Reading that opens the mind - Books

[midcan5]

Someone asked recently which writer influenced you most, and I list three, Albert Camus, Thomas Wolfe, and Feodor Dostoevsky. For Camus it was all his writings, Wolfe's 'You can't go home,' and D's 'Devils' and 'Brothers Karamazov.'

So I complied a more modern list of reading that challenges and will surely make you think. And raise your IQ as well. Four asterisks are excellent first reads. Most is nonfiction, I will add fiction writers at end.

What We Leave Behind By Derrick Jensen
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Leave-Behind-Derrick-Jensen/dp/1583228675/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: What We Leave Behind (9781583228678): Derrick Jensen, Aric McBay: Books[/ame]

Media / Hate / Ecology ****
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Make-Believe-Derrick-Jensen/dp/1931498571/ref=pd_sim_b_10]Amazon.com: The Culture of Make Believe (9781931498579): Derrick Jensen: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249125348&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (9780375714498): Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky: Books[/ame]

Burning All Illusions : A Guide to Personal and Political Freedom by David Edwards
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Burning-All-Illusions-Personal-Political/dp/0896085317/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3]Amazon.com: Burning All Illusions : A Guide to Personal and Political Freedom (9780896085312): David Edwards: Books[/ame]

Politics - rhetorical thought - excellent ****
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rhetoric-Reaction-Perversity-Futility-Jeopardy/dp/067476868X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246553514&sr=1-3]Amazon.com: The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy (9780674768680): Albert O. Hirschman: Books[/ame]

Deer hunting with Jesus ****- excellent picture from a hick on hicks - said with respect.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hunting-Jesus-Dispatches-Americas/dp/0307339378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books]Amazon.com: Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (9780307339379): Joe Bageant: Books[/ame]

Two excellent introductions to political thinking
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Political-Philosophy-Beginners-Students-Politicians/dp/0745635326/ref=pd_sim_b_1]Amazon.com: Political Philosophy: A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians (9780745635323): Adam Swift: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Political-Philosophy-Jonathan-Wolff/dp/019929609X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: An Introduction to Political Philosophy (9780199296095): Jonathan Wolff: Books[/ame]

Great Depression and Bubbles
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-New-Deal-Introductions/dp/0195326342/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1230302046&sr=1-8]Amazon.com: The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (9780195326345): Eric Rauchway: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Financial-Euphoria-Whittle/dp/0140238565/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230302117&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: A Short History of Financial Euphoria (Penguin business) (9780140238563): John Kenneth Galbraith: Books[/ame]

Poverty Global Issues
Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet by Jeffrey D. Sachs
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Common-Wealth-Economics-Crowded-Planet/dp/0143114875/ref=ed_oe_p]Amazon.com: Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (9780143114871): Jeffrey D. Sachs: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/End-Poverty-Economic-Possibilities-Time/dp/0143036580/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c]Amazon.com: The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (9780143036586): Jeffrey Sachs: Books[/ame]

Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph E. Stiglitz
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Globalization-Its-Discontents-Joseph-Stiglitz/dp/0393324397/ref=pd_cp_b_2]Amazon.com: Globalization and Its Discontents (9780393324396): Joseph E. Stiglitz: Books[/ame]

Economics
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/How-West-Grew-Rich-Transformation/dp/0465031099/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books]Amazon.com: How The West Grew Rich: The Economic Transformation Of The Industrial World (9780465031092): Nathan Rosenberg, L.E. Birdzell Jr.: Books[/ame]
Great Depression
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Hands-Businessmens-Crusade-Against/dp/0393337669/ref=ed_oe_p]Amazon.com: Invisible Hands: The Businessmen's Crusade Against the New Deal (9780393337662): Kim Phillips-Fein: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Propensity-Self-Subversion-Albert-O-Hirschman/dp/0674715586/ref=sid_dp_dp]Amazon.com: A Propensity to Self-Subversion (9780674715585): Albert O. Hirschman: Books[/ame]

Liberal thought - Waldron is excellent
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/God-Locke-Equality-Christian-Foundations/dp/0521890578/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: God, Locke, and Equality: Christian Foundations in Locke's Political Thought (9780521890571): Jeremy Waldron: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Fairness-Restatement-John-Rawls/dp/0674005112/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (9780674005112): John Rawls, Erin Kelly: Books[/ame]

Serious fun, thought provoking.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Have-Changed-Your-About/dp/0061686549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: What Have You Changed Your Mind About?: Today's Leading Minds Rethink Everything (9780061686542): John Brockman: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Believe-but-Cannot-Prove/dp/0060841818/ref=pd_sim_b_3]Amazon.com: What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty (9780060841812): John Brockman: Books[/ame]
EDGE

History
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Age-Extremes-History-World-1914-1991/dp/0679730052/ref=ed_oe_p]Amazon.com: The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 (9780679730057): Eric Hobsbawm: Books[/ame]

Evil - understanding a topic that confuses all.
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing by James Waller
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Evil-Ordinary-Genocide-Killing/dp/0195189493/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (9780195189490): James Waller: Books[/ame]

Ideas - a survey from fire to ....
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-History-Thought-Invention-Freud/dp/0060935642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books]Amazon.com: Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud (9780060935641): Peter Watson: Books[/ame]

Ethics - profound and deep
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Persons-Oxford-Paperbacks-Parfit/dp/019824908X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Reasons and Persons (Oxford Paperbacks) (9780198249085): Derek Parfit: Books[/ame]

Other stuff to challenge you.

"Is Democracy Possible Here? Principles for a New Political Debate" By Ronald Dworkin

"The Morality of Freedom" By Joseph Raz.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Morality-Freedom-Clarendon-Paperbacks/dp/0198248075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248087360&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: The Morality of Freedom (Clarendon Paperbacks) (9780198248156): Joseph Raz: Books[/ame]

Liberal Rights" Jeremy Waldron See Chapter 2 Page 35
Liberal rights: collected papers ... - Google Books

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ideology-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/019280281X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239196362&sr=1-3]Amazon.com: Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (9780192802811): Michael Freeden: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-before-Liberalism-Quentin-Skinner/dp/0521638763/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247953101&sr=8-4]Amazon.com: Liberty before Liberalism (9780521638760): Quentin Skinner: Books[/ame]

Modern writers worth reading William Vollman, Richard Powers, and the books below are all excellent.


* Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance By Robert Pirsig
Darkness At Noon By Arthur Koestler
Angle Of Repose By Wallace Stegner
Go Tell It On The Mountain By James Baldwin
Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison
Man's Fate, André Malraux
Sophie's Choice By William Styron
The Fall, The Plague, Albert Camus
An American Tragedy By Theodore Dreiser
The Heart Of The Matter By Graham Greene
The Sound And The Fury By William Faulkner
To The Lighthouse By Virginia Woolf

 

[KittenKoder]

What are these ... books? Some sort of ancient tablets?

 

[Fatality]

What are these ... books? Some sort of ancient tablets?

yeah, you know thoses things about which you and your comrade said people who quote from books are ignorant.

 

[KittenKoder]

What are these ... books? Some sort of ancient tablets?

yeah, you know thoses things about which you and your comrade said people who quote from books are ignorant.

Really? I said that? ... yeah ... you pay attention well.

 

[midcan5]

LOL - read some of the excerpts on Amazon. Check out the Culture of Make Believe by Jensen. Edward's book along the same topic is interesting too.

 

[American Horse]

Thanks for the thread MC. Quite a list – lots of choices. One author which you – and I – quote a lot not on your list is Eric Hoffer. I often go to one of his first three books The Ordeal of Change to find inspiration for clear thinking. On the other hand, I do not go much to Dostoevsky; but that's just me.

Here is how Hoffer’s emergence as an author/philosopher/social commentator was summarized in the Editor's Preface of The True Believer when it was re-published in the Time Reading Program for the Special Edition in 1963:

“In 1951, when "Believer" first appeared, eager eyes had long been peeled for the emergence of a proletarian philosopher. A genuine one emerged at last – with a philosophical cast very different from what a proletarian was supposed to think. The literary shock could hardly have been greater. For Hoffer’s hero is “the autonomous man,” the confident man at peace with himself, engaged in the present. In Hoffer’s book, this hero, nourished by free societies, is set off against “the true believer,” who begins as a frustrated man driven by guilt, failure and self-disgust to bury his own identity in a cause oriented to some future goal.”

In his small (second) book The Passionate State of Mind, Hoffer goes further in describing the human characteristics of the autonomous man versus the true believer. He does this in 280 aphorisms on 141 pages, ranging in size from just less than a page at the beginning to as little as 6 words as the book progresses. He separates them by abundant blank space to give the reader time to absorb the last before moving on to the next.

These three aphorisms give the gist of what he has to say; a long one in the beginning, one of medium length in the middle, and a very short one at the end:

Aphorism 30:
“WE ACQUIRE a sense of worth either by realizing our talents, or by keeping busy, or by identifying ourselves with something apart from us – be it a cause, a leader, a group, possessions and the like. Of the three, the path of self-realization is the most difficult. It is taken only when other avenues to a sense of worth are more or less blocked. Men of talent have to be encouraged and goaded to engage in creative work. Their groans and laments echo through the ages.

Action is a high-road to self-confidence and esteem. Where it is open, all energies flow toward it. It comes readily to most people, and its rewards are tangible. The tendency toward it is rarely spontaneous. Where the opportunities for action are many, cultural creativeness is likely to be neglected. The cultural flowering of New England came to an almost abrupt end with the opening of the West. The relative cultural sterility of the Romans might perhaps be explained by their empire rather than by an innate lack of genius. The best talents were attracted by the rewards of administrative posts just as the best talents in American are attracted by the rewards of a business career.”

Aphorism 170:
“IN AMERICA not only are class lines indistinct but there is something at work which equalizes people irrespective of their education, possessions, occupations and their mental and physical attributes. The differences are relatively slight between the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, soldiers and civilians, old and young, men and women, business leaders and labor leaders, the sane and the insane, and (considering the quantities of patent medicines consumed by all) the healthy and the sick.”

Aphorism 255:
“FEAR and freedom are mutually exclusive.”

Here is a link to his bio in Wikkipedia and a list of books he’s written.
Eric Hoffer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[midcan5]

Thanks for the thread MC. Quite a list – lots of choices. One author which you – and I – quote a lot not on your list is Eric Hoffer. I often go to one of his first three books The Ordeal of Change to find inspiration for clear thinking. On the other hand, I do not go much to Dostoevsky; but that's just me....

I agree but I think too that times change and writers react to their times.

Saw this list in a Newsweek and thought it interesting and worth sharing.

I have been back reading Derek Parfit and now a Richard Powers novel, the echo maker. Both challenge.

'What to Read Now. And Why'


"We know it's insane. We know people will ask why on earth we think that an 1875 British satirical novel is the book you need to read right now—or, for that matter, why it even made the cut. The fact is, no one needs another best-of list telling you how great The Great Gatsby is. What we do need, in a world with precious little time to read (and think), is to know which books—new or old, fiction or nonfiction—open a window on the times we live in, whether they deal directly with the issues of today or simply help us see ourselves in new and surprising ways. Which is why we'd like you to sit down with Anthony Trollope, and these 49 other remarkably trenchant voices."

Fifty Books for Our Times | Newsweek Books | Newsweek.com


"If anybody asks me what I have accomplished, I will say all I have accomplished is that I have written a few good sentences." Eric Hoffer


AH, I was going to use that quote and Hoffer in my avatar after the election, but since Obama bugs others I had to keep him. lol

 

[American Horse]

"If anybody asks me what I have accomplished, I will say all I have accomplished is that I have written a few good sentences." Eric Hoffer


AH, I was going to use that quote and Hoffer in my avatar after the election, but since Obama bugs others I had to keep him. lol

Actually I like your Av and hope you keep it. The Obama family looks so "ideal" in it and that's the image you want to project. It's honest of you from your point of view. Maybe you could change around a little, but nothing could be more revealing than the family photo.

 

[Harry Dresden]

"If anybody asks me what I have accomplished, I will say all I have accomplished is that I have written a few good sentences." Eric Hoffer


AH, I was going to use that quote and Hoffer in my avatar after the election, but since Obama bugs others I had to keep him. lol

Actually I like your Av and hope you keep it. The Obama family looks so "ideal" in it and that's the image you want to project. It's honest of you from your point of view. Maybe you could change around a little, but nothing could be more revealing than the family photo.

yea you have any tissue....im getting a tear in my eye....

 

[hjmick]

Louis L'Amour.

 

[midcan5]

Came across this list looking for histories of ideas, a personal favorite subject. Since he liked Richard Powers, I checked his list and saw 'The Ascent of Man' by Jacob Bronowski mentioned. Few here probably saw it on TV, but it astounds me to think how good television can be and yet how bad it is. Anyway his list includes so many topics debated on USMB I thought I'd share it.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1N5YAOQJ6T8RD/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview]Amazon.com: Profile For Jay C. Smith: Reviews[/ame]


And - this book on medieval history is so well done and readable, I bought a used copy of his 'The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972.' Summer read as it is a thick one.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/World-Lit-Only-Fire-Renaissance/dp/0316545562/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257368057&sr=1-4]Amazon.com: A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age (9780316545563): William Manchester: Books[/ame]

Also check out, pulled this off the shelf after the discussion on religion and morality in another thread. See Chapter 3, book is available online.

Online Library of Liberty - The Liberal Mind

"Moral knowledge is sometimes a thing we seek; more often it is something we have forced upon us. A Nazi bureaucrat receiving orders to arrest and execute a Jewish friend, has, in the classic textbook sense, a moral problem. Does he obey the State, to which he owes allegiance? Does he resign? Does he help his friend to get out of the country to safety? He may formulate his question as: what ought I to do? He may rank the various appropriate rules (help friends, obey the law, keep promises, etc.). He may calculate the utils of pain involved for everybody concerned. He may ask what Christ or Luther would have done. He is in fact unlikely to do any of these things with much resolution. It is far more likely that a set of incidents—watching his children, the remark of a superior, or an obsessive memory—will give him some vision of things in which his decision will emerge. But whatever he does, his choice will be evidence about his character. It may indicate weakness or strength, vanity, self-sacrifice, honesty or self-deception. The conflict may be seen in quite other terms than “what ought he to do?” as, for example, whether he is a loyal friend or an obedient supporter of the régime. If our Nazi functionary were singlemindedly dedicated to the régime, he would not be aware of a moral dilemma at all. He would simply do his “duty.” And if, later, after executing his Jewish friend, he began to suffer remorse, he would be criticizing not only his act or choice; he would be implicitly criticizing the narrowly obedient way of life which, unchosen, had led up to the decision."

 

[midcan5]

More stuff

Just finished this, worth a read.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Being-Certain-Believing-Right-Youre/dp/031254152X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262742280&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/Being-Certain-Believing-Right-Youre/dp/031254152X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not (9780312541521): Robert Burton: Books[/ame]

reading now, mixed review so far
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Thought-Asians-Westerners-Differently/dp/0743255356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262742402&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why (9780743255356): Richard Nisbett: Books[/ame]

and this:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Wider-Than-Sky-Phenomenal-Consciousness/dp/0300107617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262742486&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Wider Than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness (9780300107616): Gerald M. Edelman: Books[/ame]


capitalism from a hitman's viewpoint
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Hoodwinked-Economic-Reveals-Financial-Imploded/dp/0307589927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262741822&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded--and What We Need to Do to Remake Them (9780307589927): John Perkins: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081/ref=pd_sim_b_2]Amazon.com: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (9780452287082): John Perkins: Books[/ame]

 

[jillian]

Some interesting books there.

I loved Deer Hunting with Jesus.

 

[midcan5]

I recently picked this up after many years and thought jeez this should be required reading for liberals and conservatives and libertarians and communists and .... you can get a sense of the book in look inside on Amazon or the Google Book previews. Read 'Why I am not a Marxist' and 'Why I am not a Smithian' (Adam Smith/Friedman).

The religious will love this book too.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Whys-Philosophical-Scrivener-Martin-Gardner/dp/0312206828/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener (9780312206826): Martin Gardner: Books[/ame]

The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener - Google Books

If you really want to understand Communism and not only use it as a stick.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/reader/0061138797?_encoding=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Rise and Fall of Communism (9780061138799): Archie Brown: Books[/ame]


Finally found a book that touches on a piece of human consciousness that seemed to be missing from other books I have read. Just started this but excellent so far.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Crucible-Consciousness-Integrated-Theory-Brain/dp/026251284X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Crucible of Consciousness: An Integrated Theory of Mind and Brain (9780262512848): Zoltan Torey, Daniel C. Dennett: Books[/ame]

 

[midcan5]

Darn, I was too late edit above and add this, but this guy was on cspan today and had what I consider a correct understanding of where our economy is today and why.


"The Obama administration has promised more aggressive enforcement on antitrust issues, but Lynn argues that they are missing the forest for the trees. For decades, the federal government has encouraged companies to buy one another up, outsource all their production, and make their profits by leveraging their market share. It will take more than a lawsuit or two to overthrow Americas corporatist oligarchy and restore a model of capitalism that protects our rights as property holders and citizens."


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Cornered-Monopoly-Capitalism-Economics-Destruction/dp/0470186380/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266160040&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (9780470186381): Barry Lynn: Books[/ame]


Video in here as well.

Cornered | NewAmerica.net

Barry C. Lynn | NewAmerica.net

 

[American Horse]

This perhaps is not the type cerebral choice mentioned in the OP, but for an historical perspective of politics in our seminal republican model I suggest “IMPERIUM” by Robert Harris, a historical novel. Maybe it opens the mind to read and view from the vantage point of 2-millenia, a view of which is seen embodied many of the worse abuses of our present system, as if in prelude.

Besides being a great read, you get a close-up of the blood sport of politics in ancient Rome, where it could be very dangerous to seek the highest offices, as well as to practice of law. Imperium is a fictional biography of one of the most well known and often quoted “statesmen” of ancient times, as written down by his secretary “Tiro”, a slave who was with him his adult entire life; Marcus Tullius Cicero

Whatever historical errors or liberties Harris takes in IMPERIUM, are inconsequential.

A description of an election; first for Consul – the chief executive officers:

From Imperium:

This was the old republic in action, the men all voting in their allotted centuries, just as they had in ancient times, when as soldiers they elected their commander. ...it is hard to convey how moving a spectacle it was....It embodied something marvelous–some impulse toward the light of dignity and freedom, and away from the darkness of brute subservience.... Still it was freedom as it had been practiced for hundreds of years, and no man on the Field of Mars that day would have dreamed that he might live to see it taken away...[he walked] with his fellows into the roped-off enclosure and ... then they formed themselves into a line and filed by the table at which sat the clerks, who checked their names and handed them their voting counters. If there was to be intimidation, this was generally the place where it occurred; for the partisans of each candidate could get up close to the voters and whisper their threats or promises... he disappeared behind the boards to cast his vote.

The poorer men must have known they could not affect the outcome, but such was the dignity conveyed by the franchise that they stood all afternoon in the heat, waiting their turn to collect their ballots and shuffle over the bridge.”

A description of the second day of supplementary elections:

At dawn the following day we made the two-mile walk back to the field of Mars for the second round of elections. Although these did not carry the same prestige as those for the consul-ship and the praetorship, they always had the advantage of being much more exciting. Thirty-four men had to be elected (twenty senators, ten tribunes, and four aediles), which meant there were simply too many candidates for the poll to be easily controlled: when an aristocrat’s vote carried no more weight than a pauper’s, anything could happen.”

This book is fascinating, if only in how law was practiced; how an attorney like Cicero would take on minor cases for free - which was how legal help was dispensed - to show his worth in trial and make a name for himself. Then, if successful, he would be awarded much more important cases, in a litigious society perhaps second only to our modern day U.S.
In the story Cicero defended a private citizen of Sicily by charging the former Roman governor of Sicily with malfeasance while in office. The same former governor was running for the highest (executive) office in Rome, and if cleared of the crime and if elected would have had immense power to wreak revenge, and elections could be won by bribery.

A Review of “IMPERIUM” by Chris Heaton of UNRV History
Imperium

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Imperium-Novel-Ancient-Robert-Harris/dp/074326603X]Amazon.com: Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome (9780743266031): Robert Harris: Books[/ame]

 

[germanguy]

As I have discovered, that this book is available in English: read it !

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Slowness-Sten-Nadolny/dp/1589880242/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267653229&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: The Discovery of Slowness (9781589880245): Sten Nadolny, Ralph Freedman: Books[/ame]

(hope the link works)

Hm...what is this book ?

I would call it a fictional biography of John Franklin, the polar explorer.
But this book uses only the raw biographical data to unfold an adventure story of several expeditions to the North, of the war at sea against Napoleon, Trafalgar and so on.
It is also a compelling story about the problems of leadership and, most important, about the speed of modern times and what it means to man.

The language is flawless (the translation to english) is superb and after a few pages you will start to find yourself deep in love with the character, but only because he is developed lively and interesting.

Get yourself a rainy sunday afternoon and this book and it will leave you touched and motivated.

regards
ze germanguy

 

[midcan5]

If you read only one book this year read Tony Judt's book noted below.

The Year in Reading ? Arts ? Utne Reader

Best New Books 2010 - The Privileges Review - Esquire

'Ill Fares the Land' by Tony Judt - check remainders if hard cover price is too steep.

"Judt, who died this year from Lou Gehrig's disease, leaves behind this inspiring final volume. If you're looking for bipartisan bullshit, look elsewhere. If you're looking for the anti-Glenn Beck, it's here."

 

[editec]

What are these ... books? Some sort of ancient tablets?

I vaguely recall something called books.

I think this is an example of one, isn't it?

 

[Douger]

GLOBALPOLITAN