Best Books of 2020-Non-Fiction

Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas describes the impact on the Middle East of the competing forms of Islam that are being sponsored by Iran and Saudi Arabia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Ghattas, who tells the story from a very personal perspective, is the perfect author for this narrative.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson is a vivid description of the relationship between white Americans and African Americans since the first slave was brought to this continent in the early 17th century. She makes a compelling argument that, to this day, white Americans are unwilling to give up benefits they reap as the dominant caste, over African Americans, as the subordinate caste. Everyone may not agree with her conclusions. But this is the book around which important discussions should take place.

Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West by Catherine Belton describes how Vladimir Putin and his compatriots from the KGB have returned Russia to the days prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. However, instead of threatening the West with arms shipped to third world allies around the world Russia is now using its participation in the market economy to quietly buy influence in Western nations. In my review of Putin’s People in a Post dated October 7, 2020 I referred to this as a book that should be read by all Americans.

We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State by Kai Stritttmatter explains how the Communist Chinese Party uses modern technology to monitor its citizens and coerce their conformance with approved behavior and thought. It goes on to explain how the Chinese are using their international economic power to try to coerce the same such behavior and thought from those outside of its own borders. In my review of We Have Been Harmonized in a Post dated November 22, 2020 I indicated that, like Putin’s People, this is a book that should be read by all Americans.

Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric by Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann is the story of General Electric’s financial collapse during the 16-year period when Jeff Immelt was CEO. As a former corporate executive myself I have a special place on my bookshelf for books that take the reader into the corporate boardroom where the directors try to fix a company that is failing before their eyes. General Electric’s is a story of hubris in which the GE directors ignored the obvious problems at the company and remained absolutely sure that their management team was smarter than anyone and was always on the verge of turning things around. See my full review of Lights Out in my Post dated September 26, 2020.