Al Singh

Author's posts

The Korean War 1950-1953 by Carter Malkasian

This was a more or less conventional history of the Korean War, focusing on Cold War strategies and policies. It notes that the Korean Was the first and only war in which the major powers…the Soviet Union, China, the United States, and its allies…actually engaged in direct armed conflict with each other. MacArthur is given …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/02/03/the-korean-war-1950-1953-by-carter-malkasian/

Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Celine has a way of writing about perfectly horrible experiences in a way that makes you laugh out loud. This book is a work of genius, although not quite as good as *Journey to the End of Night*. It’s too bad he didn’t write more. He has an uncanny way of finding humor in all …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/01/13/death-on-the-installment-plan-by-louis-ferdinand-celine/

The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop

This was a marvellous book, a concise introduction to a vast subject. There are many fascinating aspects to this period, all of which receive their due in this work. Yet I have to say that overall the Middle Ages were a low point in the history of Western Civilization, and I think the tendency to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/01/11/the-middle-ages-by-morris-bishop/

Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader

This book was an extraordinary combination of history, prehistory, geography, geology, and anthropology that greatly illuminated my understanding of this vast continent and its people. But precisely why Africa has failed to develop in pace with the rest of the world is left a mystery.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/11/22/africa-a-biography-of-the-continent-by-john-reader/

The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare

When I took Shakespeare in college the professor dismissed this play as silly, but he can’t have been reading the same play. The love story is touching, not just the romantic courtship between the gentlemen and the ladies, but also the friendship between the two gentlemen, and the play is only saved from being a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/11/14/the-two-gentlemen-of-verona-by-william-shakespeare/

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

This is a wonderful work of imagination on Wells’ part, but it is interesting to me for two reasons that are tangential to the story. The first is that it was written before the close of the nineteenth century, when Britain was thought of as the most powerful nation on earth, so it made sense …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/11/12/the-war-of-the-worlds-by-h-g-wells/

Daily Life in Ancient Rome by Florence Dupont

The author is obviously enamored of the ancient Romans, and I suspect that she projects her own preferences and prejudices onto them. But this is a fascinating book that takes a look at what kind of people the Romans were, apart from the endless wars of conquest and political intrigues that historians typically dwell. Dupont …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/09/21/daily-life-in-ancient-rome-by-florence-dupont/

In the Days of the Comet by H.G. Wells

Wells was not a religious man, yet somehow this strikes me as a deeply religious book. He seems to have had a profound conviction that the world we live in is a fallen world that has gone horribly wrong, and he seems to have been equally certain that nothing short of a deus ex machina …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/09/17/in-the-days-of-the-comet-by-h-g-wells/

Caesar: Politician and Statesman by Matthias Gelzer

An excellent study of the crisis of the late Roman Republic, the Gallic and Civil Wars, and Julius Caesar’s personal genius. To put it as mildly as possible, Caesar was a man of remarkable ability, not the least of which was his extraordinary knack for never missing an opportunity, and he was born at the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/09/06/caesar-politician-and-statesman-by-matthias-gelzer/

A History of Nigeria by Toyin Falola

A good source of information, if not an exciting narrative, on the largest country in Africa. The story is typically African: colonial exploitation is followed by a brief and heady period of independence, which is followed by a long period of political corruption, ethnic violence, and economic decline. I personally remain as mystified by Africa’s …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2008/08/17/a-history-of-nigeria-by-toyin-falola/