DAVE'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2014

[Dave]

36. byJohn Mosier

Finish date : July 8th, 2014
Genre : History
Rating : A+

Review : In this wonderful book, John Mosier challenges many conceptions about the Battle of Verdun, which are in fact a series of battles that covered the entire length of the war.

The book is particularly interesting because it exposes the extent to which the military authorities in France and Britain hid the true situation on the field and fed false information to their political masters.

The tactics of Germany and the lamentable condition of the French Army at the opening of the War are very well documented.

One downer, however, is the judgements repeatedly passed by the author who are at some times annoying.

[Dave]

37. by Allan Mallinson

Finish date : July 17th, 2014
Genre : History
Rating : A++

Review : Very thorough recollection of the first month of fighting for the BEF. This book focuses on British military preparation, the difficult relation with the French Military Brass, the tactics of the BEF which was a very efficient fighting force.

The author brings a real mastery of the fight and gives an account of the battles that is both detailed and giving the reader a real feeling of being on the field.

I totally recommend it.

[Dave]

Jill wrote: "The book sounds like something I would like, Dave. If you are interested in that period and the fall of the Houses of Habsburg and Hohenzollern, I would recommend the following:


Thank you so much for this recommendation! This is spot-on one of my interests, I am a huge fan of books about Prussia and Austria-Hungary :D

[Bryan]

Great work, Dave. On number 51, if an author does not have a photo, don't worry about putting in the image. Just add no photo like so:

by John Mosier (no photo)

Speaking of Franz, this is solid:

by Alan Warwick Palmer (no photo)

I loved this book:

by Frederic Morton

[Dave]

38. by Yu Hua

Finish date : July 23rd, 2014
Genre : Essay / History
Rating : A

Review : This book was recommended to me by my brother in law. I must admit that I am not well versed in Chinese history. The book contains life experiences of Yu Hua, a chinese author who grew up in the middle of the Cultural revolution.

The book is made of 10 essays, each revolving around a single word, used to describe China, its history and its reality. These are : People, Leader, Reading, Writing, Lu Xun, Revolution, Disparity, Grassroots, Copycat and Bamboozle.

The first 8 essays were really interesting, but I found the last 40 pages more drab.

The author conveys very well the day-to-day reality of young children in Communist China during the Mao era, I found it both interesting and surprisingly informative.

I recommend it, 220 pages is a quick read.

[Dave]

39. by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Finish date : July 27th,2014
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A+

Review: Very well written and clear-structured, this book gives a good narrative about Clinton's four years at Foggy Bottom.

While this book clearly serves as a positioning on her part for 2016, it covers a wide-array of issues and is very instructive.

I can easily say I have a better grasp of geopolitics after reading it.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Great job Dave in 2014 - 86 people were reading your reviews on this thread in 2014. We have set up a new thread for you for 2015 and we look forward to reading your reviews and discovering new books to read through your reviews.