Not reading at this minute, but on an Indian theme Narcopolis was money well spent
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Not reading at this minute, but on an Indian theme Narcopolis was money well spent
I think Glue is his best book.Quote:
Originally Posted by somtamslap
Glue is also a cracking read.Quote:
Originally Posted by SiLeakHunt
I've read Cloud Atlas and Bone Clocks by David Mitchell recently.
Both excellent.
I'm reading The Khan Series by Conn Iggulden at the moment. A fictionalised history of Genghis Khan. So far it's been very enjoyable. Only 1700 pages to go. Should keep me out of mischief for a while.
Liars Poker - Michael Lewis
This was an interesting read and does showcase how much of wall street financial genius is just guessing
Ghost Fleet - PW Singer and some other blokeQuote:
Liar's Poker is a non-fiction, semi-autobiographical book by Michael Lewis describing the author's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the late 1980s.[1] First published in 1989, it is considered one of the books that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, along with Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, and the fictional The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. The book captures an important period in the history of Wall Street. Two important figures in that history feature prominently in the text, the head of Salomon Brothers' mortgage department Lewis Ranieri and the firm's CEO John Gutfreund.
don't bother - recruiting propaganda and wet dream stuff for 15 yr old seppo boys - the high tech smegma is basically just that - the gauss weapon is in research/production but deserves better than this book to be written around it
Billion Dollar Spy - David Hoffman
this was a good book about a Russian Engineer who passed secrets to the seppos during the cold war
Data and Goliath - Bruce SchienerQuote:
While driving out of the American embassy in Moscow on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA’s Moscow station heard a knock on his car window. A man on the curb handed him an envelope whose contents stunned U.S. intelligence: details of top-secret Soviet research and developments in military technology that were totally unknown to the United States. In the years that followed, the man, Adolf Tolkachev, an engineer in a Soviet military design bureau, used his high-level access to hand over tens of thousands of pages of technical secrets. His revelations allowed America to reshape its weapons systems to defeat Soviet radar on the ground and in the air, giving the United States near total superiority in the skies over Europe.
One of the most valuable spies to work for the United States in the four decades of global confrontation with the Soviet Union, Tolkachev took enormous personal risks—but so did the Americans. The CIA had long struggled to recruit and run agents in Moscow, and Tolkachev was a singular breakthrough. Using spy cameras and secret codes as well as face-to-face meetings in parks and on street corners, Tolkachev and his handlers succeeded for years in eluding the feared KGB in its own backyard, until the day came when a shocking betrayal put them all at risk.
This is a very good book for all those who venture on the internet to read - most of it will be common knowledge to nerds who read nerd websites , but it is a good collation with standard Bruce analysis.
it is becoming harder and harder to stay anonymous on 'tinternet , but this book explains what is happening to your information as it is collated by online corps
Quote:
Your cell phone provider tracks your location and knows who’s with you. Your online and in-store purchasing patterns are recorded, and reveal if you're unemployed, sick, or pregnant. Your e-mails and texts expose your intimate and casual friends. Google knows what you’re thinking because it saves your private searches. Facebook can determine your sexual orientation without you ever mentioning it.Data and Goliath
The powers that surveil us do more than simply store this information. Corporations use surveillance to manipulate not only the news articles and advertisements we each see, but also the prices we’re offered. Governments use surveillance to discriminate, censor, chill free speech, and put people in danger worldwide. And both sides share this information with each other or, even worse, lose it to cybercriminals in huge data breaches.
Much of this is voluntary: we cooperate with corporate surveillance because it promises us convenience, and we submit to government surveillance because it promises us protection. The result is a mass surveillance society of our own making. But have we given up more than we’ve gained? In, security expert Bruce Schneier offers another path, one that values both security and privacy. He shows us exactly what we can do to reform our government surveillance programs and shake up surveillance-based business models, while also providing tips for you to protect your privacy every day. You'll never look at your phone, your computer, your credit cards, or even your car in the same way again.
No Off Switch by Andy Kershaw.
^let me help you with that :)
No Off Switch by Andy Kershaw
Quote:
Having seen his radio career hit the skids following a booze-fuelled nervous breakdown and a spell in jail for harassing his ex-partner, an autobiography would be the perfect opportunity for DJ Andy Kershaw to perform a bit of PR on himself. This account does not go out of its way to endear us to him. With digs at everything from Rastafarianism and the smoking ban to musicians he doesn't care for. From his pioneering work as entertainments officer at Leeds University in the 1980s, to his introduction of many foreign artists to British ears, to his latter-day work as a foreign reporter, Kershaw has had a fascinating life.
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Remember reading about this guy a while ago, now Johnny Depp is starring in a film about him.
James "Whitey" Bulger was the ruthless, elusive, and cunning leader of Boston's Irish mafia from the early 60's. Law enforcement all over the US could never figure out how this guy evaded capture and arrest on charges ranging from book running, huge narcotics shipments to outright murder..
Basically, Bulger had a handler and guardian angel in the FBI. His man in the Bureau was a fellow Irish S. Bostonian, giving Bulger all the leeway he wanted in exchange for info on the Sicilian Mob.
This is the opening premise of the book, so no spoilers here. A fascinating look into the brutal life and times of a guy who was a hero to many in Boston. Dunno what the film will be like, but the book is superb thus far.
Well into it now. Entertaining. Certainly exposes the other side (inept) of Gandhi, Mountbatten and Churchill.Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick
^ ghandi seems to have been a full on nutjob
which does bring into question the worldwide adulation - I would think most people don't know what a strange twisted fcukwit he was
I understand that most residents of the Dog House were on first name terms with him.Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick
* Islam: A Primer ... John Sabini
* Christians, Muslims and Islamic Rage ... Christopher Catherwood
* Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism ... Dore Gold
เด็กชายในชุดนอนลายทาง
my first thai novel, gonna be hard going. i think it's about a prison camp,i'll get back too you :)
It's come as a relief to me that somebody from Barry can read English let alone Thai. My mate Roger might well have been your headmaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by barrylad66
no he wasn't, before my time probably :)Quote:
Originally Posted by can123It's come as a relief to me that somebody from Barry can read English let alone Thai. My mate Roger might well have been your headmaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by barrylad66
Kafka's
Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande
Secret Prague a sudy of Freimauer symbols in the Imperial capital
Hoar and Piss a stunning Tour de Force By Prof Smeg of Boremouth University department metamasterpieces
...as he did have very twisting and contradictory thought and actions, which could have been spawned by his extreme - yet not sinister - ideals.Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick
Ghandi's behaviour may have seemed paradoxical, but many famous people have been the same, and flawed in some way. Nobody's perfect, and life itself is paradoxical.
Is it an original Thai novel or a translation into Thai of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?Quote:
Originally Posted by barrylad66
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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) - IMDb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bo...triped_Pyjamas
Just finished A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe, the first book of his I've read since The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. Found it interesting enough I've just started A Bonfire for the Vanities. Somewhat interesting so far I think I'll finish it.
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A Man in Full
Novel by Tom Wolfe
3.8/5·Goodreads
A Man in Full is a novel by Tom Wolfe, published on November 12, 1998 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It is set primarily in Atlanta, with a significant portion of the story also transpiring in the East Bay region of Northern California. Wikipedia
Originally published: November 12, 1998
Author: Tom Wolfe
Preceded by: The Bonfire of the Vanities
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Country: United States of America
Genres: Fiction, Novel
I've just finished reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, it's a hefty tome and certainly one of the more manifold tales I've tackled in a while, but finish it I did and I think it was well worth the effort.
It's a story of cryptography based on historical events, wrapped up in a fictional story that spans two time lines; late in WWII and in the internet boom of the 90's and is based around the Phillipines. It captures both these periods remarkably well, moving from MacArthurs retaking of the Phillipines, to Turings work at Bletchley Park, to the Tiger economy of SEA, and many other points in between. It offers a rich historical perspective into the mindset of those periods, whilst giving a detailed evolution of cryptography.
Downside.. the connection between the two timelines was purposely kept tenous for most of the book through obfuscation which seemed a bit purposeless and confusing after a while. The depth of understanding offered on cryptology by the book is in some parts intentionally difficult and would only be understood by real cryptologists. On both points though I didn't have any problem skimming through and getting on with the story.
And there's gold... war gold, tons of it ;)
^ his latest - seven eyes - is not worth the effort
but you might also like quicksilver - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksilver_%28novel%29
The Rise of Special Forces in the C.I.A., the S.A.S., and Mossad by Tony Geraghty
this was not a bad read with some interesting information
Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44 - Robert ForczykQuote:
A brief history of special-forces units, examining how they have altered the ways in which governments approach difficult military problems.
Special-forces units are small, highly skilled groups of soldiers trained for secret operations outside the parameters of traditional military forces. Some of these have connections to organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the United Kingdom’s Special Air Service or Israel’s Mossad. Ex-soldier and Guardian contributor Geraghty (Soldiers of Fortune: A History of the Mercenary in Modern Warfare, 2009, etc.) looks at their post–World War II origins. During the Cold War, special-forces units allowed governments to carry out espionage-related military missions without full-scale war. Similar elite forces developed as an effective way to take on guerrilla warriors and terrorists, particularly in Ireland, Vietnam and Israel. The author entertainingly narrates the tales of various forces and their missions, but he never shies away from the morally gray areas that such units often inhabit. “Much of the history of Special Forces—anyone’s Special Forces,” he writes, “is a story of dirty, morally reprehensible—if effective—work.” Sometimes special-forces operations have failed spectacularly, as when an aborted 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran led to the deaths of several American soldiers. But there have also been impressive successes, including the famous rescue of terrorist-held hostages by Israeli soldiers at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976. Geraghty effectively shows how the precision allowed by special forces is now being used as part of the U.S. military’s strategy in Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, chosen by President Obama to lead the forces in Afghanistan, is a special forces veteran, and the president, in a landmark speech on Afghanistan military strategy, said that the military will have to be “nimble and precise” to be effective. “For ‘nimble and precise’ read ‘Special Operations Forces’ ” Geraghty writes.
An engaging overview bolstered by intriguing appendices, including the August 2009 “McChrystal Report on Afghanistan.”
this is a well researched book with a lot of detail but easy to read- interesting in that it is not a well know facet of the second world war and in light of recent events
Quote:
The Crimea has been an important part of history for sometime. Lately as a result of Russia's invasion and occupation, but going back as far as the Crimean Tatars, the region has been important for a great deal of time. This book covers the military history aspects of the region in World War II. It first covers the history up until 1941 briefly, then carries the reader through Manstein's siege of Sevastopol, and through the brutal German occupation. The Soviet reconquest is of course chronicled
I'm looking for something a bit thinner next, but cheers I'll look out for it ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick
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Book Description
Children of the Rising is the first ever account of the young lives violently lost during the week of the 1916 Rising: long-forgotten and never commemorated, until now.
About the Author
Broadcaster Joe Duffy is the presenter of Ireland's most popular daily radio show, Liveline, on RTE Radio 1.
Born in Dublin's Mountjoy Square and reared in Ballyfermot, his bestselling memoir Just Joe was published in 2010.
His interest in researching and writing about the forgotten children killed in 1916 was sparked by an art project he undertook in Easter 2013 for the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation.
In 2014 he organised the first national ecumenical service of reclamation and remembrance for the children killed in the Easter Rising.
Touch the Devil
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
Book by Jack Higgins
3.7/5·Goodreads Touch the Devil by Jack Higgins ? Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
3.5/5·Google Books https://books.google.co.th/books/abo...YC&redir_esc=y
Pocket Books, publisher of 16 Higgins bestsellers, now presents an extraordinary novel that reunites retired British agent Liam Devlin and renegade American Martin Brosnan. ... Google Books
Originally published: 1982
Author: Jack Higgins
Genre: Fiction