Books reviews, current events, and other musings

 
Martin Kitchen's book The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany was a disappointment, not nearly as good as the China and France books in the series. Kitchen describes the history of the region, from Roman times to reunification. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide a context for understanding the narrative, making it difficult to follow unless you're already familiar with the general course of events.

The first three chapters cover the 4th to early 16th centuries, a scope that would be difficult for any author to present coherently. The various power struggles - for control of the monarchy, between different leaders within Germany, with the states outside Germany, and with the pope - are all rather complex. A general understanding of the Holy Roman Empire was about all that sunk in, though it's good to see that material once in my life.

The pace is more reasonable for the next six chapters, which went from the Reformation to the outbreak of World War I. That period includes many events that I hoped to learn more about, such as the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Napoleon's occupation, the unrest of 1848, and German unification under Bismarck. For each subject, Kitchen describes the details without putting them into a larger framework. To his credit, he does explore social, cultural, and religious issues, in addition to the more traditional history.

The last four chapters, regarding the 20th century, were the best part of the book. Being familiar with the historical outline made that portion much more compelling. Considering what happened during the last century (World War I, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the Cold War, and reunification), it would have been surprising if those chapters didn't hold my interest. As minor complaints, Kitchen spent too much time discussing the German political parties, and he seemed more critical of the 60's radicals than he was about anyone else besides the Nazis.

I'd give the book a mixed review. Though it was informative, there must be better books on the subject.
posted by Julian at 10:42 PM

 
While thumbing through my sample ballot this morning, I noticed that the Libertarian candidate for California lieutenant governor, Pat Wright, lists the profession Ferret Legalization Coordinator. That's one of the less common routes into public office.

As another distraction, I've found a collection of online games, mostly Shockwave, at GlobalFreePlay.com. The more entertaining ones include a silly Tetris variant, a Risk game (which I haven't played since I was a kid), and some logic puzzles.
posted by Julian at 10:26 PM

 
My main objection to the argument for a war against Iraq is that its proponents compare the best-case scenario if the US invades to the worst-case scenario if the US doesn't.

Everyone knows about the death and destruction of war, though the warmongers avoid mentioning it. The possibility of an urban battle in Baghdad, a city of 3 million people, scares the hell out of me. The war's aftermath would be a major burden for decades; James Fallows wrote an excellent analysis in the Atlantic Monthly.

Some plausible, though unlikely, consequences are horrific: increased terrorism, an Arab-Israeli war, or oil-field destruction leading to a worldwide economic depression.

Sure, nobody wants Iraq to have nuclear weapons. I just don't understand the people who fear that remote prospect but disregard the damage that would definitely arise from a war.
posted by Julian at 10:15 PM