Like many people, my passions were first ignited when I was a toddler, and I mainly have my maternal grandfather to thank what for interests me. I remember coming to my grandparentās house when I was young and watching WWII documentaries that my grandfather had on VHS (yes, Iām that old). Since then, Iāve always had a passion for history. It doesnāt really matter the subject, Iām interested in everything; from the Ottoman Empire to the Vietnam War, to the Spanish Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, to the US-backed coup in Guatemala during the Cold War. I hope that passion for history comes through when readers explore my book.
Dan Carlin is definitely one of the biggest inspirations for my own writing, and the style and format of my book are very similar to The End is Always Near. Dan Carlin hosts the massively popular Hardcore Historypodcast, and I have been an avid listener for years. More than once I found myself writing down ideas and notes for my own book only to find out that Carlin had beaten me to the punch and thought of these same ideas long before I had. If you enjoy Hardcore HistoryandThe End is Always Near, then I think you would enjoy my book as well.
A journey back in time that explores what happened-and what could have happened-from creator of the wildly-popular podcast Hardcore History and 2019 winner of the iHeartRadio Best History Podcast Award.
Dan Carlin has created a new way to think about the past. His mega-hit podcast, Hardcore History, is revered for its unique blend of high drama, enthralling narration, and Twilight Zone-style twists. Carlin humanizes the past, wondering about things that didn't happen but might have, and compels his listeners to "walk a mile in that other guy's historical moccasins." A political commentator, Carlin approaches history like a magician, employing completelyā¦
Gangsters of Capitalism covers a part of US history that is often deliberately overlooked by Americans, because it clashes with our national myths about ourselves. Katz follows US imperial history from the very end of the 19th century through to the middle of the 20th century, by following the life and career of Smedley Butler, a man who served in the marines for so much of this history. Gangster of Capitalismis in the top five of my favorite books that I have ever read. Katzās ability to weave a personal biography with sweeping history and how that history still affects us all in the present is superb.
A groundbreaking journey tracing Americaās forgotten path to global powerāand how its legacies shape our world todayātold through the extraordinary life of a complicated Marine.
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time. Bestselling books were written about him. Hollywood adored him. Wherever the flag went, āThe Fighting Quakerā wentāserving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II. From his first days as a 16-year-old recruit at the newly seized GuantĆ”namo Bay, he blazed a path for empire: helping annex the Philippines and the land for theā¦
A fast-paced literary thriller with a strong sci-fi element and loaded with existential questions. Beyond the entertainment value, this book takes a hard look at the perilous world of publishing, which is on a crash course to meet the nascent, no-holds-barred world of AI. Could these worlds co-exist, or willā¦
Mike Duncan is another source of inspiration that I am indebted to for helping me become a better writer. Duncan is also the host of the podcasts History of Rome and Revolutions, and author of another book, The Storm Before the Storm. Duncanās ability to recount some truly complex history with clarity and precision is truly uncanny, and his dry and sarcastic style of humor is similar to the humor I use in my book too. Duncanās work helped me become a more discerning student of history and I am grateful for that.
Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist.
As a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in dungeon prisons. After his release, Lafayette sparred with Napoleon, joined an underground conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII, and became an international symbol of liberty. Finally, asā¦
Iāll never forget how enthralled I was from the very beginning ofReign of Terror. Ackerman begins the book with a fascinating contrast in behavior that demonstrates that Americans have not abandoned nearly as much of their race prejudices as we like to pretend. In 1995, when Timothy McVeigh (with the help of many white supremacist groups) bombed the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, he was put through all of the standard legal procedures required under the law. When the United States was hunting extremists in the war on terror, we created places such as Guantanamo Bay and other CIA black sites to extrajudicially hold and torture people. The way Ackerman frames Americaās behavior during the war on terror makesReign of Terror a must-read in my opinion.
"An impressive combination of diligence and verve, deploying Ackerman's deep stores of knowledge as a national security journalist to full effect. The result is a narrative of the last 20 years that is upsetting, discerning and brilliantly argued." -The New York Times
"One of the most illuminating books to come out of the Trump era." -New York Magazine
An examination of the profound impact that the War on Terror had in pushing American politics and society in an authoritarian direction
For an entire generation, at home and abroad, the United Statesā¦
Contrary to popular belief, the Atrahasis Epic is not merely a flood myth. In some ways it can be called a creation myth. However, it does not concern itself with the creation of the universe or even of the earth. Rather, the created work in question is one of cultureā¦
Reading how world demand for things such as consumer electronics helps drive conflict in Central Africa as people scramble for the mineral resources required to make such electronics changed the way I think about the world. Ever since reading The Looting Machine, I felt a responsibility to at the very least pay attention to current events in countries such as Nigeria or Angola, to see how my own demand for commodities might be affecting people I will never meet all over the world. I still remember at the end of the book when Burgis quoted a Nigerian rapper when she said, āDonāt think youāre not a part of it.ā
The trade in oil, gas, gems, metals and rare earth minerals wreaks havoc in Africa. During the years when Brazil, India, China and the other "emerging markets" have transformed their economies, Africa's resource states remained tethered to the bottom of the industrial supply chain. While Africa accounts for about 30 per cent of the world's reserves of hydrocarbons and minerals and 14 per cent of the world's population, its share of global manufacturing stood in 2011 exactly where it stood in 2000: at 1 percent. In his first book, The Looting Machine, Tom Burgis exposes the truth about the Africanā¦
A Lot of Questions, with No Answers? Is a collection of six essays covering a variety of topics from subjects like religion and history and even to the recent pandemic.
As the title would suggest, the book is dedicated to questioning and inquiry. Throughout the book I encourage the reader to examine not only what their beliefs are, but why they believe what they do. How much are our convictions and principles personal, and how much are they instilled by society and the circumstances of our lives? How strong can a personās convictions be if they do not allow room for doubt in their minds? These are the kind of questions readers can expect to find as they go through the book.
To Do Justice is the first book in the White Winter Trilogy. The other books are To Love Kindness and To Walk Humbly. The Trilogy follows the same set of characters through eight tumultuous years in their lives and in the history of the world. To Do Justice startsā¦
The Dark Backward is the story of the strangest case ever tried in a court of law. The defendant, who does not speak English or any other language anyone can identify, had been found on an island no one knew existed and charged with murder, rape, and incest.