Gary Fuller

There is something about the tone of some books that just grates. This is one of those books. There are certainly a lot of interesting things here, and it is an easy read, but the randomness of it all puts me off. In addition to geography, Fuller pretty much sticks in any random thought that comes into his head--such as the cause of the Civil War (it was slavery, Dr. Fuller!)--and despite his impressive credentials as a geographer, weird non-facts creep in. The most annoying is his show more contention that Kalmykia, an autonomous part of the Russian federation, is a country, and therefore the only Buddhist country in Europe! What nonsense. It is no more a country than California, Quebec, or Chechnya. With stupid "facts" like this one, how can a reader really trust anything in the rest of the book? My advice: Steer clear. show less

Thorough account of the gradual understanding of air pollution. Starts with London's "pea soupers", goes on to talk about lead, rubber rotting ozone, and acid rain, then some of the research evidence for the damage done to lungs. We get a good account of the VW diesel scandal, which happened when they saw that demand for heating oil would drop with the discovery of North Sea Gas, so had to find an alternative use for their oil. Wood burning is no help at all, and in fact, when it comes to show more transport, movement of any sort seems to cause trouble.
Sometimes telling the story of increasing understanding tends to get in the way of a systematic presentation of pollution and what it is, but a good overall account. show less

I did not read Mr. Fuller's previous book to the conspiracy series, and I did not have any difficulty while reading Homeland Conspiracy. It's pretty fast paced and everything flows really nicely keeping the reader intrigued for the entire book. The plot is all over place and I found it very difficult to predict. I always enjoy books that keep me on my toes, never knowing where the next page will take me. Steven Grant can do it all! He can fight bad guys while being suave and smooth in his show more romantic life. He's the perfect character to love! I give this book 5/5. show less

Collection of diverting facts about obscure geography. Not much of a connecting theme otherwise, and the omission of some kind of wrap-up was a little jarring. Still a fun, quick read.