one of them. All the while sending countless emails, supervising students, administering a Masters program, teaching two courses, writing blogs and op-eds, co-editing a policy paper series and an academic journal and writing several (unsuccessful) grant applications.

This is work, and lots of it, but it’s not the life of the mind I’d envisaged academia to be. Much of it is ‘shallow�� in the sense of helping sustain my job rather than advancing it. Nor is it entirely satisfying. Cal Newport, another young father and academic (computer science at Georgetown University, Washington DC), however has an answer: Deep Work.

In this short and very readable text, Newport not only makes the argument for why deep work matters (it’s likely to make you happier and more successful compared to your more distracted colleagues) but also discusses how to achieve it with a variety of practical suggestions.

It was only after I’d read the book I realised this is a self-help text (a genre I avoid), because it often doesn’t feel like one. There’s a seriousness of topic, and lack of rar-rar “unlock your hidden genius�� waffle that is welcome. The fact Newport is a fellow academic made the insights and discussions far more telling for me, though he rightly extends the discussion across all knowledge workers.

Most of his insights and suggestions are obvious. Schedule your time, limit distractions, don’t respond immediately to emails. But there’s also a recognition that no one technique will work and the point is to slowly develop the deep work skills. Rather than simply encouraging everyone to become hermits, Newport is focused on encouraging ways of thinking and habits which make it easier to do more, more often, within a normal life.

Likewise, there’s also a welcome recognition that this need not become your only focus in life. Elite professionals, whether orchestra players or writers can usually only manage four hours of true deep work each day. Yet like many young academics I view work in the evenings and weekends as the norm, though this has become increasingly difficult with a young family.

Newport however, argues that true deep work requires long periods where you’re not working. No email, no work related websites, and time spent relaxing and even bored, so as to ensure those four hours each working day are used as productively as possible.

Learning to say no is also a big challenge. The fun of academic life is writing and speaking with the belief people care what you have to say. And sometimes they do. But you don’t need to do so at every occasion and without deep work behind it, do you have anything worth saying?

Increasingly, my fear is that the answer to that is no. That these last years I’ve burned through my intellectual capital to produce that work, but without it really amounting to much. I’d been wondering —worrying? �� about this for a while, hence reaching for Newport’s book. But through his clear prose and engaging arguments it has helped build my conviction that change in how I work is necessary.

Many academics are coming to similar conclusions. Far from the stereotyped cloistered life of quiet contemplation, the modern academy is a myriad of meetings and mundanity. Voluminous administration, organisation, and education commitments take away from the very point of the career: the production and distribution of knowledge worth having for society.

Part of this is our own fault. Hyper-specialisation has made the “knowledge worth having�� part questionable, while our working environments increasingly impede the “production and distribution�� of knowledge in the first place.

There’s also a troubling collective action problem here. Many academics seek to escape these challenges simply by shirking responsibility and transferring the burden to others in their department. They may feel entitled to this by dint of their own genius, but it’s not a sensible or responsible approach.

Changing how effectively we work, along with challenging in an open and direct way a culture which privileges ‘shallow�� over ‘deep�� work is therefore a necessary and important step. To that end, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is a welcome and important contribution.
]]> 59810166 308 Mick Ryan 1682477428 Andrew 3
In War Transformed by former Major-General Mick Ryan (of the Australian Army), we see that at least some have continued to carry the burden of studying war. And this is extremely necessary. Not only for the obvious reason that war is once again on our front pages (the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine happened just a few weeks after the books' release), but also because war is changing in how it is fought.

This theme of war's evolution and how we might respond is the primary theme of this study. Ryan has read extensively over the last two decades, and provides a rich and thoughtful tour of some of the key changes. From the emergence of new domains such as cyber and space, the complexities of new technology such as hypersonics and additive manafacturing, and the changing strategic picture of new authoritarian powers challenging the western order.

Ryan's guide to the military implications of these changes is first rate. This is a complex and confusing area, but he distills the many small moving parts into a handful of core principles and themes. Not least, the idea of an 'acceleration' of modern warfare, that puts immense pressure on everyone from war fighters to national decision makers. You'll come away with a much stronger sense of what western miltiaries' expect future war to look like through this book.

How then should we respond to such a changing picture of war? Ryan's answer, in common with much of the broader academic and military literature, is that we too must be ready to change. Not in a national policy sense (an area he's careful to avoid commenting on too directly), but rather in our adaptiveness and willingness to innovate and enable rapid change within our armed forces and society. We do not know what the future exactly holds, or how the myriad of new technology is best used, and so must be open to experimenting and evolving how we approach war and security if we are to remain secure.

Such a step is more of a mental than physical shift. A change in culture rather than just processes. What really helps distinguish this book is the final 1/4 where Ryan expands on a theme he is passionate about: education. All western armed forces are likely to be outnumbered by their adversaries, and with equipment that may not be substantively better. This is particularly true for secondary states such as Australia. As such, the edge we can achieve may be intellectual rather than material. Hence, the way each soldier (and arguably future policymakers) are developed and supported in becoming their best selves is going to be a crucial challenge for maintaining security, preventing unnecessary conflicts, and knowing how best to prosecute them when required.

Ryan doesn't try to tell one single story about war's transformation. Instead, this book is more in line with the 'principles of war' style of analysis. There's a lot of lists of seven of this, or five of those. This is a popular approach, and one which can work well for quickly communicating a range of complex issues. The downside is it limits the space to really grapple with a few central ideas. For instance, deep within the book Ryan offers one of the more nuanced takes on the issue of tempo as relative i've seen. Yet much of the time the book seems to imply that more speed is always and everywhere a good thing. I'd also have liked more than a short epilogue on the idea that war's transformation is going to its underlying nature and not just the visible character. That could have helped set the broader context of how important the changes of our time really are.

Overall, if you're looking to better understand the issues that professional militaries' around the world are focused on, or want a grasp of how the use of armed force is changing, this is a very readable, well referenced and engaging analysis. ]]> 3.91
author: Mick Ryan
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/21
date added: 2022/03/24
shelves:
review:
In the early 1990s there was a sense from many in public life that war was done. The fact this same sentiment had appeared in the 1920s didn't seem to worry them, as they argued that we should turn away from the ugly study of war, and explore new areas of insecurity or overlooked rights. While this lead to a lot of good work on real problems, the knowledge of war in Western societies has declined.

In War Transformed by former Major-General Mick Ryan (of the Australian Army), we see that at least some have continued to carry the burden of studying war. And this is extremely necessary. Not only for the obvious reason that war is once again on our front pages (the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine happened just a few weeks after the books' release), but also because war is changing in how it is fought.

This theme of war's evolution and how we might respond is the primary theme of this study. Ryan has read extensively over the last two decades, and provides a rich and thoughtful tour of some of the key changes. From the emergence of new domains such as cyber and space, the complexities of new technology such as hypersonics and additive manafacturing, and the changing strategic picture of new authoritarian powers challenging the western order.

Ryan's guide to the military implications of these changes is first rate. This is a complex and confusing area, but he distills the many small moving parts into a handful of core principles and themes. Not least, the idea of an 'acceleration' of modern warfare, that puts immense pressure on everyone from war fighters to national decision makers. You'll come away with a much stronger sense of what western miltiaries' expect future war to look like through this book.

How then should we respond to such a changing picture of war? Ryan's answer, in common with much of the broader academic and military literature, is that we too must be ready to change. Not in a national policy sense (an area he's careful to avoid commenting on too directly), but rather in our adaptiveness and willingness to innovate and enable rapid change within our armed forces and society. We do not know what the future exactly holds, or how the myriad of new technology is best used, and so must be open to experimenting and evolving how we approach war and security if we are to remain secure.

Such a step is more of a mental than physical shift. A change in culture rather than just processes. What really helps distinguish this book is the final 1/4 where Ryan expands on a theme he is passionate about: education. All western armed forces are likely to be outnumbered by their adversaries, and with equipment that may not be substantively better. This is particularly true for secondary states such as Australia. As such, the edge we can achieve may be intellectual rather than material. Hence, the way each soldier (and arguably future policymakers) are developed and supported in becoming their best selves is going to be a crucial challenge for maintaining security, preventing unnecessary conflicts, and knowing how best to prosecute them when required.

Ryan doesn't try to tell one single story about war's transformation. Instead, this book is more in line with the 'principles of war' style of analysis. There's a lot of lists of seven of this, or five of those. This is a popular approach, and one which can work well for quickly communicating a range of complex issues. The downside is it limits the space to really grapple with a few central ideas. For instance, deep within the book Ryan offers one of the more nuanced takes on the issue of tempo as relative i've seen. Yet much of the time the book seems to imply that more speed is always and everywhere a good thing. I'd also have liked more than a short epilogue on the idea that war's transformation is going to its underlying nature and not just the visible character. That could have helped set the broader context of how important the changes of our time really are.

Overall, if you're looking to better understand the issues that professional militaries' around the world are focused on, or want a grasp of how the use of armed force is changing, this is a very readable, well referenced and engaging analysis.
]]> 57290740 432 Philip Hook 1788161858 Andrew 4
According to Philip Hook, a new answer was provided to an essential yet old question 'what is the purpose of a painting?' For many centuries the majority (though not all) had concurred that its purpose was to present beauty, to uplift and enlighten. Hence the easy alignment between religious piety or displays of aristocrats and the old masters.

As the 20th century dawned a new answer took hold 'to display the instinct of the artist'. Moves were modest at first. Matisse' Woman with a Hat is a relatively normal painting except for the choice of colours. What came to matter, through the Favuists, Cubists, Futurists and other movements, was reflecting who the artist was, how they felt and engaged the world. Hence, why bother with simply presenting the world as everyone else saw it? Why stay bound by old rules about perspective?

This is an excellent book. In establishing a clear philosophical basis for the change, Hook offers a powerful lens through which to capture the vast array of changes. Yet, he achieves it in a chatty, light tone. Dozens of artists are covered, though the big names such as Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Munch are given priority. There is personal stories, side explorations on the often lewd indulgences, and accounts of those who helped make the art world turn, from the commentators to the rich patrons and art dealers.

The question itself, 'what is the purpose' of a profession, and how do different groups within that profession think about the answer to that question is an important one. As I read I couldn't help but think of how it applied to my own work, and found myself interrogating friends in other industries, including one who makes video games, and another who is a cartoonist, as to how they understood the purpose of their own field.

I also must single out for praise Art of the Extreme for being an art history book that is designed for readers. As someone trying to learn about the history of painting it is frustrating to find so many very large unwieldy coffee-table books that have gorgeous glossy pictures, but precious little text to explain them. (And how are you going to possibly read such a book in bed, or carry it when on the move?). There are still has plenty of full colour pictures here, yet the decision to sacrifice the size of the images and keep the paper non-glossy ensures this is a book that is actually enjoyable to read.

Those with a strong knowledge of this period will probably find this a simple overview, but for someone like me still working out my Monets from my Manets, it was excellent. I've ordered Hook's other titles on the strength of this one alone. ]]> 3.83
author: Philip Hook
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/14
date added: 2022/03/21
shelves:
review:
The years 1905 to 1914 take painting in Europe from the realistic landscapes of the impressionists, through the brilliant colours of the Fauvists, to the perspective bending abstracts of cubism. What explains this remarkable shift?

According to Philip Hook, a new answer was provided to an essential yet old question 'what is the purpose of a painting?' For many centuries the majority (though not all) had concurred that its purpose was to present beauty, to uplift and enlighten. Hence the easy alignment between religious piety or displays of aristocrats and the old masters.

As the 20th century dawned a new answer took hold 'to display the instinct of the artist'. Moves were modest at first. Matisse' Woman with a Hat is a relatively normal painting except for the choice of colours. What came to matter, through the Favuists, Cubists, Futurists and other movements, was reflecting who the artist was, how they felt and engaged the world. Hence, why bother with simply presenting the world as everyone else saw it? Why stay bound by old rules about perspective?

This is an excellent book. In establishing a clear philosophical basis for the change, Hook offers a powerful lens through which to capture the vast array of changes. Yet, he achieves it in a chatty, light tone. Dozens of artists are covered, though the big names such as Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Munch are given priority. There is personal stories, side explorations on the often lewd indulgences, and accounts of those who helped make the art world turn, from the commentators to the rich patrons and art dealers.

The question itself, 'what is the purpose' of a profession, and how do different groups within that profession think about the answer to that question is an important one. As I read I couldn't help but think of how it applied to my own work, and found myself interrogating friends in other industries, including one who makes video games, and another who is a cartoonist, as to how they understood the purpose of their own field.

I also must single out for praise Art of the Extreme for being an art history book that is designed for readers. As someone trying to learn about the history of painting it is frustrating to find so many very large unwieldy coffee-table books that have gorgeous glossy pictures, but precious little text to explain them. (And how are you going to possibly read such a book in bed, or carry it when on the move?). There are still has plenty of full colour pictures here, yet the decision to sacrifice the size of the images and keep the paper non-glossy ensures this is a book that is actually enjoyable to read.

Those with a strong knowledge of this period will probably find this a simple overview, but for someone like me still working out my Monets from my Manets, it was excellent. I've ordered Hook's other titles on the strength of this one alone.
]]> 57559387 A research-based toolbox for anyone who wants to create a world with more justice, creativity, and courage.


For ideas to evolve and for societies to progress, we desperately need rebels to challenge conventional wisdom and improve on it. Unfortunately, most of us fear nonconformists, perceiving them as disloyal, reckless, destructive, or just plain weird. Because most would-be rebels lack the strength and skills to overcome hostile audiences, principled insubordination remains an underleveraged asset in the workplace and public square.

Based on cutting-edge research, The Art of Insubordination is the essential guidebook for anyone seeking to be heard, make change, and rebel against an unhealthy, stagnant status quo. The book also gives the rest of us the evidence-based strategies we need to become better allies of our leaders in change, ensuring that the best ideas, products, and solutions survive and win the day. Inside this book lie answers to several questions, including:


- What are the most effective ways to express unpopular, important ideas?
- How can we help principled rebels be heard and influential?
- How can we better manage the discomfort when trying to rebel or interacting with a rebel?


Filled with fresh and engaging stories about dissenters in the trenches as well as science that will make you see the world in a different way, The Art of Insubordination is for anyone who wants to see more justice, creativity, inclusion, cultural dynamism, and innovation in the world.
]]> 288 Todd Kashdan 0593420888 Andrew 3
The author is an American psychologist, who comes armed with significant studies about how we respond to group pressure, how challenging it is, and why diversity is so critical for groups and organisations.

Engagingly, this is not a simple 'rah the rebel' type book. Much of the book is about how if you want to change the minds of others, you need to do a lot of work to present yourself and your ideas in ways that make others receptive. Equally, (and courageously) Kashdan does not fall into the easy assumption that challengers are more moral than those they critique. He notes many examples of how those who seek power to enact change may then act no better than those who came before, using power simply to punish different groups, rather than fundamentally change the distribution or impact of power within a society.

The only part I found odd was the metaphor of 'recipes' at the end of each chapter, given how much the book stressed a contextual, adaptive, personally-derived approach to finding your path through. Not exactly like the science of cooking. It can also verge a little towards self-help at times, though that's not necessarily a bad thing, and in this case is more an issue of tone and focus rather than a flaw. But these are small quibbles in an otherwise short and informative read.]]> 4.05 2022
author: Todd Kashdan
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/11
date added: 2022/03/15
shelves:
review:
I was somewhat skeptical going in, but this is a relatively engaging, fact-based and thoughtful account of why we need intellectual diversity.

The author is an American psychologist, who comes armed with significant studies about how we respond to group pressure, how challenging it is, and why diversity is so critical for groups and organisations.

Engagingly, this is not a simple 'rah the rebel' type book. Much of the book is about how if you want to change the minds of others, you need to do a lot of work to present yourself and your ideas in ways that make others receptive. Equally, (and courageously) Kashdan does not fall into the easy assumption that challengers are more moral than those they critique. He notes many examples of how those who seek power to enact change may then act no better than those who came before, using power simply to punish different groups, rather than fundamentally change the distribution or impact of power within a society.

The only part I found odd was the metaphor of 'recipes' at the end of each chapter, given how much the book stressed a contextual, adaptive, personally-derived approach to finding your path through. Not exactly like the science of cooking. It can also verge a little towards self-help at times, though that's not necessarily a bad thing, and in this case is more an issue of tone and focus rather than a flaw. But these are small quibbles in an otherwise short and informative read.
]]> 33584234
In his introduction to The Statesman as Artist , David Cannadine provides the most important account yet of Churchill's life in art, which was not just a private hobby, but also, from 1945 onwards, an essential element of his public fame. The first part of this book brings together for the first time all of Churchill's writings and speeches on art, not only "Painting as a Pastime," but his addresses to the Royal Academy, his reviews of two of the Academy's summer exhibitions, and an important speech he delivered about art and freedom in 1937.

The second part of the book provides previously uncollected critical accounts of his work by some of Churchill's Augustus John's hitherto unpublished introduction to the Royal Academy exhibition of Churchill's paintings in 1959, and essays and reviews by Churchill's acquaintances Sir John Rothenstein and Professor Thomas Bodkin, and the art critic Eric Newton. The book is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of many of Churchill's paintings, some of them appearing for the first time. Here is Churchill the artist more fully revealed than ever before.]]> 192 David Cannadine 1472945212 Andrew 3
The best written piece belongs to Churchill himself with his excellent essay 'Painting as a Pastime'. Alongside this is an engaging essay by David Cannadine which covers how Churchill came to paint and what it meant to him, as well as several of Churchill's speeches to the Royal Academy. The book ends with a selection of pieces by professional artists/critics from the era discussing Churchill's work in quite generous terms, often reflecting a personal relationship.

The only downside to this charming book is that Cannadine's essay does not more clearly fix on the notion of 'the statesman as artist' as the title promises. During WW2 Churchill, Hitler and Eisenhower were painters, as were several of the British Cabinet. We often talk of politics as an 'art', so what could an enthusiasm for one contribute to or reveal about their practice of the other. Unfortunately a question left for another volume.]]> 4.09
author: David Cannadine
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/27
date added: 2022/02/28
shelves:
review:
An enjoyable little collection of essays about Churchill's path as a painter.

The best written piece belongs to Churchill himself with his excellent essay 'Painting as a Pastime'. Alongside this is an engaging essay by David Cannadine which covers how Churchill came to paint and what it meant to him, as well as several of Churchill's speeches to the Royal Academy. The book ends with a selection of pieces by professional artists/critics from the era discussing Churchill's work in quite generous terms, often reflecting a personal relationship.

The only downside to this charming book is that Cannadine's essay does not more clearly fix on the notion of 'the statesman as artist' as the title promises. During WW2 Churchill, Hitler and Eisenhower were painters, as were several of the British Cabinet. We often talk of politics as an 'art', so what could an enthusiasm for one contribute to or reveal about their practice of the other. Unfortunately a question left for another volume.
]]> 23569894 271 Jennifer Garvey Berger 0804788472 Andrew 4
I didn't love the weaving of a fictional story through the book as a case study to illustrate the ideas, but by the end it worked well enough, and I suspect it's the element I'll remember more (whether that's a good thing or not for remembering its message).]]> 3.68 2015
author: Jennifer Garvey Berger
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/25
date added: 2022/02/25
shelves:
review:
An enjoyable account of applying Complexity Theory to modern management.

I didn't love the weaving of a fictional story through the book as a case study to illustrate the ideas, but by the end it worked well enough, and I suspect it's the element I'll remember more (whether that's a good thing or not for remembering its message).
]]> 54785515 The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs to be told there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and ceaseless battle against distraction; we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient and life hacks to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,�� Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing that many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.]]> 271 Oliver Burkeman 0374159122 Andrew 4
This book was always going to be on my To-Read list, given my indulgent preference for good self-help/social psychology books, as well as my own academic research on how we think about time. It stands up as a pretty good entry for both categories. Burkeman's focus is individual, but many of his arguments could be related to broader societies.

The heart of this book is that most of our problems with time relate to a desire for control that is unrealistic if not absurd. We try and pack more in and multi-task just to get everything we expect done. We forward plan and worry about the future in the vain hope it will help us manage the situations to come. And the more technology brings us closer to frictionless reality - we can literally watch any movie we want in seconds, washing dishes via a dishwasher takes mere minutes - the more we find the impediments to unrestrained behaviour a frustration. Designing a better moustrap to shave those minutes off, as many in Silicon Valley are promising, won't help, and may actually be part of making our sense of time all feel worse.

Many books in this style are superficial, indeed Burkeman admits to both consuming and writing versions of them before. But this one is different, a thoughtful, engaging take on the question of the good life, by dint of our relationship with time.]]> 4.20 2021
author: Oliver Burkeman
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/01
date added: 2022/02/01
shelves:
review:
This starts off like a normal time management book, but ends as a stoic affirmation for confronting limits and uncomfortable realities, and the freedom that is to be found therein.

This book was always going to be on my To-Read list, given my indulgent preference for good self-help/social psychology books, as well as my own academic research on how we think about time. It stands up as a pretty good entry for both categories. Burkeman's focus is individual, but many of his arguments could be related to broader societies.

The heart of this book is that most of our problems with time relate to a desire for control that is unrealistic if not absurd. We try and pack more in and multi-task just to get everything we expect done. We forward plan and worry about the future in the vain hope it will help us manage the situations to come. And the more technology brings us closer to frictionless reality - we can literally watch any movie we want in seconds, washing dishes via a dishwasher takes mere minutes - the more we find the impediments to unrestrained behaviour a frustration. Designing a better moustrap to shave those minutes off, as many in Silicon Valley are promising, won't help, and may actually be part of making our sense of time all feel worse.

Many books in this style are superficial, indeed Burkeman admits to both consuming and writing versions of them before. But this one is different, a thoughtful, engaging take on the question of the good life, by dint of our relationship with time.
]]> 6968772
McGilchrist draws on a vast body of recent research in neuroscience and psychology to reveal that the difference is profound: the left hemisphere is detail oriented, while the right has greater breadth, flexibility, and generosity. McGilchrist then takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western culture, illustrating the tension between these two worlds as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from Aeschylus to Magritte.


Emisfero destro ed emisfero sinistro: una delle poche cose che tutti sanno è che il nostro cervello è anatomicamente diviso in due metà. Già gli antichi greci speculavano sulla possibile esistenza di un cervello bipartito, ma oggi siamo ormai al luogo comune, che tutti hanno sentito o letto da qualche parte, secondo il quale l'emisfero destro, quello "femminile", sarebbe adibito alla creatività e alla sensibilità, mentre quello sinistro, più "maschile", sarebbe predisposto alla logica e alla praticità: due modi inconciliabili di vedere il mondo. Ma qual è la vera natura di questa dicotomia? Quanto c'è di scientifico e quanto di impreciso o fuorviante? Lo psichiatra, neuroscienziato e studioso di letteratura Iain McGilchrist ha dedicato una vita di studi a questo problema, ricavandone una tesi tanto affascinante e profonda quanto rigorosa e solida, basata su un approccio interdisciplinare che spazia da Platone a Freud, da Shakespeare a Roger Sperry, neuroscienziato vincitore del Nobel per le sue ricerche sulla specializzazione emisferica. Secondo McGilchrist, ciascun emisfero decifra la medesima realtà in un modo coerente, ma incompatibile con quello dell'altro: l'emisfero destro fa esperienza del mondo nella sua interezza e complessità tralasciando i dettagli, mentre l'emisfero sinistro è analitico ma per forza di cose frammentario. Quale delle due modalità guida il nostro comportamento? In Il padrone e il suo emissario, McGilchrist racconta l'inevitabile lotta per il potere di cui i due emisferi sono protagonisti. I segni di questo confronto sono rintracciabili nella storia della nostra civiltà, e ancora ben visibili nei contrasti che animano la cultura occidentale contemporanea. Oggi, in un mondo sempre più disincarnato e dominato dalle tecnologie digitali, sembrerebbe che l'emisfero sinistro stia prendendo pericolosamente il sopravvento su quello destro, forse cambiando per sempre il nostro modo di pensare e di comprendere la realtà in cui viviamo.]]> 608 Iain McGilchrist 030014878X Andrew 5
McGilchrist explores the implication of having two hemispheres in the human brain, a feature we share with birds and mammals. While many popular conceptions abound, about a talkative left and intuitive-right, this book is rooted in the actual neuroscience. What do we know about the differences, and indeed why and how they operate?

Part one of the book focuses on what we know, showing that the two hemispheres can work independently (when one is damaged), but work best together. The ‘Master and Emissary�� argument reflects the claim that, when properly functioning, the right hemisphere helps us make an initial impression of the world, the left then distinguishes, applies concepts and attention, and then returns it to the right for context and processing. Each needs the other, even if they emphasise different elements of thought and processing of input in very distinct ways.

The rest of the book then asks what this split means for the nature and development of western thought (philosophy, art, poetry, society etc), and in particular develops McGilchrists�� argument that in the modern era, the Emissary (the left hemisphere) is attempting to overwhelm and discredit the Master (the right), leaving us in a very distorted form of society.

Different historical eras seem to reflect different balances between the hemispheres. The Reformation, Enlightenment and modern Western culture have a left-imbalance, the Renaissence, the Romantics and modern North Asian culture have stronger right-hemisphere themes coming through, though ultimately remain more evenly balanced overall. No one person is entirely one way (save grievous injury) and nor is any one society. McGilchrist particularly takes up the work of the existentialists and phenomenologists (Neitzsche, Husserl, Heidegger and especially Merleau-Ponty) to link his scientific analysis with the wider world views. These continental thinkers have long tried to break the cartesian/left-hemisphere demand to ignore the body, focus on the abstract concepts, and treat reason as the only valuable mode of thought.

It would have been easy for a scientist to screw up the social analysis, but there is nothing superficial about this book. It reflects decades of serious thinking and reading, not only in the science but in the social world. Yet though the link and relationship is never put in strict causal fashion, it’s a compelling analysis. A world dominated by the left hemisphere, McGilchrist argues, would be one much conceptual yet lacking context. Anything that could not be clearly captured and understood, ideally quantified would be devalued. Information and Process would come to replace wisdom and skill, and the world itself would be increasingly reshaped to fit what could be captured and controlled �� organised street grids with nature banished, instead of organic development in line with the environment. Sound like anywhere you know?

This is one of those books where as you read many little pieces you’ve picked up from other sources fall into place. The strange split world of the Renaissance and Reformation I encountered in a recent biography of Machiavelli seems more coherent now. James C. Scott wrestles with that same obsession for control in Seeing like a State. John Ralston-Saul with the arrogance and irrationality of reason in Voltaire’s Bastards (a 1993 book that remains ever more prescient in my view). As you proceed �� and it will take some time �� the Master and his Emissary not only helps explain how society works, but often parts of your own experience.

Take the way you can be undertaking some regular activity, from chopping veggies for dinner, hammering a nail, even taking a sip of water. You can do these things with your mind far away on other topics, suddenly something drags your specific focus on it. The actions tighten up, the flow stops, and you need to consciously move through the action to complete it, before you mind can move on again. That small moment reflects a shift from a body with the Right Hemisphere as Master operating in context, to the sudden grab of attention of the left hemisphere, which is then worked through, and in-time released back to normal processing.

We’ve all had such moments, we all discount them, but they’re also startling when you come to see their significance. For many years I’ve read works arguing that rationality is just one tool of the brain, one among many ways of thinking. Yet I always found that hard to incorporate into my normal thinking. It was too abstract, isn’t reason thoroughly integrated into everything I think or do? It was through reading Master and Emissary that I feel I gained the best way to see how such a distinction can be made, how to better give purchase and body to the idea of distinct modes of thought rather than one jumbled mess that just reflects ‘your way�� of understanding. Though we’ll see how long the sense endures.

As I conclude, my left hemisphere pulls me to make statements about whether there is clear conceptual organisation, methodology and whether it is causally ‘true��. My right hemisphere knows better. Those are good standards to be concerned with, but far from everything in judgement. I tend to prefer explanations of human society that stress the power of ideas and culture over crude materialist ‘our genes did it�� explanations. But this book shows, just as the phenomenologists have long argued, that we forget the link between body, brain and mind at our intellectual peril.

Strongly, Strongly recommended.]]> 4.34 2009
author: Iain McGilchrist
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2022/02/01
date added: 2022/02/01
shelves:
review:
There are many books which claim to substantively explain the modern world. There are very few which actually do. This is one of them.

McGilchrist explores the implication of having two hemispheres in the human brain, a feature we share with birds and mammals. While many popular conceptions abound, about a talkative left and intuitive-right, this book is rooted in the actual neuroscience. What do we know about the differences, and indeed why and how they operate?

Part one of the book focuses on what we know, showing that the two hemispheres can work independently (when one is damaged), but work best together. The ‘Master and Emissary�� argument reflects the claim that, when properly functioning, the right hemisphere helps us make an initial impression of the world, the left then distinguishes, applies concepts and attention, and then returns it to the right for context and processing. Each needs the other, even if they emphasise different elements of thought and processing of input in very distinct ways.

The rest of the book then asks what this split means for the nature and development of western thought (philosophy, art, poetry, society etc), and in particular develops McGilchrists�� argument that in the modern era, the Emissary (the left hemisphere) is attempting to overwhelm and discredit the Master (the right), leaving us in a very distorted form of society.

Different historical eras seem to reflect different balances between the hemispheres. The Reformation, Enlightenment and modern Western culture have a left-imbalance, the Renaissence, the Romantics and modern North Asian culture have stronger right-hemisphere themes coming through, though ultimately remain more evenly balanced overall. No one person is entirely one way (save grievous injury) and nor is any one society. McGilchrist particularly takes up the work of the existentialists and phenomenologists (Neitzsche, Husserl, Heidegger and especially Merleau-Ponty) to link his scientific analysis with the wider world views. These continental thinkers have long tried to break the cartesian/left-hemisphere demand to ignore the body, focus on the abstract concepts, and treat reason as the only valuable mode of thought.

It would have been easy for a scientist to screw up the social analysis, but there is nothing superficial about this book. It reflects decades of serious thinking and reading, not only in the science but in the social world. Yet though the link and relationship is never put in strict causal fashion, it’s a compelling analysis. A world dominated by the left hemisphere, McGilchrist argues, would be one much conceptual yet lacking context. Anything that could not be clearly captured and understood, ideally quantified would be devalued. Information and Process would come to replace wisdom and skill, and the world itself would be increasingly reshaped to fit what could be captured and controlled �� organised street grids with nature banished, instead of organic development in line with the environment. Sound like anywhere you know?

This is one of those books where as you read many little pieces you’ve picked up from other sources fall into place. The strange split world of the Renaissance and Reformation I encountered in a recent biography of Machiavelli seems more coherent now. James C. Scott wrestles with that same obsession for control in Seeing like a State. John Ralston-Saul with the arrogance and irrationality of reason in Voltaire’s Bastards (a 1993 book that remains ever more prescient in my view). As you proceed �� and it will take some time �� the Master and his Emissary not only helps explain how society works, but often parts of your own experience.

Take the way you can be undertaking some regular activity, from chopping veggies for dinner, hammering a nail, even taking a sip of water. You can do these things with your mind far away on other topics, suddenly something drags your specific focus on it. The actions tighten up, the flow stops, and you need to consciously move through the action to complete it, before you mind can move on again. That small moment reflects a shift from a body with the Right Hemisphere as Master operating in context, to the sudden grab of attention of the left hemisphere, which is then worked through, and in-time released back to normal processing.

We’ve all had such moments, we all discount them, but they’re also startling when you come to see their significance. For many years I’ve read works arguing that rationality is just one tool of the brain, one among many ways of thinking. Yet I always found that hard to incorporate into my normal thinking. It was too abstract, isn’t reason thoroughly integrated into everything I think or do? It was through reading Master and Emissary that I feel I gained the best way to see how such a distinction can be made, how to better give purchase and body to the idea of distinct modes of thought rather than one jumbled mess that just reflects ‘your way�� of understanding. Though we’ll see how long the sense endures.

As I conclude, my left hemisphere pulls me to make statements about whether there is clear conceptual organisation, methodology and whether it is causally ‘true��. My right hemisphere knows better. Those are good standards to be concerned with, but far from everything in judgement. I tend to prefer explanations of human society that stress the power of ideas and culture over crude materialist ‘our genes did it�� explanations. But this book shows, just as the phenomenologists have long argued, that we forget the link between body, brain and mind at our intellectual peril.

Strongly, Strongly recommended.
]]> 314114 The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, Fritjof Capra juxtaposed physics and mysticism to define a new vision of reality. Now, in The Web of Life, he takes yet another giant step forward, offering a brilliant synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroughs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, and chaos theory. 25 line drawings.]]> 347 Fritjof Capra 0385476760 Andrew 4
The core idea is that where Cartesian world views saw objects, this new approach focuses on relationships. Where the old approach emphasises mechanics and causal linear paths, the new highlights processes, patterns, non-linearity and self-organization/self-regulation.

So for instance, rather than seeing the mind and brain as distinct objects, and akin to a computer that represents what's out there, in here, we get a view of mind as a process continually bringing forth the world partly through the body and brain's own structure.

The key thus is not so much the holism (the fact of the relations) but the ecology, where we view issues in a much richer contextual sense. Looking at the broader patterns that can emerge, emphasizing the permanence of flux that can become both stable and self-making within certain patterns.

I'm still trying to get my head around systems thinking. I read a fair bit about it over a decade ago but found it largely unhelpful for my own work (though have published work using the argument political power is best understood as a relationship rather than object to be stored & counted). As such, i am now in the process of re-learning the benefits and limitations of this field. Like much else on the topic, it's a book designed to persuade you to the value of the new approach. Hence there's always a focus on the connections that may matter, rarely on how we might tell which ones do not. Capra offers his own spiritual and political spin on the implications, though it's incidental to the main text, and can be largely treated as a secondary issue (unlike say Lent's 'Web of Meaning' which lifts both title and many ideas, portraying in a far less capable fashion).

This is a thought-provoking text. My copy of this book is now littered with underlines and marginalia as I worked my way through it. I can see many potential applications in my other fields of interest, though i'm keen to dive into a recent and more academic text by Capra and Luisi to see how the work has developed in the decades since.

Recommended for those keen to dive into a different way of thinking.]]> 4.19 1996
author: Fritjof Capra
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/27
date added: 2022/01/27
shelves:
review:
An excellent introduction to systems thinking, albeit as it stood in 1996.

The core idea is that where Cartesian world views saw objects, this new approach focuses on relationships. Where the old approach emphasises mechanics and causal linear paths, the new highlights processes, patterns, non-linearity and self-organization/self-regulation.

So for instance, rather than seeing the mind and brain as distinct objects, and akin to a computer that represents what's out there, in here, we get a view of mind as a process continually bringing forth the world partly through the body and brain's own structure.

The key thus is not so much the holism (the fact of the relations) but the ecology, where we view issues in a much richer contextual sense. Looking at the broader patterns that can emerge, emphasizing the permanence of flux that can become both stable and self-making within certain patterns.

I'm still trying to get my head around systems thinking. I read a fair bit about it over a decade ago but found it largely unhelpful for my own work (though have published work using the argument political power is best understood as a relationship rather than object to be stored & counted). As such, i am now in the process of re-learning the benefits and limitations of this field. Like much else on the topic, it's a book designed to persuade you to the value of the new approach. Hence there's always a focus on the connections that may matter, rarely on how we might tell which ones do not. Capra offers his own spiritual and political spin on the implications, though it's incidental to the main text, and can be largely treated as a secondary issue (unlike say Lent's 'Web of Meaning' which lifts both title and many ideas, portraying in a far less capable fashion).

This is a thought-provoking text. My copy of this book is now littered with underlines and marginalia as I worked my way through it. I can see many potential applications in my other fields of interest, though i'm keen to dive into a recent and more academic text by Capra and Luisi to see how the work has developed in the decades since.

Recommended for those keen to dive into a different way of thinking.
]]> 58232101
THE END IS HERE

Jack West, Jr. has made it to the Supreme Labyrinth. Now he faces one last race-against multiple rivals, against time, against the collapse of the universe itself-a headlong race that will end at a throne inside the fabled labyrinth.

AN IMPOSSIBLE MAZE

But the road will be hard. For this is a maze like no a maze of mazes. Uncompromising and complex. Demanding and deadly.

A CATACLYSMIC CONCLUSION

It all comes down to this. For it ends here-now-in the most lethal and dangerous place Jack has encountered in all of his many adventures. And in the face of this indescribable peril, with everything on the line, there is only one thing he can do. Attempt the impossible.]]> 416 Matthew Reilly 1760559091 Andrew 4
I was somewhat down on the 2nd last volume, as it felt like it was more of a running race than an adventure. True, Reilly's skill is in writing books where the action begins immediately and never lets up, but it can go too far. Thankfully, in this, the last of 7 books in the series, he offers a great tale, a fun set of challenges and puzzles for the main character, and a sense of pacing that works well for the story.

A series I've been reading every year, often when on holiday at the beach. Fits perfectly.]]> 4.31 2021
author: Matthew Reilly
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/23
date added: 2022/01/25
shelves:
review:
A fun and fitting conclusion to the series.

I was somewhat down on the 2nd last volume, as it felt like it was more of a running race than an adventure. True, Reilly's skill is in writing books where the action begins immediately and never lets up, but it can go too far. Thankfully, in this, the last of 7 books in the series, he offers a great tale, a fun set of challenges and puzzles for the main character, and a sense of pacing that works well for the story.

A series I've been reading every year, often when on holiday at the beach. Fits perfectly.
]]> 43567428 Creswell Bell presents an exquisite aesthetic
study of Australian landscape painting and
its importance in the contemporary art world.
Through paintings, we traverse Australian
land, going from bush, to farmland, to the
coast and to suburbia (Rick Amor). Scenes
of lush, bucolic nature are shown by Lucy
Culliton, whereas we see landscapes with
dense, immersive vegetation by Mary
Tonkin, as well as desert art from the arid
centre painted by Mavis Ngallametta.
These depictions are so evocative and
rhapsodic that the reader feels connected
to the landscapes, at one with our terrain.
This is an enduring genre that may have
been abandoned by the avant-garde, but it
remains compelling for all people who love
art, nature and the outdoors.]]> 272 Amber Creswell Bell 1760760110 Andrew 5
There is great variety in the artists, styles, mediums and what they cover (organised by rough thematic focus, from Bush to Rainforest, Coast, Urban, Mountains and so on). Each artist has at least 3 glossy pictures on display, often with an image of the artist at work, many on location.

Accompanying these are short essays, where the editor Bell, allows the artists the space to speak freely. Many touch on themes of their material, practice and the draw of the landscape, but each feels distinct and representative of the artist, with their personality flowing through.

I read this book slowly. I kept it near my dinning table and over lunch would take it down and focus intently on a few artists work as I ate. This slow savoring and digestion of the book worked really well for ensuring I approached each work enthused and fresh.

A fine coffee table book for those wanting a fresh way of engaging the Australian landscape, an even better resource to motivate those who want to pick up the brush.]]> 4.45
author: Amber Creswell Bell
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/17
date added: 2022/01/17
shelves:
review:
As a distinctly amateur Australian landscape painter I adored this book.

There is great variety in the artists, styles, mediums and what they cover (organised by rough thematic focus, from Bush to Rainforest, Coast, Urban, Mountains and so on). Each artist has at least 3 glossy pictures on display, often with an image of the artist at work, many on location.

Accompanying these are short essays, where the editor Bell, allows the artists the space to speak freely. Many touch on themes of their material, practice and the draw of the landscape, but each feels distinct and representative of the artist, with their personality flowing through.

I read this book slowly. I kept it near my dinning table and over lunch would take it down and focus intently on a few artists work as I ate. This slow savoring and digestion of the book worked really well for ensuring I approached each work enthused and fresh.

A fine coffee table book for those wanting a fresh way of engaging the Australian landscape, an even better resource to motivate those who want to pick up the brush.
]]> 29499517 339 Brett Lodge Andrew 3
Today, Lavarack is best known for his astute critiques in the 1930s of the Singapore Strategy, and the need for the Australian government to move beyond a focus on raids and prepare to defend the continent against invasion. He also played important roles early on during the Second World War, including leading the effort at Tobruk early on against Rommel, and later Syrian campaign. Unfortunately personality issues, both his own and his rivalry with Blamey, saw his career stall and never quite reach the heights he was capable of.

One element of military histories I find intriguing is the authors always place such stock in detailing the formal command relationships, while their subjects seem to often live in a world that is utterly political. Ever shifting and changing with personal relationships and standing the key to how things actually work. We like to imagine a clear 'chain' of command, but often it's a tangled tug of war.

This is a reasonably written book, though it has its shortcomings. While I appreciate that Lodge skipped some of the traditional biographical tropes (such as identifying which town his great grandfather emigrated from, or trying to divine the soldier in the schoolboy), it's slightly disconcerting to find discussions of one of the main phases of Lavarack's mid-career life barely 15 pages into the book. You can also see that the conclusion was written immediately after the final chapter. That may sound a normal thing to do, but ideally conclusions sum up the whole person, where as this book concludes on the theme of the final chapter, deep in the weeds of Lavarack's personal dispute with Blamey. Finally, while not hagiographic, I'm now more keen to read a good biography of Blamey to get a better sense of just whether he was the petty tyrant that Lodge makes him out to be.

You'd probably only read this one if you're keen to learn about Australian military history in the 1930s and 1940s. In some way that's a shame, because Lavarack shows that Australia has produced a number of strong strategic minds and there was a fuller debate about the right way ahead, than we often reflect in telling the story of the dismal pre-war years. It's also a useful reminder that at the highest levels Strategy and Politics can be virtually indistinguishable. Uniforms and ranks may provide shields, but the personal relationships are always fundamental to how systems truly work. Especially, when the stakes are highest.]]> 3.50
author: Brett Lodge
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/10
date added: 2022/01/10
shelves:
review:
A decent biography of an intriguing figure in Australian military history.

Today, Lavarack is best known for his astute critiques in the 1930s of the Singapore Strategy, and the need for the Australian government to move beyond a focus on raids and prepare to defend the continent against invasion. He also played important roles early on during the Second World War, including leading the effort at Tobruk early on against Rommel, and later Syrian campaign. Unfortunately personality issues, both his own and his rivalry with Blamey, saw his career stall and never quite reach the heights he was capable of.

One element of military histories I find intriguing is the authors always place such stock in detailing the formal command relationships, while their subjects seem to often live in a world that is utterly political. Ever shifting and changing with personal relationships and standing the key to how things actually work. We like to imagine a clear 'chain' of command, but often it's a tangled tug of war.

This is a reasonably written book, though it has its shortcomings. While I appreciate that Lodge skipped some of the traditional biographical tropes (such as identifying which town his great grandfather emigrated from, or trying to divine the soldier in the schoolboy), it's slightly disconcerting to find discussions of one of the main phases of Lavarack's mid-career life barely 15 pages into the book. You can also see that the conclusion was written immediately after the final chapter. That may sound a normal thing to do, but ideally conclusions sum up the whole person, where as this book concludes on the theme of the final chapter, deep in the weeds of Lavarack's personal dispute with Blamey. Finally, while not hagiographic, I'm now more keen to read a good biography of Blamey to get a better sense of just whether he was the petty tyrant that Lodge makes him out to be.

You'd probably only read this one if you're keen to learn about Australian military history in the 1930s and 1940s. In some way that's a shame, because Lavarack shows that Australia has produced a number of strong strategic minds and there was a fuller debate about the right way ahead, than we often reflect in telling the story of the dismal pre-war years. It's also a useful reminder that at the highest levels Strategy and Politics can be virtually indistinguishable. Uniforms and ranks may provide shields, but the personal relationships are always fundamental to how systems truly work. Especially, when the stakes are highest.
]]> 54919960 'A paean to cognitive agility and the elasticity of the imagination' -- The Economist
'A tightly written prescription for smart thinking' -- Financial Times



The power of mental models to make better decisions

We're always told that humans make bad decisions and that more data is better. But this is people are actually good at decisions because we use mental models and can envision new realities outside of data. Great outcomes don't depend so much on the final moment of choosing but on generating better alternatives to choose between. That's framing. It's a cognitive muscle we can strengthen to improve our lives, work and future -- to meet our moment of economic upheaval, social tensions and existential threats. Framers shows how.]]> 352 Kenneth Cukier 0753554992 Andrew 4
In my day job I teach Strategy and one of the first lessons is understanding the difference between a tactical and a strategic mindset. Tactical mindsets are rule-bound, situated in space and time. From a board game to a battlefield, the environment is largely static and the best responses can be laid out and worked through. Hence why computers are increasingly powerful in these fields.

Strategy is very different, because in a strategic mindset the rules are malleable and the space and time can be re-arranged. To be a strategist is to be a framer. Someone who can take what seems a static situation and re-imagine the context, guiding metaphors, underlying assumptions, question rules and re-situate in space and time to find a more advantageous situation.

As the authors argue, framing is one of the central analytical skills, and one that is uniquely human. Machines are very good rule-followers, they can experiment and learn, but they cannot break the rules that are set for them or assumed within their code. Humans by contrast do this all the time. When we tell a joke, we're relying on the gap between your anticipated frame and what we then say for the surprise and humor. Many leading businesses also reflect significant frames. Howard Schultz realised that a coffee shop wasn't simply a place that made and sold coffee, but could be a place you'd want to visit and spend time in, hence Starbucks. Sam Walton realised that the 'store' didn't have to just be a location but could be a network, hence the success of Walmart.

Framing is not a skill we teach very often outside strategy classrooms. And it does come with a few constraints some find uncomfortable. As the authors stress, the best conditions for framing require an environment of cognitive diversity. That means it's often a team effort. Then is the matter of who is involved. Diversity of physical and lived experience is important, though it's only a partial step towards the more important element of ensuring you get a range of people who think differently about problems. Then you shouldn't just force the team into a room to find a consensus, but encourage their diversity by working on the problem separately and identifying preferred outcomes. Finally, when they come together, there needs to be a willingness to disagree, and to value the development over time of ideas, rather than simply a rapid move to an outcome.

There are limits to what framing can do. It can't overcome all material realities, and there's a risk of assuming that mere cleverness can provide a way out in every situation. That's not always true, and sometimes reflects an indulgent wish to avoid facing up to the obvious problem (see the trend for hiring endless expensive consultants). And as the authors' warn, changing frames too often is also harmful. Just because something is new or 'contrarian' thinking doesn't automatically make it superior. Finally, the gap between thought and action needs to be overcome and some frames, however analytically appealing are less helpful, even harmful, at implementation.

Overall however, 'Framers' is a compelling read on the power of human thought, and a reason for optimism that we can and will find ways to muddle our way out of the mess we today find ourselves in.]]> 3.65
author: Kenneth Cukier
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/20
date added: 2022/01/07
shelves:
review:
A paean to the human ability to think creatively about the world we live in.

In my day job I teach Strategy and one of the first lessons is understanding the difference between a tactical and a strategic mindset. Tactical mindsets are rule-bound, situated in space and time. From a board game to a battlefield, the environment is largely static and the best responses can be laid out and worked through. Hence why computers are increasingly powerful in these fields.

Strategy is very different, because in a strategic mindset the rules are malleable and the space and time can be re-arranged. To be a strategist is to be a framer. Someone who can take what seems a static situation and re-imagine the context, guiding metaphors, underlying assumptions, question rules and re-situate in space and time to find a more advantageous situation.

As the authors argue, framing is one of the central analytical skills, and one that is uniquely human. Machines are very good rule-followers, they can experiment and learn, but they cannot break the rules that are set for them or assumed within their code. Humans by contrast do this all the time. When we tell a joke, we're relying on the gap between your anticipated frame and what we then say for the surprise and humor. Many leading businesses also reflect significant frames. Howard Schultz realised that a coffee shop wasn't simply a place that made and sold coffee, but could be a place you'd want to visit and spend time in, hence Starbucks. Sam Walton realised that the 'store' didn't have to just be a location but could be a network, hence the success of Walmart.

Framing is not a skill we teach very often outside strategy classrooms. And it does come with a few constraints some find uncomfortable. As the authors stress, the best conditions for framing require an environment of cognitive diversity. That means it's often a team effort. Then is the matter of who is involved. Diversity of physical and lived experience is important, though it's only a partial step towards the more important element of ensuring you get a range of people who think differently about problems. Then you shouldn't just force the team into a room to find a consensus, but encourage their diversity by working on the problem separately and identifying preferred outcomes. Finally, when they come together, there needs to be a willingness to disagree, and to value the development over time of ideas, rather than simply a rapid move to an outcome.

There are limits to what framing can do. It can't overcome all material realities, and there's a risk of assuming that mere cleverness can provide a way out in every situation. That's not always true, and sometimes reflects an indulgent wish to avoid facing up to the obvious problem (see the trend for hiring endless expensive consultants). And as the authors' warn, changing frames too often is also harmful. Just because something is new or 'contrarian' thinking doesn't automatically make it superior. Finally, the gap between thought and action needs to be overcome and some frames, however analytically appealing are less helpful, even harmful, at implementation.

Overall however, 'Framers' is a compelling read on the power of human thought, and a reason for optimism that we can and will find ways to muddle our way out of the mess we today find ourselves in.
]]> 48711165 Find hope even in these dark times with this rediscovered masterpiece, a companion to his international bestseller Man's Search for Meaning.

Eleven months after he was liberated from the Nazi concentration camps, Viktor E. Frankl held a series of public lectures in Vienna. The psychiatrist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience, and the importance of embracing life even in the face of great adversity.

Published here for the very first time in English, Frankl's words resonate as strongly today--as the world faces a coronavirus pandemic, social isolation, and great economic uncertainty--as they did in 1946. He offers an insightful exploration of the maxim "Live as if you were living for the second time," and he unfolds his basic conviction that every crisis contains opportunity. Despite the unspeakable horrors of the camps, Frankl learned from the strength of his fellow inmates that it is always possible to "say yes to life"--a profound and timeless lesson for us all.]]> 136 Viktor E. Frankl 080700555X Andrew 4
This book was published in 1946, though this is the first time it has appeared in English. It involves three lectures given by Frankl in Vienna. Their central theme is the way we think about meaning and suffering. Each lecture has an extended theme, first suicide, then euthanasia finally the psychological phases of life inside a concentration camp.

All three are firmly life affirming. In a line of Nietzsche's which Frankl uses several times 'those who have a why can survive any how'. Indeed what struck me on reading was how deeply existential Frankl's thought appears. The indifference of the universe towards life, and the certainty of suffering, lead to an argument it is entirely upon the individual to step into and take responsibility for the meaning of their lives. Precisely because of this otherwise cruel set of conditions. That may seem bleak, but to the existentialists it is an incredibly liberating and life affirming notion. That, even if our body may be bound down (by others, by disease), we still have the freedom to choose how we respond, and in so doing to embody a higher meaning and purpose than many 'free' bodies may ever achieve.

I take a different view from Frankl on suicide and euthanasia. I see the control over ones exist as part of the responsibility of life. When all you have left is death, the manner of our exit is defining. I also struggle to believe a society can be 'free' if we condemn people to endure. Yet, his critique, founded on the possibility of saying 'yes to life' and finding meaning even in the most dire of circumstances where escape seems a worthy solution, is powerful. I'm not sure it will change my view, but it does for me re-enforce the importance of ensuring such decisions are only ever that of the individual and never pushed by society or even other loved ones, for all the potential harm and loss it may achieve.

Mans Search for Meaning is the deserved classic, and I'd recommend you read that first. But if you liked it, this is an affirming short read. ]]> 4.15 1946
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/07
date added: 2022/01/06
shelves:
review:
Three brilliant lectures that establish some of the key themes and arguments of Frankl's later classic 'Man's search for meaning'. If you've read that (and you really must), this is a nice supplement and refresher.

This book was published in 1946, though this is the first time it has appeared in English. It involves three lectures given by Frankl in Vienna. Their central theme is the way we think about meaning and suffering. Each lecture has an extended theme, first suicide, then euthanasia finally the psychological phases of life inside a concentration camp.

All three are firmly life affirming. In a line of Nietzsche's which Frankl uses several times 'those who have a why can survive any how'. Indeed what struck me on reading was how deeply existential Frankl's thought appears. The indifference of the universe towards life, and the certainty of suffering, lead to an argument it is entirely upon the individual to step into and take responsibility for the meaning of their lives. Precisely because of this otherwise cruel set of conditions. That may seem bleak, but to the existentialists it is an incredibly liberating and life affirming notion. That, even if our body may be bound down (by others, by disease), we still have the freedom to choose how we respond, and in so doing to embody a higher meaning and purpose than many 'free' bodies may ever achieve.

I take a different view from Frankl on suicide and euthanasia. I see the control over ones exist as part of the responsibility of life. When all you have left is death, the manner of our exit is defining. I also struggle to believe a society can be 'free' if we condemn people to endure. Yet, his critique, founded on the possibility of saying 'yes to life' and finding meaning even in the most dire of circumstances where escape seems a worthy solution, is powerful. I'm not sure it will change my view, but it does for me re-enforce the importance of ensuring such decisions are only ever that of the individual and never pushed by society or even other loved ones, for all the potential harm and loss it may achieve.

Mans Search for Meaning is the deserved classic, and I'd recommend you read that first. But if you liked it, this is an affirming short read.
]]> 34229688 218 Gerard M. Verschuuren Andrew 3
Holism-Reduction is at heart a debate about how do we best try and understand the world around us? Should we break it down into manageable constituent parts, or should we seek to perceive the whole 'system' at work? While there are radicals on both sides who insist only one approach works, most scholars would see value in both approaches. But each has its strengths and weaknesses, and suggest different ideas about the nature of the world we live in (why are there universal laws for the physical sciences but not for the life sciences? or Can the human mind be reduced to the mere stuff of the human brain akin to a machine? etc)

Verschuuren writes clearly, and at least for the opening chapters, provides an even-handed analysis of the logic of the different approaches. After discussing the principles and debates, he then turns to look at how different fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and the Social Sciences (along with sub-fields) approach these issues.

The only downside of this book is that as it proceeds, it becomes clearer that the author is strongly on the side of the holists. While not rejecting reduction as a method, and regularly praising its practical achievements, the focus is often one of identifying its flaws and stressing the need for more holistic approaches.

Holism seems the side with the clear intellectual momentum these days. Something that I'm noticing in my own field of strategy and international politics. It certainly has a valuable contribution, which we're only just beginning to sketch out. Yet to balance these I find myself now wanting to find a strong argument for reduction, one that takes seriously the recent contributions of systems thinking and complexity theory. ]]> 4.00
author: Gerard M. Verschuuren
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/05
date added: 2022/01/04
shelves:
review:
A useful introductory text to the Holism-Reduction debate in science.

Holism-Reduction is at heart a debate about how do we best try and understand the world around us? Should we break it down into manageable constituent parts, or should we seek to perceive the whole 'system' at work? While there are radicals on both sides who insist only one approach works, most scholars would see value in both approaches. But each has its strengths and weaknesses, and suggest different ideas about the nature of the world we live in (why are there universal laws for the physical sciences but not for the life sciences? or Can the human mind be reduced to the mere stuff of the human brain akin to a machine? etc)

Verschuuren writes clearly, and at least for the opening chapters, provides an even-handed analysis of the logic of the different approaches. After discussing the principles and debates, he then turns to look at how different fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and the Social Sciences (along with sub-fields) approach these issues.

The only downside of this book is that as it proceeds, it becomes clearer that the author is strongly on the side of the holists. While not rejecting reduction as a method, and regularly praising its practical achievements, the focus is often one of identifying its flaws and stressing the need for more holistic approaches.

Holism seems the side with the clear intellectual momentum these days. Something that I'm noticing in my own field of strategy and international politics. It certainly has a valuable contribution, which we're only just beginning to sketch out. Yet to balance these I find myself now wanting to find a strong argument for reduction, one that takes seriously the recent contributions of systems thinking and complexity theory.
]]> 51096882 The story of the Spartans is one of the best known in history, from their rigorous training to their dramatic feats of arms--but is that portrait of Spartan supremacy true? Renowned novelist and popular historian Myke Cole goes back to the original sources to set the record straight.

The Spartan hoplite enjoys unquestioned currency as history's greatest fighting man. Raised from the age of seven in the agoge, a military academy legendary for its harshness, Spartan men were brought up to value loyalty to the polis (the city-state) above all else, and to prize obedience to orders higher than their own lives. The last stand at Thermopylae made the Spartans legends in their own time, famous for their brevity, ability to endure hardship, control their emotions, and to never surrender--even in the face of impossible odds, even when it meant their certain deaths.

But was this reputation earned? Or was it simply the success of a propaganda machine that began turning at Thermopylae in 480 BC? Examining the historical record, both literary and material, paints a very different picture of Spartan arms--a society dedicated to militarism not in service to Greek unity or to the Spartan state itself, but as a desperate measure intended to keep its massive population of helots (a near-slave underclass) in line, forcing them to perform the mundane work of farming, cleaning, building and crafting to permit the dandified Spartan citizens (spartiatai) the time they needed to focus on their military training.

Covering Sparta's full classical history, The Bronze Lie examines the myth of Spartan warrior supremacy against the historical record, delving into the minutiae of Spartan warfare from arms and armor to tactics and strategy. With a special focus on previously under-publicized Spartan reverses that have been left largely unexamined, it looks at the major battles as well as re-examining major Spartan “victories��. Most importantly, it re-examines Thermopylae itself, a propaganda victory utterly out of proportion to its actual impact--a defeat that wasn't even accomplished by 300 Spartans, but rather by thousands of allied Greeks, all for the net effect of barely slowing a Persian advance that went on to roam Greece unchecked and destroy Athens itself.]]> 464 Myke Cole 1472843754 Andrew 3
In The Bronze Lie, Myke Cole takes on the myths about Sparta, primarily focusing on perhaps the core ideal, that of Spartans as super warriors. Upon this almost all else rests, from notions of fighting 'for freedom' and claimed disdain of wealth, luxury, individualism and the martial principles of honour, discipline, strength and courage.

By examining the actual record of Sparta from around 500 BC to 200 BC, Cole shows they were profoundly human. They lost more battles than they won. Sparta was not responsible for the two great victories it claimed (against Persia in the Greco-Persian wars where Athens rightly deserves most of the credit, and in the Peloponnesian war where Athens deserves most of the blame. They were often afraid. Their leaders bickered, took bribes, and made errors. They broke principles or invoked religious pretexts as suited their immediate needs. For a small society they had an outsized effect, but their most powerful tool ended up being their mythmaking rather than their swords.

Most notably, this was a society whose military and social norms consistently impeded their actual military achievements. They failed to adapt or innovate in the face of missile and cavalry attacks and had a bizarre inability to overcome siege walls. Their deeply unequal society - founded on mass slave labor - left the society with too few people to fight, and an unwillingness to risk too much loss or have the army away for too long lest the slaves revolt. They certainly have much that is admirable in moments, but the overall record is no brighter than several other ancient societies.

Cole writes engagingly, and has a very pleasing willingness to say 'I don't know' or 'scholars think it could be A or B, I agree with B'. You don't need to know much history to make sense of the argument, though I certainly I found I got more out of the sections I knew best, skimming over some of the very early or latter sections.

Cole concludes the book by discussing the problems of modern day Laconophillia. Among the growing far-right fascists in western society, Sparta is seen as the gold standard. This is deeply troubling. The Spartans were a disturbing society of slavery, inequality, aristocratic rule, widespread violence, comfort with tyranny and a repressive culture that ultimately led to their irrelevance and destruction. If this book does anything to help contemporary readers abandon their worship of an ugly strain of human history, it will be for the better.

Yet, I don't think we'll shake the fascination with Sparta anytime soon. For all that the actual record is mediocre and troubling, the values the myth seems to stand for - Honour, Discipline, Strength, Courage - are values we do need. The far right are not wrong to note that western society no longer seems to have the language to talk about or respect such values, and that they need to be part of our culture. Which raises the question: Is Sparta simply a proxy for these values that we could replace with a better proxy? Or is it the fact that such values are so rarely seen in an enduring societal fashion -rather than simply individual moments of their display - that Sparta seems to shine among the mud of human normality?

We can all find individuals who embody these values, but how do we - as a society - highlight them, and do so without falling into the trap of sclerotic and mythmaking behaviours that doomed the Spartans? And can we ever re-form a notion of Sparta that is both true to the historic record, helps us live up to those good ideals, while disclaiming the malevolent ideals it is too often celebrated for?
This book, written by one who has been a warrior and now is a scholar, is a good step. In returning to the actual history and actual human beings, Cole offers perhaps the most reliable foundation, though there are many long and difficult steps still to take.
]]> 3.61 2021
author: Myke Cole
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/03
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:
Many years ago I watched the movie 300 on an iMax giant screen in a packed cinema. The visuals and story are highly engaging. Yet I remember laughing out loud, drawing odd looks from those around me, when the Spartan narrator declares that they fought 'for freedom'. Nothing could be further from the truth. But this is just one part of the 'Bronze Lie', which puts forward a patently false image of Sparta, one that has troubling resonance in parts of modern society.

In The Bronze Lie, Myke Cole takes on the myths about Sparta, primarily focusing on perhaps the core ideal, that of Spartans as super warriors. Upon this almost all else rests, from notions of fighting 'for freedom' and claimed disdain of wealth, luxury, individualism and the martial principles of honour, discipline, strength and courage.

By examining the actual record of Sparta from around 500 BC to 200 BC, Cole shows they were profoundly human. They lost more battles than they won. Sparta was not responsible for the two great victories it claimed (against Persia in the Greco-Persian wars where Athens rightly deserves most of the credit, and in the Peloponnesian war where Athens deserves most of the blame. They were often afraid. Their leaders bickered, took bribes, and made errors. They broke principles or invoked religious pretexts as suited their immediate needs. For a small society they had an outsized effect, but their most powerful tool ended up being their mythmaking rather than their swords.

Most notably, this was a society whose military and social norms consistently impeded their actual military achievements. They failed to adapt or innovate in the face of missile and cavalry attacks and had a bizarre inability to overcome siege walls. Their deeply unequal society - founded on mass slave labor - left the society with too few people to fight, and an unwillingness to risk too much loss or have the army away for too long lest the slaves revolt. They certainly have much that is admirable in moments, but the overall record is no brighter than several other ancient societies.

Cole writes engagingly, and has a very pleasing willingness to say 'I don't know' or 'scholars think it could be A or B, I agree with B'. You don't need to know much history to make sense of the argument, though I certainly I found I got more out of the sections I knew best, skimming over some of the very early or latter sections.

Cole concludes the book by discussing the problems of modern day Laconophillia. Among the growing far-right fascists in western society, Sparta is seen as the gold standard. This is deeply troubling. The Spartans were a disturbing society of slavery, inequality, aristocratic rule, widespread violence, comfort with tyranny and a repressive culture that ultimately led to their irrelevance and destruction. If this book does anything to help contemporary readers abandon their worship of an ugly strain of human history, it will be for the better.

Yet, I don't think we'll shake the fascination with Sparta anytime soon. For all that the actual record is mediocre and troubling, the values the myth seems to stand for - Honour, Discipline, Strength, Courage - are values we do need. The far right are not wrong to note that western society no longer seems to have the language to talk about or respect such values, and that they need to be part of our culture. Which raises the question: Is Sparta simply a proxy for these values that we could replace with a better proxy? Or is it the fact that such values are so rarely seen in an enduring societal fashion -rather than simply individual moments of their display - that Sparta seems to shine among the mud of human normality?

We can all find individuals who embody these values, but how do we - as a society - highlight them, and do so without falling into the trap of sclerotic and mythmaking behaviours that doomed the Spartans? And can we ever re-form a notion of Sparta that is both true to the historic record, helps us live up to those good ideals, while disclaiming the malevolent ideals it is too often celebrated for?
This book, written by one who has been a warrior and now is a scholar, is a good step. In returning to the actual history and actual human beings, Cole offers perhaps the most reliable foundation, though there are many long and difficult steps still to take.

]]> 57136673
‘A notorious fiend��, ‘generally odious��, ‘he seems hideous, and so he is.�� Thanks to the invidious reputation of his most famous work, The Prince , Niccolò Machiavelli exerts a unique hold over the popular imagination. But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures and personal dramas? Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father’s penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher’s hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile. In doing so, Lee uncovers hitherto unobserved connections between Machiavelli’s life and thought. He also reveals the world through which Machiavelli from the great halls of Renaissance Florence to the court of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI, from the dungeons of the Stinche prison to the Rucellai gardens, where he would begin work on some of his last great works. As much a portrait of an age as of a uniquely engaging man, Lee’s gripping and definitive biography takes the reader into Machiavelli’s world �� and his work �� more completely than ever before.]]> 768 Alexander Lee 1447275004 Andrew 5
The subtitle captures the dual focus of the book. As much time is spent describing the political machinations from the 1480s-1520s in Florence as describing the man himself and his role within it all. This is a great strength of the book. Renaissance Italy is a fascinating period of rapidly changing alliances, constant threats of war, and ever changing forms of government (both republican and principality in Florence's case). As pure historical escapism, this is a riveting tale.

The historical focus brings to light Machiavelli's role as a diplomat for Florence. From a relatively young age, he served as a diplomat and official for his city state. This brought him into regular and direct contact with Kings, Princes and Popes. His record was moderately successful, some strong achievements, some notable failures, but throughout a clearly developing understanding of the nature of power and the personalities of his era.

Machiavelli's life covers three periods. First, the diplomat and official working for the Republic. By learning about this energetic period (seriously, it makes the contemporary world seem incredibly staid) and Niccolo's role as a minor participant, you can understand why and how Machiavelli became such an adept political analyst. Writing about the schemes of others was his day job, and as is widely known, his most famous work, The Prince is effectively a job application.

In the second phase, after the republican government falls and the Medici family return to power, Machiavelli finds himself distrusted and dismissed from office. Briefly tortured for rumored association with a coup plot, he retreats to his farmhouse in the countryside in poverty and bitterness. Eventually, he takes up the pen. This is partly an attempt to persuade the new regime of his value (for which he produced The Prince and later The Art of War), and partly as a highly literate man seeking to understand and enjoy his world (The Discourses on Livy, a History of Florence and variety of plays, poems and comedic tales).

Finally, in his last years the Medici's (now including the Pope) accept he has some value and use him for a series of small diplomatic missions and occasional requests for advice. While still far from power, he is at least accepted and involved once more. Yet once again, Machiavelli was on the wrong side. The Medici fall again from power, and once more he found himself seen as distrusted by the new regime. These last labours wear him out, and he dies at 58.

The Machiavelli who emerges seems a world away from the devils-right-hand-man account received through history. While many before him had written guidance for political leaders, most such accounts tended towards normative accounts, seeking to instruct leaders on how they should act. Akin to the endless tiresome 'ethics' scholarship we see today. Machiavelli's radical step with The Prince was to take what was the nature of private diplomatic correspondence, dealing with the world dispassionately and as it is, and present it in a publicly accessible form.

Appropriately, Lee gives more time to The Discourses, which is perhaps his best work and shows he was a man who spent most of his career trying to protect a small republican government from the predations of empire. Yet, if he is less politically immoral than presumed, Lee also shows a side I did not realise, that Niccolo Machiavelli was an absolute cad. He spent his whole life telling dirty jokes, hired endless prostitutes (women and men) and carried on many affairs. He seemed a loving, if neglectful family man. He was evidently a highly charming and social man. Perhaps the only redeeming element is that he could also laugh at himself. Near the end of his life he wrote (and had performed several times) a comedic play which mocked himself as a foolish old man lusting after a young maiden. So perhaps those who have condemned Machiavelli to Hell got something right...

A small part of me would have liked more of an intellectual history of Machiavelli's key works in this biography. While he's clearly a Renaissance man with an interesting relationship with history, that thread isn't pulled out as much as I would have liked. However, given the book already runs to 570 pages, and there are many good accounts already out there, this is hardly a flaw. Don't be put off by the length. This is a quick read given the quality of Lee's prose and ability to convey the major themes of an at times bewilderingly complex era. You'll come away with a renewed sense of the man, and an engrossing historical account as well.

Highly recommended. ]]> 4.70 2020
author: Alexander Lee
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/28
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves:
review:
An outstanding and engrossing biography of Niccolo Machiavelli. A perfect holiday read for political junkies.

The subtitle captures the dual focus of the book. As much time is spent describing the political machinations from the 1480s-1520s in Florence as describing the man himself and his role within it all. This is a great strength of the book. Renaissance Italy is a fascinating period of rapidly changing alliances, constant threats of war, and ever changing forms of government (both republican and principality in Florence's case). As pure historical escapism, this is a riveting tale.

The historical focus brings to light Machiavelli's role as a diplomat for Florence. From a relatively young age, he served as a diplomat and official for his city state. This brought him into regular and direct contact with Kings, Princes and Popes. His record was moderately successful, some strong achievements, some notable failures, but throughout a clearly developing understanding of the nature of power and the personalities of his era.

Machiavelli's life covers three periods. First, the diplomat and official working for the Republic. By learning about this energetic period (seriously, it makes the contemporary world seem incredibly staid) and Niccolo's role as a minor participant, you can understand why and how Machiavelli became such an adept political analyst. Writing about the schemes of others was his day job, and as is widely known, his most famous work, The Prince is effectively a job application.

In the second phase, after the republican government falls and the Medici family return to power, Machiavelli finds himself distrusted and dismissed from office. Briefly tortured for rumored association with a coup plot, he retreats to his farmhouse in the countryside in poverty and bitterness. Eventually, he takes up the pen. This is partly an attempt to persuade the new regime of his value (for which he produced The Prince and later The Art of War), and partly as a highly literate man seeking to understand and enjoy his world (The Discourses on Livy, a History of Florence and variety of plays, poems and comedic tales).

Finally, in his last years the Medici's (now including the Pope) accept he has some value and use him for a series of small diplomatic missions and occasional requests for advice. While still far from power, he is at least accepted and involved once more. Yet once again, Machiavelli was on the wrong side. The Medici fall again from power, and once more he found himself seen as distrusted by the new regime. These last labours wear him out, and he dies at 58.

The Machiavelli who emerges seems a world away from the devils-right-hand-man account received through history. While many before him had written guidance for political leaders, most such accounts tended towards normative accounts, seeking to instruct leaders on how they should act. Akin to the endless tiresome 'ethics' scholarship we see today. Machiavelli's radical step with The Prince was to take what was the nature of private diplomatic correspondence, dealing with the world dispassionately and as it is, and present it in a publicly accessible form.

Appropriately, Lee gives more time to The Discourses, which is perhaps his best work and shows he was a man who spent most of his career trying to protect a small republican government from the predations of empire. Yet, if he is less politically immoral than presumed, Lee also shows a side I did not realise, that Niccolo Machiavelli was an absolute cad. He spent his whole life telling dirty jokes, hired endless prostitutes (women and men) and carried on many affairs. He seemed a loving, if neglectful family man. He was evidently a highly charming and social man. Perhaps the only redeeming element is that he could also laugh at himself. Near the end of his life he wrote (and had performed several times) a comedic play which mocked himself as a foolish old man lusting after a young maiden. So perhaps those who have condemned Machiavelli to Hell got something right...

A small part of me would have liked more of an intellectual history of Machiavelli's key works in this biography. While he's clearly a Renaissance man with an interesting relationship with history, that thread isn't pulled out as much as I would have liked. However, given the book already runs to 570 pages, and there are many good accounts already out there, this is hardly a flaw. Don't be put off by the length. This is a quick read given the quality of Lee's prose and ability to convey the major themes of an at times bewilderingly complex era. You'll come away with a renewed sense of the man, and an engrossing historical account as well.

Highly recommended.
]]> 55836847 -- Gabor Mat�� M.D., author, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

As our civilization careens toward climate breakdown, ecological destruction, and gaping inequality, people are losing their existential moorings. The dominant worldview of disconnection, which tells us we are split between mind and body, separate from each other, and at odds with the natural world, has been invalidated by modern science.

Award-winning author, Jeremy Lent, investigates humanity's age-old questions - Who am I? Why am I? How should I live? - from a fresh perspective, weaving together findings from modern systems thinking, evolutionary biology, and cognitive neuroscience with insights from Buddhism, Taoism, and Indigenous wisdom.

The result is a breathtaking accomplishment: a rich, coherent worldview based on a deep recognition of connectedness within ourselves, between each other, and with the entire natural world. It offers a compelling foundation for a new philosophical framework that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on a flourishing Earth.

The Web of Meaning is for everyone looking for deep and coherent answers to the crisis of civilization.]]> 528 Jeremy Lent 0865719543 Andrew 2
In the second half Lent slowly turns from description to analysis. Lent wants to argue for a Gaia-style 'we are all connected' modern consciousness that will see humanity fix racism, save the animals, end climate change, install communal gardens on every block, and make us all love each other. And he wants you to believe that modern science has 'proven' every idea of indigenous or historical societies, and their common endorsement of his preferred view.

I have no problem with what Lent argues. I am deeply troubled by how he argues it.

Take the idea that we can integrate science and traditional wisdom. It's the subtitle of the book, so its clear Lent believes in it. Yet every time he gets near to talking about this relationship problems emerge. There is a cherry picking of global traditions to find a convenient basis, incredibly vague descriptions of said traditions that sap much of the life and rigour out of these rich philosophies, startling claims about how it has all been 'demonstrated' by modern science (by citing perhaps one or two studies that supports somewhat a tangential principle), and a rapid shift onto the next topic. It's maddening. It shows utter disrespect for traditional systems of belief. Lent reduces them all to amorphous 'love mother nature, we are all connected' mumbo jumbo. There is no serious engagement with the actual views, just a smash and grab appropriation.

It gets worse when Lent talks about views he disagrees with. A professor of mine once said the key to arguing is knowing your adversary's views better than they know them. Certainly a deep comfort with the arguments you critique is a requirement for effective criticism, let alone the synthesis Lent claims he seeks. However, when it comes to discussing capitalism, the only spokesman for this system is Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street. Lent's version of capitalism is not so much a strawman as just a bundle of straw. There's no evidence of thought about how such a system operates or why it has such strengths and weaknesses.

Which is a shame, because, for a book which claims to be interested in 'integrating' different forms of understanding, there's a lot he could use. Lent stresses the importance of self-organisation and cooperation in how nature functions. Want to know who would agree firmly with this? Friedrich Hayek. Capitalism is self-organizing. It's also inherently cooperative (Lent wrote the book and has my money, I now have access to his ideas. We cooperated to mutual benefit). That doesn't mean the system as currently operating shouldn't be significantly changed, but it's a telling case where Lent not only doesn't understand what he's arguing against, but misses ways to actually strengthen his own argument!

This book really is 2 halves. I really enjoyed some of the first 150-200 pages. I learned a lot and I found myself compelled by it. I've bought several books thanks to his compelling summaries. But the more he spoke about areas I do know something about (modern development debates or Enlightenment thinkers for instance) the more I was troubled by the very questionable absolutist claims and rapid shifts in focus that suggested either an inability to trace out a line of thought or a deliberate effort to mislead. If nothing else, any book which uses Hobbes as a stand in for the entire liberal tradition, dismisses out of hand the work of David Chalmers on the Hard Problem of consciousness, and portrays Blaise Pascal as a non-believer suggests a lack of authorial and editorial care.

So I'm left with some parts as worth 4 stars and some a 1 star. I really did want to like this book, but that only made my frustration with the slippery, cherry picked, under-done nature of the argument deeply all the more frustrating. ]]> 4.24 2021
author: Jeremy Lent
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/21
date added: 2021/12/21
shelves:
review:
This is a book of two halves. In the first half, Lent seeks to describe dozens of scientific concepts such as complexity theory, modern genetics, fascinating recent advances in understanding the nature of plants and links it all with historic philosophies such as neo-confusionism and the ancient greeks. As a broad, easy to read literature review, this section is enjoyable, sometimes insightful and provided many references to books I now want to read. After 150 odd pages, I was thinking about recommending this book to others.

In the second half Lent slowly turns from description to analysis. Lent wants to argue for a Gaia-style 'we are all connected' modern consciousness that will see humanity fix racism, save the animals, end climate change, install communal gardens on every block, and make us all love each other. And he wants you to believe that modern science has 'proven' every idea of indigenous or historical societies, and their common endorsement of his preferred view.

I have no problem with what Lent argues. I am deeply troubled by how he argues it.

Take the idea that we can integrate science and traditional wisdom. It's the subtitle of the book, so its clear Lent believes in it. Yet every time he gets near to talking about this relationship problems emerge. There is a cherry picking of global traditions to find a convenient basis, incredibly vague descriptions of said traditions that sap much of the life and rigour out of these rich philosophies, startling claims about how it has all been 'demonstrated' by modern science (by citing perhaps one or two studies that supports somewhat a tangential principle), and a rapid shift onto the next topic. It's maddening. It shows utter disrespect for traditional systems of belief. Lent reduces them all to amorphous 'love mother nature, we are all connected' mumbo jumbo. There is no serious engagement with the actual views, just a smash and grab appropriation.

It gets worse when Lent talks about views he disagrees with. A professor of mine once said the key to arguing is knowing your adversary's views better than they know them. Certainly a deep comfort with the arguments you critique is a requirement for effective criticism, let alone the synthesis Lent claims he seeks. However, when it comes to discussing capitalism, the only spokesman for this system is Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street. Lent's version of capitalism is not so much a strawman as just a bundle of straw. There's no evidence of thought about how such a system operates or why it has such strengths and weaknesses.

Which is a shame, because, for a book which claims to be interested in 'integrating' different forms of understanding, there's a lot he could use. Lent stresses the importance of self-organisation and cooperation in how nature functions. Want to know who would agree firmly with this? Friedrich Hayek. Capitalism is self-organizing. It's also inherently cooperative (Lent wrote the book and has my money, I now have access to his ideas. We cooperated to mutual benefit). That doesn't mean the system as currently operating shouldn't be significantly changed, but it's a telling case where Lent not only doesn't understand what he's arguing against, but misses ways to actually strengthen his own argument!

This book really is 2 halves. I really enjoyed some of the first 150-200 pages. I learned a lot and I found myself compelled by it. I've bought several books thanks to his compelling summaries. But the more he spoke about areas I do know something about (modern development debates or Enlightenment thinkers for instance) the more I was troubled by the very questionable absolutist claims and rapid shifts in focus that suggested either an inability to trace out a line of thought or a deliberate effort to mislead. If nothing else, any book which uses Hobbes as a stand in for the entire liberal tradition, dismisses out of hand the work of David Chalmers on the Hard Problem of consciousness, and portrays Blaise Pascal as a non-believer suggests a lack of authorial and editorial care.

So I'm left with some parts as worth 4 stars and some a 1 star. I really did want to like this book, but that only made my frustration with the slippery, cherry picked, under-done nature of the argument deeply all the more frustrating.
]]> 57155234 An essential guide to the intractable public debates about the virtues and vices of economic globalization, cutting through the complexity to reveal the fault lines that divide us and the points of agreement that might bring us together.

Globalization has lifted millions out of poverty. Globalization is a weapon the rich use to exploit the poor. Globalization builds bridges across national boundaries. Globalization fuels the populism and great-power competition that is tearing the world apart.

When it comes to the politics of free trade and open borders, the camps are dug in, producing a kaleidoscope of claims and counterclaims, unlikely alliances, and unexpected foes. But what exactly are we fighting about? And how might we approach these issues more productively? Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp cut through the confusion with an indispensable survey of the interests, logics, and ideologies driving these intractable debates, which lie at the heart of so much political dispute and decision making. The authors expertly guide us through six competing narratives about the virtues and vices of globalization: the old establishment view that globalization benefits everyone (win–win), the pessimistic belief that it threatens us all with pandemics and climate change (lose–lose), along with various rival accounts that focus on specific winners and losers, from China to America’s Rust Belt.

Instead of picking sides, Six Faces of Globalization gives all these positions their due, showing how each deploys sophisticated arguments and compelling evidence. Both globalization’s boosters and detractors will come away with their eyes opened. By isolating the fundamental value conflicts—growth versus sustainability, efficiency versus social stability—driving disagreement and showing where rival narratives converge, Roberts and Lamp provide a holistic framework for understanding current debates. In doing so, they showcase a more integrative way of thinking about complex problems.]]> 400 Anthea Roberts 0674245954 Andrew 4
The closest analogue for this book I can think of is the ‘schools of thought�� work you find in fields such as Foreign Policy or parts of Philosophy. Rather than get bogged down in identifying specific actors or trying to tease out how the paradigms function, this work concentrates on ‘narratives��, the stories we tell about globalization. Six are identified and explored with a fair minded chapter on each: Establishment Narrative, Left wing, Right Wing, Corporate Power, Geoeconomic and finally Global Threat narratives.

The concentration on the narratives rather than the political groupings allows the authors to explore three useful further themes. First, a chapter on how actors pick up and modify these narratives to serve other strategic goals. Second, a series of chapters exploring how the narratives have evolved, in relation to new issues (such as covid or climate change) and may evolve in terms of overlaps and alliances. Finally, there is a fascinating and valuable chapter on the need for scholars and officials to think about issues in multi-faceted ways, able to both deeply understand and ideally synthetise the issues in purposeful ways.

One of the charms of this book is that I found myself compelled by several of these narratives. I respect and generally embrace the logic and results of the establishment narrative. I also value the way the left and right wing narratives highlight important problems that need urgent address. In my preference for competitive markets I readily accept the logic that too much corporate power is dangerous. Strangely it was the geoeconomics and global threat, those views perhaps closest to my own field of study that I find the least compelling, especially the latter.

That persuasiveness is a deliberate effort by the authors, who stress the need for a form of ‘cognitive empathy�� as a foundation for understanding. To carry this out, they manage an impressive scholarly sense of distance. Normally I prefer those who muck in and argue a specific case, but such an insertion of personal views would have run counter to the purpose and goal of this book. It would have been very easy for the authors to have said ‘here are six faces and in our last chapter we show why our 7th is the best and only right answer��. This book is quietly radical in refusing to take such an easy path.

I hope that more authors do seek to pursue similar such works. If they do, the last chapter offers an important first step in thinking through the nature and value of such work. It raised for me two questions that seemed somewhat implicit in this work.

First, the book ends with an endorsement of ‘foxes�� over ‘hedgehogs�� (following Isiah Berlin’s famous schema), as well as a call for ‘synthesizing mind[s]�� which seek to ‘knit together information from disparate sources into a coherent whole��. I do however wonder if there is an implicit tension here between these two positions. It seems that the knitting together of details is the core skill of hedgehogs. True, their combinations tend to subsume rather than regenerate the materials they are working with, yet they do better than any at establishing those complementary relationships between elements. More so, hedgehogs inherently assume that such a synthesis exists and can be found. This fox isn’t always so sure. Certainly some issues are, but maybe others by their nature will remain patchworks. And can foxes also knit together? Or are they best placed to tease apart, recognising key distinctions?

Second, the search for a synthesis seems to be based on the assumption that a relatively unified global consensus about narrative is beneficial. The book notes that such a consensus existed in the 1990s and early 2000s (the establishment narrative) and it’s form reflect an attempt to explore the breakdown of that consensus. Yet, should we assume that having a dominant narrative was beneficial, or that we are harmed by the obvious disunity and debate we see today? There’s obviously a spectrum here, no one wants global conformism, nor bitter breakdowns where the gaps are too big to even talk to one another. Yet what is the right place to be on that spectrum? The book seems to imply the movement back to a consensus is the healthier state, again I think that’s worth thinking through.

I sometimes describe books I review here as ‘Citizenship�� books. That is, the kind of book I think we should just buy a copy of for every adult and say ‘read this so you can participate in your society��. This is one such book. It doesn’t tell you how to think about globalization but is sure to improve the quality of your thinking about it. Not only by helping you learn a lot about globalization and its discontents, but also about how we need to try and see these issues in multi-faceted ways if we are to genuinely grapple with them.

Recommended.]]> 4.24
author: Anthea Roberts
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/13
date added: 2021/12/14
shelves:
review:
Six Faces is a very clever meta-analysis of the western Globalization debate, examining the main stories we tell about it, and how they have evolved in the face of turmoil over inequality, competition, climate and so on. Six Faces is the kind of stocktake book we all regularly need, but a form which, outside of textbooks is so rarely provided, and rarely with such insightful analysis.

The closest analogue for this book I can think of is the ‘schools of thought�� work you find in fields such as Foreign Policy or parts of Philosophy. Rather than get bogged down in identifying specific actors or trying to tease out how the paradigms function, this work concentrates on ‘narratives��, the stories we tell about globalization. Six are identified and explored with a fair minded chapter on each: Establishment Narrative, Left wing, Right Wing, Corporate Power, Geoeconomic and finally Global Threat narratives.

The concentration on the narratives rather than the political groupings allows the authors to explore three useful further themes. First, a chapter on how actors pick up and modify these narratives to serve other strategic goals. Second, a series of chapters exploring how the narratives have evolved, in relation to new issues (such as covid or climate change) and may evolve in terms of overlaps and alliances. Finally, there is a fascinating and valuable chapter on the need for scholars and officials to think about issues in multi-faceted ways, able to both deeply understand and ideally synthetise the issues in purposeful ways.

One of the charms of this book is that I found myself compelled by several of these narratives. I respect and generally embrace the logic and results of the establishment narrative. I also value the way the left and right wing narratives highlight important problems that need urgent address. In my preference for competitive markets I readily accept the logic that too much corporate power is dangerous. Strangely it was the geoeconomics and global threat, those views perhaps closest to my own field of study that I find the least compelling, especially the latter.

That persuasiveness is a deliberate effort by the authors, who stress the need for a form of ‘cognitive empathy�� as a foundation for understanding. To carry this out, they manage an impressive scholarly sense of distance. Normally I prefer those who muck in and argue a specific case, but such an insertion of personal views would have run counter to the purpose and goal of this book. It would have been very easy for the authors to have said ‘here are six faces and in our last chapter we show why our 7th is the best and only right answer��. This book is quietly radical in refusing to take such an easy path.

I hope that more authors do seek to pursue similar such works. If they do, the last chapter offers an important first step in thinking through the nature and value of such work. It raised for me two questions that seemed somewhat implicit in this work.

First, the book ends with an endorsement of ‘foxes�� over ‘hedgehogs�� (following Isiah Berlin’s famous schema), as well as a call for ‘synthesizing mind[s]�� which seek to ‘knit together information from disparate sources into a coherent whole��. I do however wonder if there is an implicit tension here between these two positions. It seems that the knitting together of details is the core skill of hedgehogs. True, their combinations tend to subsume rather than regenerate the materials they are working with, yet they do better than any at establishing those complementary relationships between elements. More so, hedgehogs inherently assume that such a synthesis exists and can be found. This fox isn’t always so sure. Certainly some issues are, but maybe others by their nature will remain patchworks. And can foxes also knit together? Or are they best placed to tease apart, recognising key distinctions?

Second, the search for a synthesis seems to be based on the assumption that a relatively unified global consensus about narrative is beneficial. The book notes that such a consensus existed in the 1990s and early 2000s (the establishment narrative) and it’s form reflect an attempt to explore the breakdown of that consensus. Yet, should we assume that having a dominant narrative was beneficial, or that we are harmed by the obvious disunity and debate we see today? There’s obviously a spectrum here, no one wants global conformism, nor bitter breakdowns where the gaps are too big to even talk to one another. Yet what is the right place to be on that spectrum? The book seems to imply the movement back to a consensus is the healthier state, again I think that’s worth thinking through.

I sometimes describe books I review here as ‘Citizenship�� books. That is, the kind of book I think we should just buy a copy of for every adult and say ‘read this so you can participate in your society��. This is one such book. It doesn’t tell you how to think about globalization but is sure to improve the quality of your thinking about it. Not only by helping you learn a lot about globalization and its discontents, but also about how we need to try and see these issues in multi-faceted ways if we are to genuinely grapple with them.

Recommended.
]]> 51122895
Named Energy Writer of the Year for The New Map by the American Energy Society

�� A master class on how the world works.”��—NPR

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and global energy expert, Daniel Yergin offers a revelatory new account of how energy revolutions, climate battles, and geopolitics are mapping our future

The world is being shaken by the collision of energy, climate change, and the clashing power of nations in a time of global crisis. Out of this tumult is emerging a new map of energy and geopolitics. The “shale revolution�� in oil and gas has transformed the American economy, ending the “era of shortage�� but introducing a turbulent new era. Almost overnight, the United States has become the world's number one energy powerhouse. Yet concern about energy's role in climate change is challenging the global economy and way of life, accelerating a second energy revolution in the search for a low-carbon future. All of this has been made starker and more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic dark age that it has wrought.

World politics is being upended, as a new cold war develops between the United States and China, and the rivalry grows more dangerous with Russia, which is pivoting east toward Beijing. Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are converging both on energy and on challenging American leadership, as China projects its power and influence in all directions. The South China Sea, claimed by China and the world's most critical trade route, could become the arena where the United States and China directly collide. The map of the Middle East, which was laid down after World War I, is being challenged by jihadists, revolutionary Iran, ethnic and religious clashes, and restive populations. But the region has also been shocked by the two recent oil price collapses--and by the very question of oil's future in the rest of this century.

A master storyteller and global energy expert, Daniel Yergin takes the reader on an utterly riveting and timely journey across the world's new map. He illuminates the great energy and geopolitical questions in an era of rising political turbulence and points to the profound challenges that lie ahead.]]> 512 Daniel Yergin 1594206430 Andrew 2
Yergin's work shines when he's addressing specifics energy sources. This book offers the analysis of US shale capacity I had long wanted to read, and his argument for why oil and coal will remain part of the energy mix long into the future is well explained. He's also quite good on the pipeline challenges in Europe and North America and the way they have become political footballs.

The analysis of the political implications is however weak. Yergin rarely links the specifics of energy to the specifics of politics. I.e. he shows the US was less worried about importing energy due to its shale capacity, but what that meant for how the US acted in its relationships or worldview is not discussed. There is a long discussion of China's interest in the South China Sea, covering very well trodden ground, and then a brief line saying 'actually it seems there really isn't much oil under the SCS anyway'. Nor does Yergin have anything really interesting to say about the politics. It's just an implied link between various energy sources and a picture of geopolitics as a rough realist and fundamentally material contest.

The core message of this book seems to be that the New Map will still largely look like the Old Map. While Yergin finally brings himself to discuss renewables near the end of the book, he doesn't discuss what this might mean for politics. Would China or the US change their global approaches if they were genuinely energy independent? What happens to Russia or Saudi Arabia when no one wants their oil? To a degree, Yergin rejects the premise of these questions. He argues that due to vast energy needs, baked in investment, slow technological development and government policies, we're going to need a *net* carbon goal as these energy sources will remain a core part of the world's energy picture.

That's an important point, but making it often overwhelms his other analysis. Yergin does not take a stand against climate change, though he consistently downplays its significance and sneers at those who want to act rapidly on it. He might protest his book is written in a neutral tone, but his selection of topics shows otherwise. For instance, he repeatedly, insistently returns to the role of government subsidies propping up solar and renewables, but never discusses the vast government subsidies for fossil fuels (estimated at $5.9 trillion globally by the IMF).

Thus, there's some interesting snippets here. But it's too much of a general tour of world politics and 20th century history to really get into the essential issues of what's new, what that means and how energy translates into specific political ideas, decisions and outcomes. ]]> 4.16 2020
author: Daniel Yergin
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/05
date added: 2021/12/04
shelves:
review:
The New Map is interesting and capable on explaining traditional sources of energy. But when it comes to exploring what's 'new', or on how energy shapes the 'map', it is either dull, one-sided or missing in terms of analysis.

Yergin's work shines when he's addressing specifics energy sources. This book offers the analysis of US shale capacity I had long wanted to read, and his argument for why oil and coal will remain part of the energy mix long into the future is well explained. He's also quite good on the pipeline challenges in Europe and North America and the way they have become political footballs.

The analysis of the political implications is however weak. Yergin rarely links the specifics of energy to the specifics of politics. I.e. he shows the US was less worried about importing energy due to its shale capacity, but what that meant for how the US acted in its relationships or worldview is not discussed. There is a long discussion of China's interest in the South China Sea, covering very well trodden ground, and then a brief line saying 'actually it seems there really isn't much oil under the SCS anyway'. Nor does Yergin have anything really interesting to say about the politics. It's just an implied link between various energy sources and a picture of geopolitics as a rough realist and fundamentally material contest.

The core message of this book seems to be that the New Map will still largely look like the Old Map. While Yergin finally brings himself to discuss renewables near the end of the book, he doesn't discuss what this might mean for politics. Would China or the US change their global approaches if they were genuinely energy independent? What happens to Russia or Saudi Arabia when no one wants their oil? To a degree, Yergin rejects the premise of these questions. He argues that due to vast energy needs, baked in investment, slow technological development and government policies, we're going to need a *net* carbon goal as these energy sources will remain a core part of the world's energy picture.

That's an important point, but making it often overwhelms his other analysis. Yergin does not take a stand against climate change, though he consistently downplays its significance and sneers at those who want to act rapidly on it. He might protest his book is written in a neutral tone, but his selection of topics shows otherwise. For instance, he repeatedly, insistently returns to the role of government subsidies propping up solar and renewables, but never discusses the vast government subsidies for fossil fuels (estimated at $5.9 trillion globally by the IMF).

Thus, there's some interesting snippets here. But it's too much of a general tour of world politics and 20th century history to really get into the essential issues of what's new, what that means and how energy translates into specific political ideas, decisions and outcomes.
]]>