Andyberschauer

Books (199)

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Second World War
- Second World War (26)
- By Winston, Sir Churchill
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- Holy Blood, Holy Grail (124)
- By Leigh Richard, Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent
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- Washington's Crossing (12)
- (Pivotal Moments in American History)
- By David Hackett Fischer
- Reading since Oct 25, 2008
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- Cuba Confidential (1)
- Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana
- By Ann Louise Bardach
- Finished on Dec 14, 2008
 
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Cuba Confidential

Should have been titled 'Elian'

There were some interesting elements to this book, but "Tragedy of Cuba" is misleading. Really more a rehash of the Elian Gonzalez story with linkage to the corruption of the Cuban exile community in Miami and the US government officials who needed their voting bloc As a story, Cu ... (continue)

There were some interesting elements to this book, but "Tragedy of Cuba" is misleading. Really more a rehash of the Elian Gonzalez story with linkage to the corruption of the Cuban exile community in Miami and the US government officials who needed their voting bloc As a story, Cuba Confidential lacked consistency and continuity. Not a worthwhile read, unless you need an Elian refresher 10 years later, or otherwise haven't had enough of the Elian story to last a lifetime.

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— Mar 11, 2009 | Add your feedback
- On Bullshit (118)
- By Harry G. Frankfurt
- Finished on Nov 4, 2008
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- Mayflower (30)
- A Story of Courage, Community, and War
- By Nathaniel Philbrick
- Finished on Oct 24, 2008
 
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Mayflower

A great, mythbusting yarn

Many reviews I've seen of Mayflower criticize the author for (a) poor choice of book title, (b) shoddy history, (c) boring prose. The mixed reviews on this prevented me from purchasing the book for quite some time, until curiosity got the better of me. While little can be said abo ... (continue)

Many reviews I've seen of Mayflower criticize the author for (a) poor choice of book title, (b) shoddy history, (c) boring prose. The mixed reviews on this prevented me from purchasing the book for quite some time, until curiosity got the better of me. While little can be said about whether a book is boring or not (to each his own), I'd advise those lamenting the book's title to start reading labels - it was very clear on the back cover (you didn't even need to crack the book) what this story was about. Similarly, to those self-proclaimed historians - get out of the pop-history aisle and start buying textbooks. Nowhere does Philbrick claim to be a professional historian; he is a writer and journalist, and having recently finished Mayflower I feel that his 2007 Pulitzer nomination was well-deserved... Mayflower is a crackin' good read. In the prologue Philbrick makes it clear that he uses not only standard sources for his story, but also oral history & traditions from the Native Americans of the region in an attempt to tell a balanced story of the first settlers in Plymouth, their struggles, their successes and failures, and the ultimate unravelling of what had been delicately created through the bias and shortsightedness of subsequent generations culminating in "King Phillip's War". This bias and shortsightedness can be claimed by both sides, although Philbrick levels a larger portion at the English/Pilgrims/Puritans - choose your label - and, for my money, he backs it up nicely. What makes Puritan culpability more believable is that we see the same mistakes being made today by arguably better educated and more world-wise governments. Mayflower isn't all roses. I would like to have seen Philbrick spend a little more time on some of the better known aspects of the Pilgrim national myth - the time in England and Holland, the first Thanksgiving, etc. - but the story doesn't suffer for it. In fact, I would have welcomed another 50 pages, or so, in such a well-written book. All said, I found Mayflower to be a great read - exposing time-honored myths in a believable way that does not diminish the accomplishments of the passengers of that ship one iota. Removing the romantic patina that's built up over the years allows us to appreciate the story more - warts and all. Maybe we can even learn something from this...

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— Mar 11, 2009 | Add your feedback
- Rocks of Ages (10)
- Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life
- By Stephen Jay Gould
- Finished on Sep 30, 2008
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- Killing Rommel (4)
- A Novel
- By Steven Pressfield
- Finished on Sep 29, 2008
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- The Book of Saladin (8)
- A Novel
- By Tariq Ali
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The Book of Saladin

Perhaps too true to life?

War, it is said, is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. If we over-extend the analogy to "The Book of Saladin," Tariq Ali might have been too true to life.
Mr Ali delivers a well-told tale of everyday life in the palace - eating habits, personal beliefs, personality qu ... (continue)

War, it is said, is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. If we over-extend the analogy to "The Book of Saladin," Tariq Ali might have been too true to life.
Mr Ali delivers a well-told tale of everyday life in the palace - eating habits, personal beliefs, personality quirks - and spices it up with political/religious ambition and sexual intrigue. It's all quite subtly delivered. To his credit, Mr Ali does not attempt to become a romance writer or military novelist, leaving most of the "action" off-screen. Everyday life, though, even with a sultan in the middle of it, can be quite a drag. The moments of suspense and conflict are too few and far between to make this story more than just OK.
While the reader gets a good look at the man (and his entourage) behind the myth and legend that is Saladin, I never established a bond with any of the characters like I did in the first book of the Islam Quintet. In "Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree," Mr Ali does a very good job of grabbing the reader's attention using the same literary techniques on display here. Unfortunately, he was unable to repeat in Book 2.
The life and times of Saladin deserved better.

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— Nov 15, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Making our Democracy Work (2)
- A Judge's View
- By Stephen Breyer
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Making our Democracy Work

Thoughtful and interesting

In "Making our Democracy Work," Justice Breyer expands upon his treatise "Active Liberty" with several interesting examples of how the Judiciary established its role, and how it needs to act to maintain credibility as the guarantor of liberties established in the Constitution. Justice Breyer's uses ... (continue)

In "Making our Democracy Work," Justice Breyer expands upon his treatise "Active Liberty" with several interesting examples of how the Judiciary established its role, and how it needs to act to maintain credibility as the guarantor of liberties established in the Constitution. Justice Breyer's uses counter examples, such as Dred Scott, showing the Court doesn't always get it right (and history may hold one of the negative reviews here correct with a couple more counter examples).
I had hoped this work would expand a bit more on the role of the citizen in making our democracy work, but Justice Breyer really only pays lip service to this in the Conclusion. Still, illuminating the role of the weakest branch of government through the lens of some of our history's most important and controversial cases provides a fascinating peek into the function of the court.
The thoughtfulness that goes into deciding cases should make us all thankful that the Founding Fathers had the foresight to implement independent checks and balances in the American form of government.

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— Nov 15, 2010 | Add your feedback

- Active Liberty (3)
- Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
- By Stephen Breyer
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Active Liberty

Very readable defense of intentions-based interpretation

Justice Breyer created a very readable defense of his approach of intentions-based Constitutional interpretation as compared to textually-literal interpretive styles. In relatively few pages, he makes the case for his point of view that purpose and outcomes should have a voice in Constitutional inte ... (continue)

Justice Breyer created a very readable defense of his approach of intentions-based Constitutional interpretation as compared to textually-literal interpretive styles. In relatively few pages, he makes the case for his point of view that purpose and outcomes should have a voice in Constitutional interpretation, presents a contrary point of view, acknowledges strengths in others' points of view, but also calls out their weaknesses. Most poignantly, he dashes the myth that a literal reading of the text protects against biased interpretation. He argues that we get no more of an activist judiciary one way vs the other, and that judicial modesty is an important quality in sitting on the bench.
From a layman's point of view, it makes sense that our system of justice is dynamic - not to rewrite meaning (that's the purpose of the amendment process), but to draw determinative conclusions to real conflict in evolving contexts from vaguely-written guiding principles. The genius of the Constitution is that the Founders must have foreseen the need for the application of the law to evolve, otherwise wouldn't they have used specific language?
Justice Breyer starts this treatise on a note of Modern liberty (freedom from government oppression) and Ancient liberty (participatory government). He uses this merely as context, and doesn't delve into the responsibilities that come with this liberty. While this book is subtitled "Interpreting our Democratic Constitution," it's fair to take this approach. I'm currently reading his next book subtitled "Making our Democracy Work." I would expect an expansion on the role of the citizenry in this, but so far (half-way through) it seems simply to be the extended play of "Active Liberty." More on that later.

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— Nov 3, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Tenth Parallel (6)
- Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam
- By Eliza Griswold
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The Tenth Parallel

Political travelogue

Ms Griswold sums up the theme of Tenth Parallel nicely for the reader in the penultimate chapter of her dispatches from the Philippines...
"Islam, and Islamic rebellion, like its Christian counterpart, meant whatever anyone wanted it to, and could be manipulated accordingly. I had seen this in N ... (continue)

Ms Griswold sums up the theme of Tenth Parallel nicely for the reader in the penultimate chapter of her dispatches from the Philippines...
"Islam, and Islamic rebellion, like its Christian counterpart, meant whatever anyone wanted it to, and could be manipulated accordingly. I had seen this in Nigeria, Somalia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sudan: religious identity as a way to guarantee and control resources."
While primarily a statement about religious leadership, or perhaps more appropriately, leadership cloaked in religious demagoguery, she later observes, "Worship often took the form of celebration, and for all I'd seen of religion's divisive power, for most people, their faith was, above all, about finding joy."
I think these are powerful statements which, in combination, may illuminate the foundations of religious conflict more than treatises on the history of this conflict or that. Ms Griswold does an admirable job of providing the anecdotes which support these observations. I'm not sure the "Tenth Parallel" metaphor does much for me, but there is a consistent theme to the stories, which many collections of anecdotes often lack.
Ms Griswold's writing reinforces lessons from my own travels. At the end of the day, despite whatever conflicts, traditions, prejudices, or geographies separate us, we're all basically the same with common desires and aspirations. If we want to, we can create conflict out of common goals, and there are many who excel at that.

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— Oct 24, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (7)
- By Tariq Ali
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Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree

Enjoyable historical fiction

Moorish Spain is a very interesting period (and Granada and southern Spain in general are wonderful places to visit) with many popular histories ranging from the romantic perspective of "Ornament of the World" to more pragmatic views depicting an uneasy coexistence of the Big 3 Western religions thr ... (continue)

Moorish Spain is a very interesting period (and Granada and southern Spain in general are wonderful places to visit) with many popular histories ranging from the romantic perspective of "Ornament of the World" to more pragmatic views depicting an uneasy coexistence of the Big 3 Western religions through 700 years of Islam in al-Andalus. Tariq Ali chose the former interpretation as context for this historical fiction.
In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree we get a deliberately-paced story of one family's divergent attempts to come to terms with dramatic changes taking place around them in the wake of the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. This is a narrative, and what action there is typically takes place "off screen." The characters are well-developed; I found myself empathizing with them in the painful decisions they had to make, although I have no experiences in my life remotely similar to this I can draw from.
A well-written story, in spite of any liberties taken with the historical rendering. I don't remember how/why I came across this series, but I already have Book 2 waiting for me to crack it open... I think I will.

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— Oct 9, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Packing for Mars (20)
- The Curious Science of Life in the Void
- By Mary Roach
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Packing for Mars

Entertainingly lacking

In the last few pages of "Packing for Mars," Mary Roach displays a touch of passion in making the case for a manned trip to Mars. Sadly, in the preceding 300+ pages, passion was kept firmly in check in favor of a random set of anecdotes. The anecdotes, by themselves, can be quite good, but I'm left ... (continue)

In the last few pages of "Packing for Mars," Mary Roach displays a touch of passion in making the case for a manned trip to Mars. Sadly, in the preceding 300+ pages, passion was kept firmly in check in favor of a random set of anecdotes. The anecdotes, by themselves, can be quite good, but I'm left wanting the story that hasn't actually been offered.
Billed as an uproarious trip into the world of space travel, I was hoping to get "In the Shadow of the Moon" with a funny edge. Maybe the reverential Alan Bean meets Mr Bean. PfM is often funny, although not side-splittingly so (my kids were, however, in stitches at a turd floating around the Apollo 10 capsule). As a comedy, though, the author's writing style wears you out with repetition in the form of all-too-frequent overreach; trying to squeeze out one crass metaphor too many just because she could. Good comedy writers know when to pause, Ms Roach does not (Deke's 1-star review is spot-on in describing how the humor reads).
2 stars for some good snippets - many of which the average reader will not have known about previously - in what can only be described as a random collection of anecdotes aimlessly delivered. By the time Ms Roach sets her sights on making the case for a manned Mars shot, we no longer care.
Frequently entertaining, but not a memorable read I'd recommend to others.

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— Oct 5, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Ghosts of Cannae (2)
- Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
- By Robert L. O'Connell
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The Ghosts of Cannae

Wanted 3.5 stars

The story told in Ghosts of Cannae is a good one; the way it's told leaves something to be desired.
Aside from the casual reference to elephants crossing the Alps one hears from time to time, the last I heard of Hannibal was in 10th Grade World History, 20-X years ago. What I remember of him was ... (continue)

The story told in Ghosts of Cannae is a good one; the way it's told leaves something to be desired.
Aside from the casual reference to elephants crossing the Alps one hears from time to time, the last I heard of Hannibal was in 10th Grade World History, 20-X years ago. What I remember of him was not much more than his taking elephants for a mountain stroll. Enter Robert O'Connell.
Ghosts of Cannae was a fresh start with a character who 10th Grade World History didn't really give me an appreciation for. You'd think that as I read more, bits and pieces of my studies so many years ago would slowly come back to me - nothin'. I never learned what a badass Hannibal was. The guy was basically untouchable for the better part of 2 decades. Mr O'Connell also introduces us to more badasses in Scipio Africanus, and, to a lesser degree of badness, Quintus Fabius.
The exploits of these ancient leaders are fascinating, but Mr O'Connell's presentation made the read tougher than it should have been for this casual reader of history. Some reviewers here want new scholarship - it's all new when the depths of your memory stops at elephants & Alps. Some reviewers criticize the modern metaphors - the anachronism didn't bother me the way it bothered others, although they did come across as failed attempts to be cute and/or humorous. My criticism is that I too often found myself battling my eyelids - I liked the characters and portrayals, but it was tough to stay focussed through sometimes tortured prose.
All said, Ghosts of Cannae is worth the effort, and the read is not effortless. Some things are worth working for, I guess. In addition to having a newfound appreciation for the Punic Wars in general and Hannibal & Scipio specifically, an immediate payoff of my efforts here was understanding the reference to Quintus Fabius made on this season's premiere of 30 Rock.

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— Sep 27, 2010 | Add your feedback