Author: Olรบfแบนฬmi O. Tรกรญwรฒ Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ This short but impactful book talks about identity politics and how it went from an initial concept meant to build solidarity between different groups who had similar interests to a way for people to further niche themselves down into a set of identities that was then set in opposition... Continue Reading →
Author: Lynsey Hanley Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ This book traces the history of council housing in the UK, which is housing owned by the local authority and usually rented to low-income people for a fraction of the price of market rent. Most council housing was built after World Wars I and II in an attempt to clear... Continue Reading →
Author: Peter Hopkirk Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ This is a book about various people who tried to reach Tibet, largely in the late 1800s to early-mid 1900s. Tibet is a famously isolated country. There was a lot of intrigue surrounding it as well as a lot of fascination, especially in the West with the mythical aura around... Continue Reading →
Author: Sonia Purnell Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ This was an amazing book. Firstly, the subject was amazing, but also, the author did such a good job documenting her story. This is the story of Virgina Hall, an American woman who worked for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which was an espionage agency formed in the early days... Continue Reading →
Author: John Bryan Starr Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ I donโt need to point out the importance of China in the world today. Itโs the second most populous country in the world, one of the richest (by overall GDP), arguably the most influential in East Asia and one of the most instrumental in the rest of the world,... Continue Reading →
Author: Sujatha Gidla Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ The word outcast is used to refer to those who have been rejected by society or a social group. It literally means outside of caste, which is the social hierarchy in which many in India have lived and still live. Previously known as untouchables and now usually referred to officially... Continue Reading →
Author: Adrian Wooldridge Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5 I had mixed feelings about this book. Iโve read both The Tyranny of Merit and The Meritocracy Trap. The first covers how meritocracy is a double-edged sword that both rewards people for effort but can punish them for failure and blame them for that outcome. The second reviews how the... Continue Reading →
Author: James C. Scott Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ When I started this book, I thought it would be a slightly dry and moderately vain attempt by a Political Scientist to stretch into several other social sciences to cobble together a mildly interesting theory explaining things that happened thousands of years ago that likely had little relevance today.... Continue Reading →
Author: Sean McMeekin Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ This book is a very thorough look into the Russian Revolution, tracing the movements and interactions of all the significant players, including the imperial family, the various governments, the Bolsheviks and the military. Having never studied Russian history in much detail, the Russian Revolution has always been one of those... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on the non-fiction books I finished in January
The Kat Bite 