Rather than going into the detail, I wanted to put forward a thought which was raised by this book. Interestingly enough, just before I finished it I was listening to a podcast which was talking about the first mass murder of the 20th Century – the 3 to 4 million Africans who were killed either directly or indirectly by the colonial rule of Belgium in the Congo and the subsequent drive for rubber. Reflecting on that and all of the other racist cruelties which occurred on account of colonialism, on the surface of it one can almost understand why, when the blacks seized power, they felt the need to treat the remaining whites with equivalent cruelty.

However, is it just me, but when has a problem ever been solved by straight revenge? When has treating the old oppressor in the same way as they treated us been an appropriate and effective tactic? There could be argument that fighting back against the actual oppressor might be justified, but what if the people you are fighting and second generation, third generation, removed from the act of oppression by years? Unfortunately, the world is such that humans have long memories when they choose and amnesia when it suits them. And in the melee, ordinary people who are just trying to get on with their lives have to suffer.

Godwin’s story of his parents is heartbreaking in so many ways, and yet they maintain their spirit and try to maintain some semblance of life. The tragedy is, the author discovers that his father had already had his fair share of loss – he was a Polish Jew who lost his mother and sister to the hell hole of Treblinka. Another time, another oppressor, another cruel period of history. Does it ever end?

I am very grateful to the author for telling us his story and allowing us to see Zimbabwe from someone on the inside. You can’t help but feel the same sense of betrayal and bitterness which his parents must have felt, and fury at the corruption which meant that the poor, who had supposedly been oppressed by the whites, remained poorer than ever as their black leaders stole even more from them.  Once again, I finished this book thinking ‘what hope is there in the face of human greed?’. Perhaps I should take hope from the individual stories that the author offers – the people who help one another, irrespective of colour, the people who support one another because there is need, not because there is gain, and the sense that perhaps, just perhaps, something can be done.

Rating: 10/10
ISBN: 978-0-330-43369-3
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2007
Date Finished: 23 December 2009
Pages: 342

I honestly believe that this book should be mandatory reading for everyone who has ever picked up a newspaper, or regurgitated an argument which they have read in a headline or heard on Sky.

Davies sets out to expose the corner-cutting, biases, falsehoods, lies and deceit which underpins much of today’s media. He explains why the ‘news lite’ we receive each day is selective, repetitive, sensational and often very poorly researched. He demonstrates that true investigative journalism has almost been completely wiped out, and that truth and exposure are the least of the considerations in many of the news organisations. And his thesis puts most of it down to the fact that news is now a corporate profit making exercise, and like all capitalistic institutions, money and profit is paramount, political advantage (leading to profit) is secondary, and no longer on the radar is informing the public, and exposing the truth.

That may seem like a pretty dire assessment to make, but his arguments made perfect sense and were backed up with a lot of evidence and case studies. I was told on Twitter that he didn’t actually carry out most of the research – be that as it may, he published it and in my opinion, an expose like this needs to be made public irrespective of who does it, so I am grateful that he went out on a limb to do so.

The problem with this book was that it ended with very little hope, but then, perhaps that is reality. Our society is so driven by profit that the chances of philanthropic newspaper owners, journalists willing to go out on a limb to get to the truth and impartial reporting ever returning are slim. That is not to say you can’t find that somewhere, but it isn’t in the instant, 24hour news. One could argue that the BBC shouldn’t be a corporation battling with the likes of NewsCorp, but because the bar has been set, the BBC simply has to keep up. As a result, their journalists (or ‘churnalists’ as the author calls them) are under as much pressure, with as few resources and as little leeway as their corporate, profit driven counterparts. And the only real result is that the ignorant public remains ignorant.

I finished the book wondering how on earth one was supposed to discover what the truth was in the world when we are numbed daily by the flat earth news cycle? Do blogs and the internet help? Partially, but it takes some time and effort to weed out the good writing on the internet from the dross. How about quality, independent publications? Yes, but sadly they are only read by a cultural ‘elite’ of sorts who have the time, education and motivation to seek them out and read them. Your average person going home on the train, who has spent the past 10 hours of their day working desperately hard so that they can pay their mortgage and meet the next payment on the new car as well as the kids school fees, is not likely to sit down with anything more taxing than the Metro. And therein lies the problem.

I do lament how driven our world is by money, profit, greed and competition. In fact, since reading this book, I have read another about Zimbabwe (which I will review shortly) which just reconfirmed this. This is human nature, and the way of the world. But that shouldn’t stop every thinking person from asking questions, challenging the loudest voices and making the decision to make up their own mind.

You can read more at Nick Davies website, Flat Earth News

Rating: 10/10
ISBN: 0099512688
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2009
Date Finished: 15 October 2009
Pages: 320

Obesity is so frequently hailed as a ‘problem’ and a ‘disaster for the country’ in the newspapers nowadays that it is no surprise that we assume that every overweight person is just one more statistic whose life will be cut short because their heart will give out by the time they are 20, and in the short years they are alive they will be so miserably unhappy that they will do nothing but console themselves with excessive amounts of food. As many of you who read my various blogs will know, I am not a particular fan of newspapers or the mainstream media in general, and I do look at these kind of claims with a healthy dose of skepticism, but it is quite rare to come across an opposing view.

But an opposing view is what Kandy Siahaya is seeking to put forward in this little book. Kandy is one of the people that the newspapers like to call ‘morbidly obese’ (a particularly unpleasant label, if you want my opinion) but not only is she fine with it, she also has a sense of humour and the ability to laugh about it. Her introductory warning is that this book might cause offence if you are sensitive about people joking about fat, weight or weight gain. She suggests that if this describes you, you probably ought to put the book down. I smiled at that, and anticipated more humour.

I applaud Kandy for settling down to write this book. I could tell that it was a labour of love for her, and I could tell that she was very happy to make people think about their own preconceptions. I am one of the ‘thin people’ that she knows will read the book, but even so I have had my share of weight related angst and diet experience so I could still relate to what she said. Being overweight is very much relative in my opinion. Medicine must place people into categories as it is the only way it can successfully manage an enormous population, but no one really fits perfectly into the category within which we are supposed to fall. Fat and healthy and happy to me seems a far better option than thin and ill and unhappy and Kandy worked hard to reinforce that fact.

My criticism of the book comes from the fact that I felt it didn’t have enough structure to it. Each chapter was interesting in and of itself, but I felt there could have been more of a natural path – a beginning, middle and end. I also wanted to know more – I wanted to hear more of the author’s experiences, and discover more that she had learnt throughout her life. I felt when I had finished that I had really only just scratched the surface, there wasn’t quite enough substance and not quite as much humour as I would have hoped. There were also a few editing issues that I picked up, but then (as many of you also know about me) I am a bit of a pedant when it comes to grammar and punctuation.

Overall this was an enjoyable and quick little read, touching on a subject in a light-hearted way which many people would shy away from as being politically incorrect or potentially offensive. Food is without doubt one of the greatest pleasures in life and everyone should be allowed to enjoy it without scorn of their fellow man. The fact that we come in different shapes and sizes cannot be taken as a blanket indicator of whether we are a good or bad person with self control or no self control. Making Light of Being Heavy is a step towards confirming that.

Publisher: Self-Published
ISBN: 978-1-4276-3954-7
Date: 2006
Date Finished: 2 May 2009
Pages: 90

In the modern world, why is it that half of the population lives in relative affluence, with abundant food, good housing, employment and luxuries, yet the other half suffers from persistent underdevelopment and poverty? How is it that with technological advances, ever increasing business and growing education that a large number of people spend each day merely trying to survive? This is the question that S.A. Odunsi chooses to face in this, the first volume of The Human Condition: New Ideas We Can’t Do Without. It is no small question, although the author posits a fairly firm answer and then takes the time to explain the answer and ultimately seek out a solution.

Within the first chapter, the author claims that the problems of persistent underdevelopment in what is referred to throughout the book as ‘the South’ (as opposed to the apparently developed North – Odunsi does make an exception of Australia in the footnotes so as to explain the generalisation) is actually the failing of the academic field of social science. The claim is that although Southerners are acquiring Northern education, because social science is unable to teach the practical principles of entrepreneurship, managerial ability and innovation – something which arises purely out of the culture of the North and therefore still unattained in the South, the countries suffering from persistent underdevelopment are simply unable to change. The author sets up quite a divide between the two, and then seeks to examine why the South has failed to acquire these apparently necessary skills.

Because this volume covers only the first four chaptes. ers of the authors thesis, we are never given a good outline of the solution to this problem. In order to find out, I will need to read the following chapters. However, the examination of why the problem exists is thorough, to say the least and demonstrates an enormous amount of research and passion from the author. This came through in every sentence and every argument, so I could tell that this was a problem that Odunsi was keen to see rectified, even if he had to start the ball rolling in the face of traditional, static academic belief.

Was I convinced? To a degree I was, particularly if I interpreted social science as economics, sociology, perhaps psychology, business studies and management. However, social science has a broader remit than that, and as a ‘social scientist’ myself I found some of the arguments slightly weaker when I broadened the field into the arts and humanities. There were also some assertions which I found a little tenuous. For instance, in Chapter 3 The Failure of Social Science, the assertion that Australia was one country with few natural resources to speak of made me frown somewhat. As a country whose economy rests heavily on natural resources, I wasn’t sure to what the author was referring and although I hunted back in the text, I couldn’t find a satisfactory explanation for this assertion. This was one of several questions I noted and I wonder whether in the passion and conviction that the author held, some assertions were made to highlight the convictions which may not have been quite accurate.

I applaud Odunsi for having the courage to write this thesis. I think that the perspective offered is a fascinating one, and the examination of Western Social Science is well researched and very thorough. However, I wonder whether it is accurate to heap so much blame on the academics of social science? Yes, I have read Naomi Klein and my feelings towards Friedman’s economics tend towards anger, but not every social science faculty subscribes to the destructive beliefs of the Chicago School, and not every aspect of social science posits economic theories which could cause the failure of development in underdeveloped countries. What I think I needed with this book was some specifics rather than such broad generalisations. Perhaps they come in the later chapters of the thesis, but I became a little frustrated with the repetition of assertions which didn’t provide me with hard facts, names, schools and solid examples. I would like to see the ideas expanded with these additional extras. Then I think that this book could really make a difference.

Nevertheless, the ideas are revolutionary in some ways and should be taken heed of. This is an incredibly academic book which may be a struggle for some readers due to the complexity and abstractness of the ideas therein. I found it challenging to my own preconceived beliefs and have come away from it curious for more and wondering whether Odunsi will get the opportunity to have this thesis read in some of the academic institutions it criticises so it can truly make a difference.

ISBN: 978 0 615 221731
Year: 2008
Date Finished: 19 March 2009
Pages: 220

I received The White War as an Early Reviewer on LibraryThing, and it wasn’t a disappointment. I love reading history, particularly when the period is relatively unknown and undocumented as this. As readers of this blog will know, I read Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms and wasn’t particularly enamoured with it, although that was more for the writing style than than the period of history with which it dealt. But Hemingway only provided a very surface discovery of the Italian Front during the First World War. Where the novel missed, Thompson’s thoroughly researched history filled the gaps.

I have read a lot about the Western Front during the Great War, but I was unaware of the carnage which occurred on the Italian Front. The War had been entered by Italy not so much as a defensive exercise, rather as a means of gaining territory which the newly formed Italian state felt it held a right to. What followed was a war of attrition that was so destructive and futile that by the end, the boundaries were almost in exactly the same place they had been before they had started. What had been lost though were million of lives, and the trust towards the Italians from the Allies – an effect that would have repercussions into the following war.

The tragedy of this front though was not just in the destruction meted by the Austrians (although to be fair, they also suffered heavy casualties over the years of fighting). The Italian soldiers were also forced to suffer at the hands of their own superiors. Of course, the shortsightedness and pig headed stubborness to traditional methods exercised by the generals during the First World War was common across all countries involved. However, Cadorna appears to have been far worse than the others – what with his unflinching adherence to decimation (in the true sense of the word, i.e. one in every 10 solider in his own army was shot if any kind of transgression occurred, no matter how small) and his inability to recognise his own failings. In Cadorna’s view, morale of the troops was completely irrelevant. He was more than happy for them to go hungry, undertake futile attacks which led to nothing but slaughter, and disallow any kind of leave or respite, and if the result was loss or failure in battle, he blamed the troops whole heartedly, taking no responsibility whatsoever. If it hadn’t have ended up so tragic, it would have been laughable.

Thompson has captured the period beautifully through a combination of fantastic research, including speaking to some of the last few survivors of the battle, and well written prose. He extends his subject to encompass culture, politics and poetry as well as just dates and names of battles which makes the book a pleasure to read. Unfortunately, as my copy was an uncorrected proof copy, the maps were illegible so I had to resort to finding maps on Google so I had an idea where all of the action was taking place, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

This is a period which needs more written about it. The fact that it is almost forgotten save in fiction is happily addressed by this book. For anyone who is interested in the history of the Great War, this is an essential to fill those gaps in ones knowledge which the Western Front emphasis may have left.

Rating: 9/10
ISBN: 0571223338
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Date: 2008
Date Finished: 3rd October 2008
Pages: 464pp

If someone casually mentioned to you that they had discovered the secret to eternal youth and vitality, would you sit up and listen? If they then told you that in order to achieve this, and the rampant sex drive which would naturally accompany it, you may have to undergo surgery, would you ask for more information? What, then, would you say if you were told that this secret required you to go under the knife of an unlicensed doctor, who would slice open your scrotum (or abdomen if you were a woman) and literally drop in to the incision a pair of goat’s testicles (or ovaries), and then charge you half your annual salary for the privilege. Would you run a mile or get the chequebook out?

It seems that thousands of poor souls didn’t run. In fact, thousands were so convinced by the person who I would safely say was the father of spin and PR, that they subjected themselves to this ridiculous procedure (and many died) and happily paid the bill.

Charlatan is the story of one of the most amazing examples of clever marketing I have ever seen. Brinkley was a charlatan through and through. Yet he was also a brilliant ideas man when it came to self promotion, realising that there were ways he could broadcast to hundreds of thousands of people during the Great Depression when his rivals were still standing in county fairs. Brinkley was one of the first people to use radio to self promote. He also used direct mail including psychological tactics to convince people to come and have the procedure. He took the promotion required for running for politics to the next level. And for more than 20 years, he remained one step ahead of the people who knew, and right in front of the poor, stupid and hopeful souls who didn’t.

The reason Brinkely flourished was that he was fortunate enough to be born at a time where medical licensing was haphazard, and quacks and magical remedies were rife. He was also one of the first and being the first meant that the majority of people simply didn’t even think to question his methods. But for almost the whole period of his long career, he was pursued by another, equally as egotistical medico, Morris Fishbein who had made it his life’s mission to bring down the quacks who were threatening the lives of the nation.

Pope Brock has written an incredibly entertaining, journalistic account of the battle between these two characters. His statement “…though perhaps not the worst serial killer in American history, ranked by body count alone he is at least a finalist for the crown” exemplifies his quick, amusing prose and pacey storyline. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this book is that it is as much didactic as it is historical. We may scoff at people doing something so ridiculous for youth and sexual prowess, but when you see the demand for Viagra, the ridiculous pseudo-scientific and new age claims for eternal youth, long life and rejuvenation, and the aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at making us do and buy anything to hold the wrinkles back for another year, you have to ask whether we are in fact any different? OK, so perhaps not so many goats may suffer in our quest, but Brinkley’s master stroke was identifying a basic human desire, and putting in the average man’s grasp for a fee. I am sure there is many a marketer today who surreptitiously takes notes from ‘Doctor’ John Brinkley, and his unbelievable goat testicle cure for all.

Rating: 8/10
ISBN: 978-0-297-84566-9
Publisher: Orion Books
Year: 2008
Date Finished: 24 July 2008
Pages: 305
Challenges:

During the Second World War, the Nazi’s orchestrated the systematic murder of millions of Jews in the gas chambers of concentration camps around Europe. This horror known as the Holocaust is remembered and studied by students and academics alike. But there are a few people out there who, for some reason, deny that it ever happened and try and suggest that the whole thing is a big conspiracy.

In the mid-nineteenth century, a brilliant scientist called Charles Darwin finally gave a name to the scientific theory explaining life and how it came to be here today in the form that it is. His Theory of Evolution precipitated a complete change in the understanding not just of science, but of the amazing world in which we live. But there are a few people out there who spend their entire lives trying to deny that it ever happened.

These two ‘weird things’ are just several of the many beliefs which Shermer discusses in Why People Believe Weird Things. Although I only read the first edition which is now 11 years old, it was a fascinating and still very relevant expose of some of the strange beliefs that humans hold dear and why they hold them so closely.

Shermer is a sceptic (or, to use the American spelling which is presented in the book – a skeptic) which, as he explains, offers a way of examining things, not a belief unto itself. To be sceptical, one must approach each claim with an open mind and base the truth or falsity of that claim on evidence in a scientific manner. He employs Hume’s motto

That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish.

So essentially, if the alternative explanation (other than the miraculous one) is completely unbelievable, then one would default to the miraculous explanation. If it was more miraculous that someone could fall asleep and experience a waking dream than it was if that said person was abducted by aliens and used for alien experiments, then the falling asleep explanation would have to be discarded. However, as one can clearly see, this simple reasoning tends to assist in disproving most supernatural claims.

Shermer’s  book isn’t just a treatise on debunking claims such as alien abduction, Holocaust denial, cults, witch crazes, near death experiences and the ubiquitous creationism. It is also an examination into why people believe such things. In this he touches on psychology, human need for comfort, biology and history. Ultimately, it is human nature to look for causality and to try and find simple explanations. Because of this, all too often human allow themselves to be seduced by fallacies to the point of refusing to listen to anything else. This book causes you to take a step back and look at your own beliefs and try and test each one for its plausibility. Without realising it, we are all subjected to fallacious thinking and convincing myths and often accept them without question, despite our ability to critically think and assess evidence.

Shermer’s overarching reason, however, for why people believe weird things is that hope springs eternal. Even if there is solid proof to the contrary, hope that the pseudoscience or myth is true continues to dominate. Perhaps that is an inescapable aspect of the human condition? And really, the majority of people who do believe in ‘weird things’ aren’t doing it because of political, racial or religious prejudice, or because they lack the ability to think for themselves. The majority truly hold that hope. But Shermer demonstrates that exploration, examination and critical thinking can result in explanations which are so amazing that you feel privileged to be alive and living within it. The reality of the world in which we live is far better than hope, if people would just walk out of the door and see.

I will definitely try and get my hands on the more recent edition of this book and re-read it because there was a wealth of information and a deliciously long bibliography at the back. It was the thing I adored when I was doing my MA – when you had finished a chapter, book or article, you came away with another list of related chapters, books or articles from the bibliography that you could go and explore further. Seems my academic years will never truly leave me.

Rating: 9/10
ISBN: 0-7167-3387-0
Publisher: W.H. Freeman and Co.
Year: 1997
Date Finished: 30 March 2008
Pages: 278
Challenges: 1/8 of Category 6: Science and Scepticism

The Nuremberg Interviews were conducted by Leon Goldensohn during the trials of 1945-1946. Gathered together and finally published by his brother, Eli, and carefully edited and annotated by Robert Gellately, this primary historical source makes for chilling reading. Goldensohn, an American Jewish psychiatrist, was present at the prison and conducted interviews with many of the defendants and witnesses of Nuremberg. What results is a story of banality, in some cases inhumanity, weakness, bombast and fear. Through questioning, the personalities of the leading players came out, sometimes to terrifying and devastating effect.

I did not know all of the defendants or witnesses, but those that I did know – Goering, Ribbentrop, Jodl, Keitel and Franck among others, were suddenly given colour. To hear their own words was chilling. Most begged innocence. Most exonerated themselves of any responsibility for the mass murder and horror of the Second World War. Most chose to blame those players who were dead – Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler. And most were clearly lying and delusional.

The most frightening of all was the interview with Rudolf Hoess – Kommandant of Auschwitz prison. His account of his responsibilities and the cool detatchment with which he spoke of them made me feel physically ill. I had to put the book down halfway through the chapter because I couldn’t stand reading further. To think that humans could be so detached in the face of suffering and murder, as attested to by his own words, was almost impossible.

This is a valuable historical source. It makes for incredibly compelling reading – if nothing else to find out how utterly ordinary most of the people involved with Hitler actually were. They didn’t appear to be monsters. They didn’t appear large as life. They just seemed like very ordinary (or often weak, snivelling or pathetic) men who for some reason, ceased to think like civilised human beings when it came to genocide.

A must for any historian of World War II. But be prepared.

Rating: 8/10
ISBN: 1-8459-5014-3
Publisher: Pimlico
Year: 2006
Date Finished: 29 December 2007