I. David Rosenstein's Blog: Focus on Non-Fiction , page 6

Book Review: The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

Richly Deserved National Book of the Year Award Winner

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Les Payne and completed, after his death, by his daughter Tamara Payne, is an extraordinary biography of 1960s civil rights icon, Malcolm X. While it is clear that Mr. Payne greatly admired Malcolm X, he did not glorify him in this book. Instead, he presented a very clear-eyed view of a restless young man who grew up to become one of the most dedicated and effective leaders of his generation.

The Dead Are Arising is the product of 28 years of painstaking research by Mr. Payne. He, therefore, includes compellingly detailed descriptions of Malcolm X’s early life, his conversion to, and work for, the Nation of Islam and his later separation from the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm X is probably best known for his years as the spokesman for the Nation of Islam where he espoused the Nation’s belief that white Americans are “blue eyed devils” and that African Americans should separate themselves from white Americans. What was particularly controversial was his advocacy for violence as an alternative to the more mainstream non-violent civil rights movement being led at the time by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mr. Payne makes clear that, during his time with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X dedicated himself to living a life in accordance with the teachings of his faith. And he describes how Malcolm X’s enthusiastic preaching of the Nation’s teaching convinced many thousands of skeptical African Americans to believe that they could do more to assert themselves and to take responsibility for advancing their own cause. It was his strong commitment to the Nation’s beliefs that led, at least in part, to Malcolm X’s disenchantment with the Nation when he discovered that the Nation’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, was not living up to the same standards.

Upon leaving the Nation of Islam Malcolm X sought other means to advance the cause of African Americans. He converted to a form of Sunni Muslim, he sought the support of African leaders and he embraced a more non-violent approach to civil rights. But the Nation of Islam always considered him to be their enemy. And in 1965 they engineered his assassination.

There have been numerous effective civil rights leaders in America over the last 200 years. But, as The Dead Are Arising makes clear, it was Malcolm X who most helped African Americans to understand that racial justice starts with their understanding that they are not inferior to anyone. I give this book an enthusiastic 5 stars and recommend it for everyone.

Book Review: God's Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World

A Good, But Not Extraordinary, Review of an Ottoman Sultan and His Empire

In God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World author Alan Mikhail uses the life of Selim the Grim as the backdrop for his larger story of the interactions between the Ottoman Empire and the Western world during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Mikhail makes clear at the outset that he intends to prove the following extraordinary assertion: “The ineluctable fact is that the Ottoman Empire made our modern world – which, is, admittedly, a bitter pill for many in the West.” Any review of this book must evaluate whether Mikhail has proven his assertion.

As a biography of Selim, God’s Shadow is a total success. Mikhail explains how Selim, as the fourth son of the reigning Sultan Bayezid, was not expected to be heir to the throne. In fact, Selim lived in danger because the first or second son, who was likely to become Sultan, was likely to kill his younger brothers to ensure that he had no living rivals. However, Mikhail describes in colorful detail, how Selim assembled his own army and defeated his brothers, Ahmet and Korkut, as well as his father, Bayezid, to become the unlikely Sultan in 1512.

Once he ascended to the throne Selim commenced wars with his external enemies, the Safavids and the Mamluks. By quoting from the series of communications between Selim and these external enemies in the days leading up to battle Mikhail brings the reader into the throne room and deftly reveals the thoughts and strategies of rulers in the Islamic world during the early 16th century. Selim first defeated the Safavids who ruled the Shia state of Persia. He then defeated the Mamluk Empire that was based in Egypt. As a result of these two conquests Selim increased the size of the Ottoman Empire by 70 percent and ended up ruling virtually the entire Islamic world. Selim died in 1518 before he could carry out plans to wage war against the Western world.

Where I have trouble with this book is in its venture beyond the life of Selim – i.e. with Mikhail’s extraordinary assertion that “the Ottoman Empire made our modern world”. He attempts to prove this assertion with the following: First, he claims that Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World was nothing more than an unexpected consequence of his effort to defeat the “Moors” by finding a “back door” route to their empire. And, second, he claims that Martin Luther’s writings, that were, at times, favorably disposed to the Islamic faith, led, in significant part, to the Protestant Reformation.

I think that, in order for Mikhail to prove that “the Ottoman Empire made our Modern World,” he would have had to show that, if not for the Ottoman Empire, the New World would never have been discovered and the Protestant Reformation would never have occurred. While Mikhail may have shown that Columbus and Luther were aware of, and may have feared, the Ottoman Empire, he fell well short of proving that the Ottoman Empire made our Modern World.

Notwithstanding my concerns described above, I think that Mikhail made his point that history should be viewed from all points of view and not just from the Western perspective. God’s World is a very well written and easy to read view of the late 15th and early 16th centuries from the perspective of the Islamic World and I give it 4 stars.

Three Recommendations: The Cold War

George F. Kennan: An American Life is John Lewis Gaddis’ Pulitzer Prize winning biography of the architect the United States’ Cold War strategy. After the end of World War II it was feared that the United States was on a path towards war with the Soviet Union. Any such war would, undoubtedly, have included use of nuclear weapons. George F. Kennan, a lifelong diplomat and historian, wrote two scholarly papers, referred to as “long telegram” and the “X” article, which became the basis of the United States' strategy to “contain” rather than to confront the Soviet Union. This strategy, which was implemented for over 30 years, avoided a direct conflict between the two superpowers but led to multiple proxy wars.

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War by Stephen Kinzer. This is a dual biography of John Foster Dulles, who served as Secretary of State under Dwight Eisenhower, and Allen Dulles, who served as Director of the CIA under Eisenhower. From their positions they were able to create and implement their view of United States policy during the Cold War. As rabid cold warriors they directed both overt and covert battles against anything that looked like Communism anywhere they found it in the world.

In The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War Scott Anderson tells the story of the early years of the Cold War through the eyes of four CIA agents. All four had worked in intelligence during World War II and thought that they were going to use their skills in peacetime to help the United States spread democratic ideals around the world. But all four ultimately left the CIA after becoming disillusioned with the United States’ implementation of its own policies. (See the full review of this book in a post dated October 16, 2020).

Other Recommendations:

Three Recommendations: The Middle East (November 1, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: World War I (October 22, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Russian History (October 16, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spies (October 11, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Histories of American Cities (October 6, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spectacular Corporate Implosions (October 3, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: 19th Century Presidents (September 26, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Vietnam War (September 20, 2020 Post)

Book Review: We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State

A Wake-Up Call that Should be Read by All Americans

Based on my very rudimentary understanding, “harmony,” in Chinese culture, means peaceful interpersonal relationships among all members of society. In his book, We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State, long time Beijing correspondent for the German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Kai Strittmatter describes how the Communist Party is using modern technology to apply the concept of harmony to modern life in China. Because of his extensive experience in China, Strittmatter is uniquely qualified to warn readers of the prospective dangers that these practices may have for Western society.

Strittmatter provides a needed historical background for those of us who have not been paying close attention to China for the last 30 or 40 years. He explains that, when Deng Xiaophing came to power after the death of Mao Zedong in 1978, he inherited a country and Party that were in chaos. Deng instituted political reforms, opened the country up to foreign investment and encouraged Chinese participation in global markets. The resulting economic expansion improved the standard of living for hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens.

However, during this period of reform many Chinese citizens began to consider Western democracy as an alternative to authoritarian rule by the Communist Party. In 1989 this led to protests by over 100,000 people at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Ultimately, the Chinese Army was called out to violently put down the protests and many thousands of people were killed or injured.

After the Tiananmen Square Massacre economic development continued in China. But the Communist Party started to clamp down on the reforms that led to social dissent. In 2012 Xi Jinping came to power and began to implement the harmonization practices that Strittmatter describes in We Have Been Harmonized. As Strittmatter explains, these practices consist of intimidation, censorship and propaganda with the goal that all Chinese behave in a way that conforms to the Party’s requirements.

In particular, Strittmatter describes how the Party closely monitors and carefully censors its citizens’ use of the internet. And how it punishes owners of Chinese corporations that fail to support Party policies. He explains that, while there remain a few isolated dissenters in the country, most citizens are satisfied to comply with Party requirements as long as they have a satisfactory standard of living.

Strittmatter warns of the implications to the West of these Communist Party practices. He describes how the Chinese use their economic power to pressure Western corporations and universities to adopt practices that please the Party. And he describes the new software and computer systems that the Chinese use to monitor and control their population – systems that they are marketing to other – especially authoritarian - countries. He suggests that the only way to defend against the Communist Party’s practices is for the West to continually monitor their use, to not succumb to economic bribery and to reinforce our own strong Western democratic ideals.

Before reading this book I was well aware of the Chinese success in competing in global markets. And I was not surprised to learn that the Communist Party is using modern technology to control the Chinese people. However, this book makes perfectly clear that we face the threat of the Communist Party using technology and its economic power to promote their ideological message beyond China’s borders. We Have Been Harmonized is a great wake-up call and should be read by all Americans. I give it 5 stars.

Book Review: The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power From the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream

Outstanding History of a World Power’s 4000-Year History

After having read extensively about the history of the United States, Europe and the Middle East I found that I wanted to know something about the history of China, the country that is now challenging the United States for global economic leadership. I was looking for a book that could introduce me to the history of China and serve as the basis for further reading on the subject. I was very fortunate to find The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power From the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream by Michael Wood.

Wood manages to pack the entire 4000-year history of the Chinese Empire, from its pre-history, through its multiple dynasties, to the evolution of its Communist led republic to today’s world power into a very readable 624 page volume. The book can best be described as Chinese History 101, 102 and 103.

It would have been one thing if Wood had simply described the rise and fall of the various dynasties that have ruled China throughout the millennia. But he has gone a huge step further by using letters, poems and other documentary evidence to bring to life individual Chinese residents who lived during those dynasties. And he helps the reader understand how these citizens viewed life in their authoritarian societies through the lens of their underlying philosophy of Confucianism and Daoism

Throughout the book Wood leads the reader through the ongoing challenges to the rulers who tried to govern the vast area, the innumerable people and the multiple ethnic groups that are China. He shows that the ruling dynasties were, at times, able to foster great economic, artistic and scientific achievements. But he also shows that, due to natural disasters, famines and revolts on the outer edges of the empire, each of the dynasties ultimately fell.

Unfortunately, what makes this book great, the presentation of a 4000-year history in a very concise format, is also its potential weakness. Because the history moves very quickly, it could be something of a challenge to keep track of the numerous characters and events that come and then go. But if this is an issue it is easily solvable. In 2017, the author, who is also a documentarian, presented a 6-hour documentary, entitled the Story of China, on PBS. That documentary, which can be found on both Amazon and PBS, covers much of the same territory as the book. By watching the documentary while I was reading the book I was able to easily keep up with the fast paced history.

The Story of China was exactly what I was looking for. It was a concise, enjoyable history of the Chinese Empire that gave me the background that I need to read further about China. I give it 5 stars and recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the society that now challenges United States for global economic leadership.

Thanks to #netgalley and to St. Martin’s Press for my early release copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Three Recommendations: The Middle East

Readers who are interested in how the modern Middle East was carved out of the old Ottoman Empire may want to read A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin before reading any of the recommended books.

MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbard – As indicated by the title, this book describes the rise of Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS) from an unknown prince to heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia. While he appears to project a somewhat Westernized view for the future of Saudi Arabia, the book shows that his actions have a much darker side. See the full review of this book on the post on this blog dated October 7, 2020.

Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas – This book describes the impact of the competing forms of Islam sponsored by Iran and Saudi Arabia. Ghattas, who tells the story from a very personal perspective, is the perfect author for this narrative.

Bibi: the Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu by Anshel Pfeffer – This is a very insightful biography of the man who seems to have led the State of Israel forever. However, the book is most valuable in providing a lucid explanation of the conflicts among the various competing factions within the State of Israel and the impact they have had on the region.

Other Recommendations:

Three Recommendations: World War I (October 22, 2020)
Three Recommendations: Russian History (October 16, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spies (October 11, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Histories of American Cities (October 6, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spectacular Corporate Implosions (October 3, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: 19th Century Presidents (September 26, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Vietnam War (September 20, 2020 Post)

Book Review: City of Champions: A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit

Much More Than a Book About Sports

I have to admit that I was really looking forward to reading City of Champions: The History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit by Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio during the 1960s and I hoped that the book would evoke pleasant memories of listening to late night games between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers and watching the annual game between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions on a black and white TV on an autumn Sunday afternoon. City of Champions turned out to be much more than I expected.

The authors do not present City of Champions in a typical narrative history format. Instead, they present a series of vignettes about individual sporting events. And they intriguingly present their vignettes in reverse chronological order. Thus, they begin in 2017 with the opening of Little Caesar’s Arena (the home of the Pistons and the Red Wings) and they end in 1763 when a group of Native Americans duped the local British military into abandoning their fort to watch them play a game that resembled lacrosse.

The vignettes include a number of stories about the successes and failures of Detroit’s modern professional sports teams. But they also include some lesser-known events that the authors used to give context to their overall story. For example, the book includes chapters on the life and career of boxer Joe Louis, auto racing by Henry Ford and the death of a child run over by one of the new autos being produced in the city while playing in the street.

In each vignette the authors adroitly move from their sports-related event to a description of Detroit at the time of the event. As a result, City of Champions is far more than a sports book. It is a book that uses sports as a lens through which to view the history of Detroit. And that history reflects poorly on the plight of Detroit’s African American community.

The authors describe how African Americans began arriving in Detroit as part of the Great Migration in the 1910s to escape the Jim Crow south. While some found jobs in the auto plants they all faced discrimination, especially with respect to access to decent housing. The authors show that, during the early and mid 20th century, the powers in the City - the political bosses, the unions and the industrialists - all joined together to maintain a form of institutional racism. Then, as some industries failed and others left the City, the wealthy tax base moved to the surrounding suburbs and all that was left in the City was the poor African American community.

Several of the vignettes show how things have not improved for African Americans in Detroit in recent years. Those that deal with the “Malice in the Palace” in 2004 and the “Motor City Bad Boy Pistons” of the late 1980s and early 1990s show how the media has equated African Americans in Detroit with violence. Several others – such as those dealing with construction of downtown arenas, multiple attempts to host the Olympic Games and the annual Grand Prix event – show how public funds are found to help enrich the rich but are not available to help the impoverished local community.

I give this book a 4 star rating. There is enough about the rich history of sports in Detroit for me to recommend this book for the sports enthusiast. But, because this is far more than a sports book, I can also recommend it for those that have an interest in the history of Detroit or municipal government in general and, especially, for those that want to learn more about the creation and maintenance of institutional racism.

Thanks to #netgalley and to The New Press for my early release copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Money for Nothing: The Scientists, Fraudsters, and Corrupt Politicians Who Reinvented Money

Excellent History and Entertaining Primer to Financial Markets

In Money for Nothing: The Scientists, Fraudsters, and Corrupt Politicians Who Reinvented Money, Panicked a Nation, and Made the World Rich Thomas Levenson traces the beginnings of our current financial system back to 18th century London. While a story about finance may seem to have narrow appeal, in Levenson’s capable hands, this story will be appreciated by a much broader audience.

The role of the narrative historian is to “connect the dots”. That is, to identify disparate events and to weave them together into a cohesive tale that informs and entertains the reader. Sometimes the dots are easy for the historian to identify. But other times, the historian must reach for dots that are more obscure. Levenson opted to reach for obscure dots. In Money for Nothing he has managed to connect the London Plague of 1690, Isaac Newton’s development of differential calculus, England’s unending wars with France, the South Sea Bubble and Robert Walpole’s term as Prime Minister of England. The connections work seamlessly

At its heart, this is the story of how England borrowed funds to finance its wars with France. England’s borrowing capabilities were greatly enhanced when the South Sea Company assumed its outstanding debts from creditors in exchange for shares of South Sea stock. South Sea, therefore, received payments on the debts from England and either kept them as added capital or paid them out as dividends to its shareholders. Most importantly, Levenson describes how, after the debts were converted to South Sea shares, the shares were fungible and could be traded, at prevailing prices, on the newly formed Exchange Alley.

As Levenson tells the story, this development of financial markets took place at a time when scientists and mathematicians were starting to quantify actions and risks that had previously been unquantifiable. This quantification could have been used to rationally value the South Sea shares. But, alas, it was not. Levenson’s is a story about people, not numbers. So instead of using available tools to value the stock, the investors acted in response to their greed and emotion. This greed and emotion fueled what became the South Sea Bubble.

Levenson explains how England was able to recover from the ultimate bust of the Bubble and to create workable financial markets. However, he warns that new financial instruments, like the ones that fueled the South Sea Bubble, are constantly being created and that investors, to this day, still find themselves investing based upon their greed and emotion rather than mathematical quantification.

I rated this very informative and entertaining book 4.0 stars. It should appeal to fans of English History. And it is also a good primer for anyone interested in financial markets.

Three Recommendations: World War I

My interest in World War I tends to the political as opposed to the military. Therefore, there are no discussions of the Marne or Verdun or the Somme in the following recommendations. Instead, these books deal with the motivations of the combatants, their shifting alliances and their failure to establish a lasting peace once the fighting ended.

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark - This book answers the question of how the great powers of Europe entered into World War I. The answer that we learned in history class was that, after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the parties on both sides of the European alliances met their commitment to their allies and turned a minor local dispute into a worldwide war. The longer answer, as told by Clark in Sleepwalkers, is that none of the leaders of the combatants really knew what they were doing and found themselves in a war that no one wanted.

A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin – I read this book because of my interest in the modern Middle East. But it is also a book about the Eastern Theater of Operations in World War I. It is written from the British perspective and starkly reveals the mindset of the leaders of colonial Britain. As the power of the Ottoman Empire disappeared during the War Britain and France engaged in the process of deciding how the sub-regions in the Middle East, released from the Ottoman Empire, could best be governed after the War. The British truly believed that they knew what was best for the rest of the world and attempted to establish themselves as a colonial power in the various Middle Eastern sub-regions. They were flummoxed when they found that their presence was unwelcome and that the sub-regions wanted to rule themselves without any help from the European nations.

Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World by Margaret Macmillan – This book tells the story of the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I. The book is filled with the presentations and hopes of numerous nationalities who were seeking establishment of their own homelands after centuries of rule by foreign empires. Based, in part, on those presentations the allied leaders established new countries with new boundaries. Had they been more farsighted in their resolution of these issues the leaders may have created a treaty that established a lasting peace. However, the treaty they created did nothing more than set the stage for World War II.

Other Recommendations:

Three Recommendations: Russian History (October 16, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spies (October 11, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Histories of American Cities (October 6, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: Spectacular Corporate Implosions (October 3, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: 19th Century Presidents (September 26, 2020 Post)
Three Recommendations: The Vietnam War (September 20, 2020 Post)

Book Review: The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts and Harrimans a Story of Love and War

The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts and Harrimans a Story of Love and War by Catherine Grace Katz is the story of the daughters who joined Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and, United States Ambassador to Russia, Averill Harriman at the Yalta Conference during the first weeks of February, 1945. It is a wonderful book that expertly blends the personal and the professional lives of these three leaders.

By early 1945 the war in Europe was just about over and the three allied powers needed to agree upon principals that would govern their relationships as the world moved from war to peace. Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, and their respective entourages met in the Crimean community of Yalta for the purpose of finding common ground on a number of identified issues. The primary issues revolved around the structure of the United Nations, the exchange of prisoners of war, coordination of armies as they approached Berlin and governance of Poland after the war.

Roosevelt, Churchill and Harriman chose to bring their daughters to the Conference rather than one of their sons or their wives. As explained by Katz, there are similarities in each of the daughter’s relationship with her father. In each case, the daughters were somewhat disappointed that they had not spent more time with their fathers when they were young. But each was pleased when, as they became young women, their fathers admired their respective activities during the War and wanted more of their company.

Katz describes the role that each daughter played while at Yalta. Kathleen Harriman acted as her father’s assistant. Sarah Churchill acted as her father’s personal sounding board, listening to comments that he was not free to communicate to others. And Anna Roosevelt acted as her father’s protector trying to minimize his interactions with others who might disturb his badly needed rest. Katz depicts very warm and intimate relationships between the daughters and their fathers that were badly needed as the fathers dealt with issues that were expected to decide the fate of the post-War world.

Unfortunately, historians consider the Yalta Conference to have been a failure. While the parties executed a number of agreements, Stalin basically ignored the terms of those agreements and engaged in aggressive activity in Eastern Europe that led to the Cold War.

Only after reading this book and understanding Anna’s efforts to protect her father did I fully understand how ill Franklin Roosevelt had been at the time of the Conference. I cannot help but wonder if Roosevelt’s health had something to do with the weakness of the agreements or if Stalin, after observing Roosevelt’s health, felt that he could ignore the agreements without repercussions.

In any event, as Katz explains, after the Conference, the daughters each went back to their personal lives, away from the glare of international diplomacy. And, unfortunately, each of the daughters experienced multiple tragedies in those lives. But this book is about a few weeks in February, 1945, when these three women shared an important moment with their famous and powerful fathers. It provided a unique picture of these men and their daughters and I enjoyed it very much. I gave it five stars and recommend it for everyone.

Thanks to #netgalley and to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my early release copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.