The Liberation Trilogy

The Liberation Trilogy: An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle, The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson, This trilogy is a history of WWII, the European war. The first book, Battle, is the African campaign, the second, Battle, is the Italian campaign, and the third, Guns, is D-Day and the end of the war. I have read the first two, but do not think I will read the third. The death and destruction outlined in these books is a bit too much to spend a lot of time with. (Since I originally posted this, I have gone back and read the third book.) Of course, I am being spoiled, as the people fighting these battles obviously could not just walk away. The details are quite extensive, and the author had access to quite a few personal diaries of both officers and enlisted men, so you get a real insight into 'men on the ground'. It is also interesting to contemplate when reading this that another part of the war was taking place in the Pacific at the same time. Along the same theme of dealing with WWII, the above details the war in Europe, and Ian Toll has a trilogy that deals with the Pacific war. Pacific Crucible and The Conquering Tide are the first two in the trilogy, the third comes out in July 2020. The first deals with a lot of background of the countries to be involved, and the leaders and military men who will be a big part of the pacific war. The second I found more interesting as it looks at the main part of the war in the pacific and does so by looking at different branches of the military, and not just providing a chronological story of battles.

The Outlaw Ocean

The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina. Hard to read at times, do to the subject matter being so disturbing. This book outlines with several different scenarios that troubles of the earth's oceans: over fishing, pollution, forced labor. The author makes the point that the oceans have seemed to be a limitless resource, so 'abusing' them has not been taken seriously by many people. However, the reality is very different. The oceans are the first line that show the affect of climate change, and the rate of acceleration is pretty scary.

Fort Niagara

Fort Niagara by William Utley and Patricia Scott. The history of this fort, located where the Niagara river flows into Lake Ontario. This particular history is of the french period, the first version of the fort, up until the British takeover of the fort in 1759 during the French and Indian War. Having spent time in the early 1980s working at this fort, I have a personal interest in this, and found the early history quite interesting. Like The British Are Coming, this book illustrates how much happened well before 1776, and how all the events before that July date led up to the rebellion actually happening. It is quite complicated how the French, English and native peoples interacted. Each of them jockeying for the best position in the trade that was going on in this part of north America. This book probably appeals to a select group who know this area, but for that group this is a great resource.

Ali: A Life

Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig. Very interesting story of one of the most interesting and controversial people of the 20th century. This seems to be a very well researched book. Mr. Eig appears to have had access to many people still living who knew Ali. He weaves in the civil rights situation of the 60s and 70s to show how Ali fit into and shaped that period of history. I did have to stop reading this before the actual end of the book. The final chapters of Ali's life were too sad to read about, and it was better to just think of the young Ali and his amazing energy. He was the greatest!

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl. This memoir follows the life of a girl born in Jamestown, New York in 1871. She was the lower echelon of a well off family. But through marriage ended up living a wealthy life style, from the Gilded age through WWI, the roaring twenties, the depression and WWII and into the 1950s. Married 6 times, she moved in the circles of wealthy industrialist and European royalty just as the latter group was being pushed out of favor, but still retained the glamour of having titles. Throughout the ups and downs of the economy for almost a century she managed to avoid the pitfalls that so many others made. A great beauty when she was young, she grew into a smart and capable business woman.

The Ice at the End of the World

The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey into Greenland's Buried Past and Our Perilous Future by Jon Gertner. This very interesting book is both a history of the exploration of Greenland and an assessment of the global climate change crisis. The author describes the social history of Greenland and its exploration, and also the stories of the intrepid early explorers who added so much to the knowledge of large ice caps. Its striking how 'no 2 glaciers are alike' according to this author. His writing is clear and descriptive, and the build up from exploration to scientific research of the large ice fields of the world is an exciting, and at the same time disturbing narrative. From the Inuit and the early Norse settlers, to the use of satellite technology to analyze the ice melt, the story plunges us into the remote areas that will change all of our worlds.

The Vegabonds by Jeff Guinn

The Vegabonds by Jeff Guinn Henry Ford, John Burroughs, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone took trips to the 'wilderness' in the beginning of the 20th century. A way to 'get away' that was well publicized because they were actually very well coordinated publicity stunts to promote the products and initiatives of all 4 men. Later sometimes accompanied by their wives, the 'roughing it' trips consisted of a caravan of cars with servants and cooks to setup camp and prepare meals. Edison batteries provided lights for the tents, and they sometimes gave up the rouse and stayed at luxury hotels. This is an interesting snapshop of the times, from about 1910 to the late 1920s. When all of these men were very well known, and Burroughs and Edison in particular not young men. Into the commerce that they peddled with their 'camping' trips they also wove the politics of the day. So nothing new that the publicity machine can get to the public and create images that are still known today, even though it all came out of a marketing campaign.

The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley This book outlines a lot of the research that has gone into how we get distracted and why we are wired to be distracted. The consequences of being distracted can of course be very bad. Driving of course, but in everyday life where people think that 'multi-tasking' is a real thing. It actually is a very bad way to operate in the world, and ruins efficiency. The authors offer many strategies and ways of trying to cope with our distracting environments. I found it interesting that the idea of having an extended tech break, days without technology, can actually back fire. When you return to your tech world from the break you often dive in and are even more distracted than before. The strategies outlined really require a way of changing our behavior and changing the proximity of where are tech is at. Even it is not right in front of us, we are always aware that it is somewhere, offering us the latest update on 'vital' information. Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body By Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson

Running to the Edge

Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed by Matthew Futterman. This is a history of competitive running, from the 1950s to the present. It outlines the ways people train, used to train and how that evolved. The academic and economic forces that shaped running. This follows the personalities that helped to shape modern competitive running. Of course the shoe companies have had a big influence on this culture, and the fight to not let them control everything makes this a more interesting story.

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson. This is a lot of the history that we know, but told in a non-academic way that makes it a great way to refresh our memories of the start of the American Revolution. This is the history of the revolution up to 1777. It has been easy to forget how much happened before July 4, 1776, and a lot did happen. This is a military history of the beginning of the revolution, not a political history, but of course it is impossible to completely separate the two. The familiar names of places and people are brought to life: Bunker Hill, Washington, Franklin, Princeton. And in an odd twist, I have never read a book where the word sanguine was used so frequently.

Black Death at the Golden Gate

Black Death at the Golden Gate by David Randal. This tells the medical history of the plague in the US. The first outbreak came in the early 1900s in the San Francisco area. This also tells the story of the National Hospital Service, which would later be the National Institutes of Health. In particular Rupert Blue who's ground breaking work helped to contain the plague and keep if from becoming a national catastrophe. Of course woven throughout the story are the politics that were involved. City and State officials in California not wanting to have the state economy affected by a reputation of being a plague state, while at the same time trying to stop an epidemic from taking hold. The pathology of the plague is interesting in that the american version proved slightly different than the epidemics that hit asia before it came to the US.

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl. This charming memoir is mostly about the authors stint as editor in chief at Gourmet magazine, which lasted until the magazine folded. Some also about her early life and experience as food critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Her experience at Gourmet tells the story of a lifestyle that will probably never some back, living opulently in New York with lots of expense account money. Basically a life that the internet destroyed. There are lots of funny anecdotes and great descriptions of meals and trips. The Paris excursion of the entire staff of Gourmet is a story of excess that cannot be matched.

Madame Fourcade's Secret War

Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler by Lynne Olson. This is the story of the french underground and the workings of its spy network. A fascinating story that I knew pieces of, but this tells the entire story from before the war to its end about the braze people who passed on vital information on the workings of the Nazis to the Allies. The impact they had on the direction and outcome of the war is tremendous, and the number of them who did not survive is sobering. Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was a native Parisian of the upper class, raised partly in Shanghai in the 1930s, when that city was more sophisticated than Paris. Tall, pretty and fashionable, she was the last person that the Germans would think would be a spy, which worked to her advantage. The fact that a women was the leader of the french underground was another factor. They passed on information to MI6, the British spy organization who then passed it on to military strategists. MI6 did not know that Fourcade was a women until well into the war, which again was to her advantage, as she assumed correctly that if the British knew she was a women they would have dismissed her information as invalid. The information that was passed to the Allies helped to delay the deployment of the V-1 and V-2 rockets by the Germans, which would have possibly won them the war if they were deployed sooner. Information from the resistance also directed the planning for D-Day in Normandy. This is a great true story that is finally being told.

Ten Caesars

Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine by Barry S. Strauss As the title implies, this is a collection of biographical sketches 10 roman emperors. But the title is a bit odd, since the authors starts by pointing out that Julius Caesar was a dictator and not an emperor. The emperors begin with Augustus, and this book ends with Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Between the two of those there were many more than ten emperors, but the author concentrates on the most impactful. Hadrian, Nero, Diocletian, Marcus Aurelius are all well known names to people. But the succession from one emperor to another was not easy. Many times there were civil wars, and there could up to 4 emperors in a year before a victor came through. In many ways the times covered by this book helped to shape the modern world, as the empire evolved and the Roman empire engulfed many cultures.

The Last Boat Out of Shanghai

The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia. This book documents the final days of Shanghai as a non-communist city in China. The vehicle used is to tell the stories of 4 people who all ended up immigrating to the United States. The narrative follows them from being young people in the 1930s until the communist victory of the national army in 1949. The four come from different walks of life, rich and poor, educated and orphaned and abandoned. The author begins in the 1930s with the occupation of Shanghai by the Japanese as WWII gets underway. The complicated history of Shanghai with foreigners and foreign governments is used to tell the story of complicated hardships and some tragedy. The resilience of the four is illustrated in their toughness and intelligence in dealing with the many hardships and obstacles they overcome. The author states at the beginning of the book that this is a history that has not been told before. And I think certainly it has not been told in this way, I am sure it is in some history books, but the compelling personal story of these 4 people and the people they interact with gives a richness to the story.

Heart, A History

Heart, A History by Sandeep Jauhar. This is a history of cardiology, more of less. By a cardiologist. Sandeep describes the early view of the heart, and the early heart surgery, which really did not take place until the late 1800s. The development that had to happen to allow heart surgery to take place is pretty amazing, and the people who tended to make the discoveries and break throughs were basically pioneers to did things on their own. And by on their own it was surprising to me how many of these early heart doctors performed experiments on themselves, at time with fatal consequences. The development of bypass surgery, the pace maker, angioplasty if all covered. And it is really surprising how some of the discoveries were not made until the 1980s. Sandeep also provides his own personal stories in this book. His grandfather that died of a sudden heart attack, his own concerns about his own heart help. At times tough to read for some of the procedures, but all in all I found this a very educational book.

Blog 1 IA597

Hello everyone and welcome. Since this is the first time we are teaching this course, and the first time the course is being taught, I will use this blog to reflect on the progress of the class and makes notes of what works, what can be improved and what can be added. Creating this course has been in itself a long process and many people contributed to it coming about. We modeled some of the course on what other Universities are doing, and relied on UA personnel to help shape how the course would look. Here's to a great Spring 2019 semester. Garry