The Snowden part was good, reading through all the government documents was tedious.
This is the history of cancer, from its first mention in ancient Egyptian texts to today. It includes the history of how we understood it and how we treated it to what we know about it now and how it's treated. It is the most spectacular book about cancer that I can imagine could be written.
Dance of the Reptiles: Rampaging Tourists, Marauding Pythons, Larcenous Legislators, Crazed Celebrities, and Tar-Balled Beaches: Selected Columns by Carl Hiaasen
If you've ever read a Carl Hiaasen novel, reading this will show you where he gets all the absurd plot lines. Florida is a crazy place.
A classic book that describes how the major Nazi war criminals were apprehended, how the war tribunal was assembled, the testimony, and the verdict.
Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson by Hunter S. Thompson
A collection of Thompson's writings at Rolling Stone. It doesn't get much better than this.
An excellent lecture series on the History of Ancient Rome. I could do without the canned applause at the beginning and ending of each lecture. That gets surprisingly annoying.
I felt like this was a good story but in the last third when I saw the setup for how it was going to end I was not happy. The ending is contrived and weak, with a character added in this book that had only a brief one line mention in book 2 before becoming the major antagonist of the end game in the final book.
The second of the Nantucket alternate history series. The action moves from the British Isles to the Meditteranean and Middle East as the two warring factions from the future slug it out in the Bronze age.
The first installment of the Nantucket Series alternate history series. The island of Nantucket finds itself transported to the year 1250 BC and brings modern technology to the bronze age. The Nantucketers sail to the British Isles to trade whilst one of their number sees an opportunity to become a tyrant. The story revolves around the conflict of these two groups,
I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards (2011-07-12) by Douglas Edwards
An entertaining look at the early days of Google.
The story of Google from its inception to the present day (2011). An interesting look at one of the Internet's biggest companies.
A good book that shows how having too many choices can lead to stress and anxiety.
A great story about life on the front lines of a war. A classic.
This book started out great but then it's almost as if the author gets bored with it and it limps to the finish. While it lasted it was a good story about how computer viruses and worms are combatted and the people that do this work.
A survey of Middle Eastern history. It was a good introduction to a topic I previously knew nothing about.
A survey of how various information technologies have impacted society and a look at what the future may hold.
An excellent book about the history of cod fishing and the depletion of this fish due to overfishing.
The part of the Third Reich that most everyone is familiar with. The war, the concentration camps, fighting on long past any remote hope for victory. The interesting part in this book is how the average German coped with the war, what their entertainments were, and how their faith in Hitler kept them going on.
The second of a three book survey of the Third Reich. This book covers what the Nazi regime's plan legitimate acquisition of power and how they consolidated that power. It's not just the politics that lead to their land grabs but also the buildup of their military, as well as their influence on culture, economics, art, music, and social life.
The first of a three book survey of the Third Reich. This book covers the conditions in Germany that led to the Nazi regime up to the circumstances that put them in power. It's not just the political machinations but also the art, culture, economics, and sociological aspects that conspired to create the atmosphere that allowed this government to be.
An excellent survey of World War I. An excellent starting point if you want to know more about this war.
The story of how and why the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD four years after a Jewish revolt. The first third of the book is the history of Jerusalem from the middle of the 2nd Century BC to 66 AD. Then in a choice of spectacular short-sightedness they revolted against the Romans and, well, what did you think was going to happen?
A brilliant book about the events leading to the outbreak and opening days of World War I.
The story of the Enron debacle in great detail. I'm not an accounting guy but I learned a lot about it from this book. I really enjoyed this.
Did he have a conversation with God? I dunno, but at least this imagining of God is more plausible than most of the others I know of.
This is an enjoyable tale about perhaps the worst car ever sold in America.
A fabulous book that explores what science knows and the people and circumstances that made those discoveries. It begins with the origin of the universe, the creation of the solar system and earth, and ultimately focuses on humans, how they came to be and what they are made up up. An outstanding survey of most of the major branches of science.
A lecture series about the development of prehistoric humans and their transition in the the earliest civilizations. I really liked it when he would make a statement about something and then say, "How do we know this?" and then describe how the physical evidence is used to shed light on these peoples.
The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Should Not - and Put Ourselves in Great Danger by Daniel Gardner
An interesting book that uses statistics to show how the things commonly feared in society are out of proportion with how often they actually happen.