Thomas Frank’s The People No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism was an easy, entertaining read.
Tag: history
Reviewing the Price of Peace
The Price of Peace is Zachary Carter’s look at the life and ideas of economist John Maynard Keynes. While economics can often be a boring subject, I found The Price of Peace to be an important, educational read.
FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech in the Context of 2020
On January 6, 1941, FDR gave his Four Freedoms speech. While the speech would ultimately serve as the basis for the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations, the speech’s historical context tells pieces of the story regularly not discussed.
Reviewing the end of the Myth
Greg Grandin’s The end of the Myth: the frontier to the border wall in the mind of /America is the best look at the rise of so-called Trumpism I have read. Still, I think the book overcomplicates what is sadly too simple a reality. Human nature is fundamentally selfish. Sure, there are people who don’t… Continue reading Reviewing the end of the Myth
Reviewing Shades of Glory
Shades of Glory: The Story of the Negro Leagues and African-American Baseball, by Lawrence D. Hogan is exactly what its title promises. If you want to learn a lot about the history of black people playing baseball in America, Shades of Glory is for you.
Reviewing Eugen V. Debs Speaks
Eugene Debs is the most famous American socialist. He ran for president several times around the beginning of the 20th century as a socialist. Around 1912, the Socialist Party had hundreds-of-thousands of members nationwide. Several mayors were elected under the Socialist Party banner and Debs got hundreds-of-thousands of votes during his runs for the presidency.… Continue reading Reviewing Eugen V. Debs Speaks
Reviewing Matt Stoller’s Goliath
Matt Stoller’s Goliath is one of the most important political books I have ever read. For those wanting to learn more about the closeness between the Democratic and Republican parties on corporate power, Goliath is a must.
Reviewing True Flag
Stephen Kinzer’s True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the birth of American Empire is an important examination of another portion of American history too few Americans understand. Specifically, the book looks at the discussion of American imperialism that took place during and after the War of 1898. The book uses the experiences and words… Continue reading Reviewing True Flag
Reviewing All the Shah’s Men
Stephen Kinzer’s All the Shah’s Men is one of those books far too few Americans have read.. In All The Shah’s Men, Kinzer details how the CIA led a coup to overthrow the democratically elected Iranian government of Mohammad Mosoddegh after his decision to nationalize Iran’s oil industry. Since many Americans don’t realize the reality… Continue reading Reviewing All the Shah’s Men
Reviewing Overthrow
Stephen Kinzer’s Overthrow reviews a century of America’s overthrowing governments from Hawaii to Iraq. Overthrow is simply one of the most consequential books I have ever read about American foreign policy. Given what is happening in Syria and Chile and the reality of the 2020 election, people interested in politics would do well to read… Continue reading Reviewing Overthrow