Dropbear123 > Recent Status Updates

Mixed feelings so far. The first chapter about democracy in Interwar Europe jumped around too much and wasn’t very interesting. But the chapter on ethnic minorities and the chapter on health (mainly about birth rates and eugenics) were rather good. A little bit disappointed with the book so far though. It is very textbookish.

The German point of view before the battle, the planning by the generals, and the on the ground preparation for the attack. The emphasis on General Rawlinson instead of Haig is interesting. The sheer scale of the planning is also interesting for me. Very useful maps of the planned attack.

So far has covered the men who joined the British army in 1914-15. Their recruitment/motivations for joining, the Pals Battalions, and training. It has also covered the general life and combat on the Western Front before the Somme campaign. I’m liking the way it describes chain of command and it is setting out the difference between units like platoons vs battalions vs brigades in a very easy to understand way.

Really liking it. The detail on how whaling was done and the difficulties of surviving in the ocean are really interesting to read.

About halfway through book 2, part 1. Enjoying it far more than the previous sections. Particularly liked the chapters on Hobbes, Rousseau and the chapter on the French Revolution, specifically when it talked about Burke. I did skip the chapter on the American War of Independence as I’m just not interested in it and the book is already very long.

Book 1, Part 2. About medieval and early modern political thought up to the Reformation and Machiavelli. Enjoyed the bits about Thomas Aquinas, the subsection on Dante, and on Humanism and I think I got the most out of these. The Machiavelli part was only ok. The bits about 14th century politics and also the bits about the Reformation were not enjoyable and I didn’t get a lot out of them.

Book 1, part 1. About antiquity starting in the Peloponnesian War . Has a chapter about the views of Plato and then a chapter for Aristotle which were interesting. A chapter on Roman political thought which wasn’t interesting. Finishing up on St Augustine which picked up again. Bit hard to understand. Very heavy on things like views on justice, citizenship and the state. Aristotle and Augustine chapters the best.