OYENTE

William

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The China Mission Audiolibro Por Daniel Kurtz-Phelan arte de portada

Lessons from Failure

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-28-25

At the end of World War II, General George Marshall was celebrated as the architect of Allied victory. After a long career in two world wars, he and his wife anticipated a well-earned retirement of travel and relaxation. But the night of his Pentagon retirement celebration, the phone rang. President Truman was asking him to take on one final mission: to negotiate a settlement between China's Nationalist government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From today’s viewpoint, it seems an incredible request. Even at the time, those closest to China doubted its chances. But from distant Washington, there was some optimism. After all, Communists in Western Europe competed politically rather than violently. If there was any hope of avoiding another major war, it was worth the attempt.
The situation on the ground seemed favorable in some ways. The CCP appeared weak; the Soviets were absorbed with Europe. By 1947, Chiang Kai-shek’s forces controlled eighty percent of China. Victory seemed within reach. General Marshall, driven by duty, could not say no, even against his wife's wishes.
In The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan masterfully recounts this doomed effort. Neither Chiang nor Mao’s envoy Zhou Enlai negotiated in good faith, each hedging based on battlefield fortunes. Kurtz-Phelan’s vivid portrayal of the key figures brings this grim chapter to life. Marshall observed early that Chiang was "the worst advised military commander in history." Thirteen months of crisscrossing war-torn China, meeting with Mao, Zhou, Chiang, and Madame Chiang—sometimes over cards or cocktails—yielded fleeting successes that soon unraveled. Ultimately, China plunged into civil war, leading to Mao’s communist regime, with devastating consequences for China and American policy.
Kurtz-Phelan uses rich firsthand accounts to detail not just diplomatic intrigue and guerrilla warfare but also spycraft and personal drama. Figures like Eisenhower, Truman, and MacArthur move through the story, but it is Marshall’s struggle—noble, painful, often futile—that defines the narrative. His neutrality confused Chiang, America’s ally, who could not fathom Washington pressuring him to share power with communists aligned with America’s rival, the Soviet Union.
The China Mission illuminates a critical, often forgotten pivot point. While Truman and Marshall were vilified at home for “losing China,” Kurtz-Phelan makes clear that no agreement between Chiang and Mao was ever truly possible. Yet Marshall’s mission was undermined by an enduring American illusion—that democracy could be easily transplanted anywhere. True democracy can take root on where a people is willing to accept equality for all, respect minority views, tolerate slow and cumbersome governance, and lose without shame—values not easily manufactured.
Marshall, however, learned from failure. He came to understand the limits of American influence and the depth of historical wounds. Back in Washington, later appointed as Secretary of State, he applied these hard-earned lessons. The Marshall Plan reflected a broader view of power—one that combined military, economic, diplomatic, and moral leadership. Fighting poverty and despair became central to U.S. strategy in Europe, a direct contrast to the failed military-political strategy in China.
History has largely vindicated Truman and Marshall. Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work rebuilding Europe. But America itself did not fully internalize the lessons he learned. U.S. policy would continue to prioritize military solutions over economic or social development, backing authoritarian allies against communist movements without considering how little difference these distinctions made to suffering populations from Asia to Latin America.
We know General Marshall the victorious general and the Secretary of State who helped save Western Europe. The China Mission gives us a powerful portrait of the middle chapter in his career—a painful, often forgotten episode that shaped the wisdom and humility that defined his final service to his country. Kurtz-Phelan’s narrative is not just the story of a diplomatic failure, but a lesson in leadership, restraint, and the enduring complexity of foreign affairs. It is also a reminder of the importance of a humanitarian focus along with military strength.

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The Most They Ever Had Audiolibro Por Rick Bragg arte de portada

The Ties that Bind

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-10-25

I find it hard to resist a book set in Alabama and when it is a nonfiction book like Rick Bragg’s “The Most They Ever Had,” it’s even more irresistible. With this one, I’m very glad that I didn’t resist. It’s a series of short takes that sometimes seem to just be a group of stories about different people, some of whom are the author’s family, but as it goes on, you begin to see that it’s really the story of a people, a community which itself is almost like a family that struggles together, sometimes has a hard time getting along with each other, sometimes can’t understand each other, but who cannot live without each other. And it’s one of the rare times when I’ve found an author who really is the most appropriate person to read their own book.

It is set in Calhoun County in the old cotton mill town of Jacksonville and follows the lives of the workers and the town from the time when the mill was almost like a feudal lord, with ultimate control of working conditions and wages as the only job in town and continuing through the establishment of a workers’ union and finally to the closing of the mill. It comes through interviews with workers and family members who worked in the mill or who picked cotton for it for years (including his mother) and so many, mostly old, many dying are lucky to have such a record of their stories and reminiscences, experiences, sufferings, and joys of a way of life changing forever.

Each chapter focuses on one person and is basically in chronological order, starting before the automobile or airplane, through both Prohibition and the Great Depression, punctuated by both world wars, and ending when the mill closed in 2001 and 197 employees lost their jobs. The mill was both a blessing and a curse. You could work hard and earn the best paycheck you had ever had (though at times, the pay was in scrip that could only be used at the company store), but that depended on your being careful and also lucky. Many lost fingers, a hand, or worse in the machinery. But even if you survived that, there was the dreaded “brown lung disease” that came from constantly breathing in the lint and dust from the cotton. For decades, even though it was common to those who worked in the mills, doctors claimed it was not real and just a result of drunken hangovers or laziness. Even after the cause was known, business interests fought to play it down as just the cost of a manufacturing economy. The Reagan administration pulled an OSHA pamphlet that warned of the dangers because it was “too one-sided.”

So, why did they keep working there? Why not move somewhere else where there were better, or at least safer, jobs? Some did, but there is no analysis of why they did and others didn’t. Bragg just tells their stories but does note that, when they died, “no one had to ship their bodies home on a train." There was a sense of pride that couldn’t be taken from them, an understanding of hard work, and a strong tie to the land of their Scotch-Irish parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who had immigrated, under even harder times.

His story includes the feudal lord as well, William Greenleaf, the mill manager, who comes across as heartless, arrogant, and above the law. Bragg records that even after the minimum wage was set at twelve dollars per week by the federal government, he continued to pay them seven dollars. They did strike, but he waited it out and brought in other workers.

The stories are sad and somewhat discouraging. Much of it sounds too familiar as we look at the gap between the super rich and the average person today, and the way labor is exploited. It seems that not much has truly changed except that many of the really dangerous jobs are now moved overseas or are done by immigrant labor. But the book is more than that. It is a community, a people who stuck together and refused to move away but they found a way to get along. Maybe that’s the part that has changed. Whatever, this is a book that you’ll enjoy and especially if you come from such a heritage.

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The Irregulars Audiolibro Por Jennet Conant arte de portada

Pilot, Invalid, Spy, Children's Author

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-29-25

Jennet Conant’s “The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington” is fascinating, taking readers deep into the world of espionage during World War II—where ambition, international politics, and subterfuge intermingled in unexpected ways. While Roald Dahl is the central figure, Conant’s narrative stretches far beyond the man who would later become famous for his children’s classics like “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Instead, she focuses on a moment in history when figures like Franklin Delano Roosevelt—depicted as both devious and brilliant—ambitiously maneuvered behind the scenes, as lesser-known characters such as Texas newspaper publisher Charles Edward Marsh and future Bond author Ian Fleming played their parts in a secret war of ideas and intrigue.
The book captures the atmosphere of Washington, D.C., as the US teetered between isolationism and an emerging globalist vision. To sway American opinion in favor of Britain against Nazi Germany, British spymaster William Stephenson recruited a motley crew, including a then-unknown Roald Dahl. At 23, Dahl was a somewhat aimless young man with no inkling of his literary future—a future that would see him transition from a brief but heroic stint as a heroic RAF fighter pilot (seriously injured in a battle over Greece where the British aircraft were outnumbered 60 to 1) to a spy in Washington. Her well-researched narrative reveals how Dahl’s charm, his heroic status, and his social ease made him an ideal candidate to lobby Washington’s isolationist elite while secretly engaging in espionage for the British Security Co-Operative.
The book is as much about the broader geopolitical game as it is about Dahl’s personal journey. We learn how Dahl was involved everything from embassy break-ins and forgery to eavesdropping at exclusive Washington parties—all undertaken with a kind of literary flair that would later define his writing. Conant even shows how his inadvertent success in this shadowy world came about also through children’s stories. Dahl’s patriotic flyboy stories written for magazines, born out of both his RAF experiences and his parent’s Norwegian fairy tales of his childhood, were populated with stories of whimsical “Gremlins”—the mythical creatures that RAF pilots often blamed for mechanical problems—a concept that charmed Eleanor Roosevelt into inviting him to her Hyde Park estate. The eavesdropping that he wired back also secured his favor with British intelligence with instructions to be sure to keep getting invited back.
Yet, the book never loses sight of the tension between idealism and the harsh realities of war. Conant carefully shows how the battle between isolationism and globalism wasn’t just a policy debate—it permeated every part of wartime life, coloring Dahl’s experiences and shaping his outlook for years to come. Dahl’s own wry observation of himself at the time sounds like it was penned for a children’s story—"There was this rather ingenious RAF wing commander, which was me, you see."—and highlights the paradox of a man who, despite his later literary acclaim, was thrust into a world of moral ambiguity and danger.
The book does well at combining Dahl’s early life, his unexpected role in international espionage, and his eventual transformation into a beloved children’s author. Filled with espionage, political maneuvering, and secret telegrams, the book is both compelling and meticulously detailed. For readers familiar with the works of Ian Fleming, David Ogilvy, or even the postwar adventures of Noel Coward, “The Irregulars” provides a fresh perspective on how literary talents were harnessed in the fight against isolationism.
However, while the narrative is richly detailed, Conant may, at times, give them a bit too much credit—especially Dahl—for their roles as both spies and savants, noting Dahhl’s accurate prediction of Roosevelt’s 4th term win over Dewey, even an analysis down to the state level, when pollsters were predicting the opposite and a report sent in 1944 that the US planned to plant a flag on the moon, which was taken as preposterous at the time (In 1969, Dahl received a telegram from his former boss reading simply, "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WERE RIGHT.") Yet, Conant’s ability to draw from never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews makes the story not only informative but also exceptionally engaging.
Ultimately, the book is a fascinating exploration of a little-known part of history showing how a group of literary-minded spies operating in the heart of Washington, managed to shape public opinion at a critical juncture in history—ensuring that the U.S. would abandon its isolationist tendencies for a more active global role. For anyone curious about the intersection of art, espionage, and international politics, this book offers a captivating glimpse into a world where the pen and the covert operation were often mightier than the sword.

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One Ranger Audiolibro Por H. Joaquin Jackson, David Marion Wilkinson arte de portada

Duty, Sacrifice, and Reward

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-28-25

In “One Ranger,” H. Joaquin Jackson, with the help of novelist David Marion Wilkinson, delivers an action-packed memoir detailing his 30-year career with the Texas Rangers. Covering a vast and often lawless stretch of the Texas-Mexico border from 1966 to 1993, Jackson shares riveting accounts of his role in suppressing riots, tracking criminals, and navigating the evolution of law enforcement. His tales range from ensuring a fair election for the La Raza Unida party in Zavala County to capturing the enigmatic horse thief known as "The See More Kid." He was present for harrowing shootouts, including one at the Carrizo Springs jailhouse, where his legendary mentor, Captain Alfred Y. Allee Sr., led a daring assault that ended a prison revolt.
Jackson's stories offer an unfiltered view of the Texas Rangers, showing both their mythic status and the gritty realities of their work. His narrative reflects a bygone era, transitioning from old-school justice (which sometimes wasn't very careful about following the law) to modern policing methods. He gives intricate details about his choice of firearms—his Colt Commander .45 with custom grips, a S&W .44 Magnum for long-range horseback work, and a modified Winchester Model 1894 rifle, among others—giving readers a glimpse into the tactical mind of a seasoned lawman.
Beyond his law enforcement exploits, Jackson’s life took unexpected turns. He played small roles in Hollywood, consulting on films like “Extreme Prejudice” and appearing in “The Good Old Boys” with Tommy Lee Jones. His personal journey is equally compelling, marked by a lost basketball scholarship, brushes with country music legend Johnny Rodriguez, and the heartbreaking downfall of his own son, who was convicted of murder.
Jackson's deep reverence for the Rangers and their traditions permeates the book. At times, this admiration feels overly worshipful, as if reinforcing the very myths he also attempts to demystify. Yet, the prose—often lyrical and evocative—makes for a gripping read. Wilkinson’s skillful structuring ensures the storytelling remains sharp and engaging, turning what could have been a simple memoir into a compelling historical account.
While “One Ranger” will be very interesting for Texas history enthusiasts and law enforcement buffs, its greatest strength lies in its exploration of duty, sacrifice, and the human cost of a life spent upholding the law. Jackson may have been “only one Ranger,” but his story embodies the larger-than-life legend of the Texas Rangers themselves as well as some of their seedier side.

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I Dared to Call Him Father Audiolibro Por Bilquis Sheikh, Richard H. Schneider arte de portada

A Memoir of a Growing Faitg

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-08-25

“I Dared to Call Him Father” is a compelling memoir by Bilquis Sheikh, a woman from a prominent Pakistani family with a long history. Her husband, a former Minister of the Interior, left her, and though she retained wealth and reputation, she withdrew to her ancestral home, raising her 4-year-old grandson with the help of servants. Though nominally Muslim, she lacked deep faith and felt a deep sense of the shame of rejection in such a conservative society. When her grandson fell seriously ill, she turned to the Quran for answers but found herself increasingly curious about Jewish and Christian scriptures, which the Quran frequently references. Though Muslims believe that Jesus was just another prophet of God, they believe that the Bible is an untrustworthy record of his life and teachings with many falsifications. Still, if the prophet Moammed refered to them, she felt compelled to read them for herself. Seeking a Bible was both difficult and dangerous, yet she persuaded her Christian driver to obtain one for her.


She was struck by Romans 9:25-26 which itself is a quote from Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Was that what God was like? She began experiencing vivid dreams, which she felt were connected to biblical passages. The story of Jesus forgiving an adulterous woman particularly resonated with her, as no Muslim, even her own family, would offer such mercy and in fact would be obligated to kill her. Eventually, she visited a missionary family, whose wife was both intrigued and apprehensive about engaging with someone of Sheikh’s stature. They continued meeting, and as her grandson again fell ill, she took him to a Christian hospital. While there she confessed her struggle to a nurse who advised her to pray to God as a father and see which deity responded. The concept of God as a loving father was foreign to her, but she began praying that way (thus the book’s title), and the Bible took on new meaning. One night, she felt the presence of God and that she belonged to him. Unable to wait, she “baptized” herself in her own bathtub, and later shared her conversion with the missionaries.

She soon revealed her faith to her servants who had already noticed a difference in how she treated them. When she revealed her faith to her family, the response was hostile. Her family urged her to return to Islam, but when she refused, they publicly renounced her. As the news spread, threats against her escalated. Initially, her status provided some protection, but soon a group vowed to execute Islamic law and kill her. Undeterred, she held a weeklong Christmas celebration open to her village and started home services. Later, an attempt to burn her house down was thwarted when she awoke unexpectedly, believing she had been warned by the Lord. Political changes in Pakistan made her situation even more precarious, and new legislation threatened her land. With mounting dangers, she fled to America with her grandson in 1972.

While aspects of her theology may raise questions, especially her reliance on dreams and emotions, her faith appears sincere. Her trust in scripture is evident, particularly in how she comforted her grandson amid threats and his fear. She mentioned the time when the people determined to stone Jesus for his apparent “blaspemy” and he walked through their midst unharmed as an example of God’s protection against all threats and all odds. But when her grandson responded with the question as to whether this meant that no harm could come to them, she answered, “No,” and noted that they later did harm Jesus and killed him, but not until his time had come. Their lives were also in God’s hands and no harm could come to them until their time had come.

First published in 1978, later editions include an afterword detailing her life as a Christian speaker, the missionary’s perspective on their first meeting, and insights into cultural differences between the West and the Near East. Though decades old, this memoir remains a powerful and worthwhile read.

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The God of Small Things Audiolibro Por Arundhati Roy arte de portada

Little things, great tragedy

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-20-25

“The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy is a book that requires careful reading and probably would be better read instead of listened to since there are many unfamiliar people and place names and cultural references that may take some thought.
It is set in Kerala, a small city on the southwestern coast of India, an area that is mostly Keralite Syrian Christian and in the late 60s strongly influenced by a working class Communist movement working class. It tells of the slow disintegration of an upper caste family who run a pickle factory and the tragedy that engulfs twins Rahel and Esthappen (Estha).
The book begins at the end, with 31-year-old Rahel returning from America in 1993 on hearing that her brother, whom she has not seen in 25 years, has returned. They had been inseparable as children and living an idyllic life until the age of 7 . That was when Sophie Mol, their cousin visiting from England had tragically drowned. Everything changed with that event and the twins had been separated. Now, as Rahel returns, she finds the once elegant home of her childhood in ruin, dirty, with dead insects lying around. Of the once large extended family there is only her great aunt and her servant sitting in front of a television set every day eating peanuts. Everything else is only a sign of the loss they had experienced.
That’s when we go back to the beginning. The story is complex, partly because of the many simultaneous plots that weave together into an overarching plot, but also because much of it is told from the viewpoint of Rahel, from her understanding and memory as a child, with gaps filled in by a third party narrator. And the story jumps between time periods much as our memory may jump from one event to another as we recall something from the past.
Their mother had left home to live with an aunt in Kolkata where she married a man who turned out to be an alcoholic and who beat her. She left him to return home after the twins were born but permanently dishonored by a failed marriage. The twins had noticed none of that, until Sophie’s arrival in 1969, the child of their mother’s older brother.
Nothing was the same after Sophie’s death, but the story of how that happened and all that flowed from it was far from simple. It was not one thing but many things that all came together, many small things. It was the strain between family members, the caste system, the Communist party influence in the town, the flawed justice system, and more. There were many who played a part and whose lives were forever changed. Estha had been most affected, becoming withdrawn and never speaking again. He was soon sent to live with his father. Their mother was estranged from the family and died at age 31 alone in a hotel. Rahel left for America to attend school.
The responsibility for Sophie’s death is not clear cut. In one sense, no one was responsible. It was an accident. And yet everyone is; everyone had some small part. It leads to the death of an innocent man and the death of innocence in two young children as well trauma for everyone involved. As Roy says, ''a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes” but at the same time, those few hours are fated by a multitude of small things, some incidental, some a part of the culture and society that we live in, but many from many small actions, little decisions, seemingly harmless statements made without thought.
The descriptions are richly detailed and colorful and seemingly unimportant details are later found to be important such as when the whole family decides to to to see “The Sound of Music” and are delayed by a protest of the Communists, among whom Rahel recognizes one of their factory carpenters, one of the Untouchable caste. Estha leaves the movie at one point for a drink and is sexually molested by the drink seller (though not described in explicit terms).
The book is not casual reading but is thought provoking. Its structure similar to memory, its narration from a child’s perspective and an emotionally scarred child at that, along with a narrator who knows all but whom we don’t know, all are part of what make what might have seemed to be a simple story a really great one. The book takes you through, not just the story, but the backstories. Everyone suffers but none as much as the twins. On Rahel’s return she meets Estha and their mutual understanding is immediate and deep. But their reuniting also ends in a disturbing, heartbreaking way as well.
And yet it is well worth reading. It is about injustice, about family, but also about the little things that matter in life, the things that don’t seem to matter but in the end turn out to be important. It is about the hurts that we inflict on others without notice. It is about the sensitivity of children to the things we say about them without realizing how they will remember them. That it is set in an unfamiliar culture (to most of those whom I know) only makes the lessons stand out even more.

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Decision in Philadelphia Audiolibro Por James Collier, Christopher Collier arte de portada

A Fresh, Personal Understanding of the Framing of the Constitution

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-10-25

“Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787” by Christopher and James Lincoln Collier presents a distinctive perspective on the Constitutional Convention. Known for their American history books for children, Christopher, a historian, and James, an author, bring storytelling and scholarship together to explore the event's broader context.
Unlike most books that focus on the debates over sectional loyalties, theories of government, and economic differences among the colonies, the conflict between the large states and the small states, the debate over whether the central government should be stronger or the states should retain a great deal of autonomy, the Colliers delve deeper into the delegates' personalities and motivations. They argue that the delegates were moved “also by springs and designs hidden deep in their personalities” and answer, “We believe that to understand how the American constitution came to be we must know how these men felt about such things as power, liberty, nature, truth, God, and life itself.” (And they put the word “felt” in italics for emphasis.) The Colliers thus portray them as real, multifaceted individuals rather than abstract historical figures.
Instead of a chronological narrative, the Colliers organize the book thematically around key issues debated at the Convention. With so many contentious issues, the delegates kept dropping various issues to come back to them again later, often many times. But the Colliers trace how these issues evolved, the compromises made, and the interplay between competing interests—not just North versus South or large states versus small, but also differences in geography, security concerns, and even language (The colonies were still a mishmash of languages then, including Dutch, German, Swedish, French, etc.). This nuanced approach reveals how the compromises extended beyond slavery and pushed some issues to be resolved later through amendments or legislation as well as how the delegates themselves evolved in their thinking.
The Colliers challenge the view of Madison as the "Father of the Constitution," noting departures from his proposals, revisions in his notes in ways that distort the role of some of his rivals, and overlooked contributions from figures like Roger Sherman and Charles Pinckney. They emphasize the delegates' extraordinary preparation, intellectual rigor, and willingness to compromise, painting them as both the visionary founders that we often hear, but also as ordinary men like us, flawed individuals with their foibles, their biases, their blind spots, and their personalities intact.
We see the Convention’s compromises both in the positive and negative sense. Some of them just pushed some of the problems further down the road, to be solved by amendments, legislation, or the Supreme Court. But the Colliers also show how some of them allowed the nation to become more united and made the Constitution stronger because of its flexibility—its ability to adapt to unforeseen challenges and let procedural issues be worked out practically while safeguarding liberty and rights. This book offers a rich understanding of both the Constitution and the forces that shaped it, making it essential reading for anyone interested in our Constitution and the driving forces that brought it into being.

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The American Revolution: 1763-1783 Audiolibro Por James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier arte de portada

Not just what happened but how and why

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-06-25

“The American Revolution: 1763-1783” is another in the series by Christopher and James Collier geared to younger readers of American history. This series, instead of a chronological and dates/people focus, attempts to zero in on periods, movements, and locations that were important to the overall progress of American history. They are all relatively short, about 100 pages or 2 hours for the audio versions. This one is 96 pages, or 1 hour and 50 minutes for the audio version.
Though written for youth, it is an excellent review for adults as well, providing a balanced, neutral overview that doesn’t just tell what happened but brings it to life and makes it understandable. You’ll note that it doesn’t start with the Declaration of Independence, Lexington and Concord, the Boston massacre or the Team Party, but the end of the French and Indian Wars in 1763. And they start from the perspective of the British King and Parliament, not just the colonists, to show how the two sides so quickly moved in such opposite directions to create the enmity and conflict that resulted in the separation..
This is important because the taxes that the colonists resented so much were seen by Parliament and just a natural contribution to the high costs that had been spent on defending the colonies, while the colonists resented them, not so much because they were unreasonably burdensome but because they were imposed without any representation or voice. The book focuses on the various aspects of this central theme rather than getting bogged down in all the details of every event without context.
The period is covered in 6 chapters. Chapter 1, “A Revolution in the Hearts and Minds of Americans” shows why the revolution was inevitable. They note the great distance requiring months for messages to get back and forth which had meant that the colonists always had a certain amount of self-government, but also that this distance meant that more and more, Parliament didn’t see the Americans as true British citizens but as colonists under British authority. Colonists had seen themselves as British subjects expanding the empire but after several generations in America, and with more autonomy than they would have had in Britain, that original relationship could not be maintained.
Chapter 2, “The Stamp Act Crisis” examines the first major crisis in that relationship and shows the quandary that it put the Parliament in. If they bowed to the demands of what they would have considered to be a rebellious mob, they would weaken their authority further, and yet if they sent troops to enforce it, they risked instigating a full-blown rebellion. They also introduce us to the early rebels with the rhetorical skill to crystalize and promote the seed of independence–James Otis, Patrick Henry, and John Adams.
Chapter 3, “Taxes and Teas” shows how America’s attitude to Britain developed after the Boston Massacre, and how other colonies rose to support Massachusetts. They propose that by 1770, any hope of reconciliation was over and all trust was gone. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was the final spark.
Chapter 4, “Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill” starts the real physical conflict with the early battles, but the key point is that it was these battles that showed that the British were not invincible.
Chapter 5, “The Declaration of Independence” doesn’t spend a lot of time on the document itself but notes it as more of a necessary practical next step. The rest deals with the lessons learned by George Washington in early battles including his defeat on Long Island.
Chapter 6, “The War for American Independence” is a brief summary of the events of the revolutionary war, the suffering, the victories and failures, that gradually ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, especially focusing on the key events that kept up American morale, the strategies that foiled British plans, and the things that eventually brought the French in to support us at the crucial time.
What they show is that the support for the revolution was not unanimous in the beginning and the victory was not a natural assumption. The entire thing could have gone either way at various times and often the difference was a small victory here or there or a heroic risk taken by a small few at a key point as well as a tendency of the British to a bit of overconfidence, leading them to fail to follow through on some significant opportunities. It is important in showing the importance of individuals in history, sometimes in small acts, helping us understand not just what happened but why. Highly recommended, both this book and the series, for youth and for adults.

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The Death of Expertise Audiolibro Por Tom Nichols arte de portada

Not every opinion is equal

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-15-24

I read Tom Nichols’s The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters more than a month ago, but am getting behind on writing up my thoughts. The book is a piercing examination of the growing disregard for expertise in modern society. Nichols, a professor of national security at the U.S. Naval War College, explores how respect for facts, logic, and critical thinking is eroding, replaced by a culture where uninformed opinions carry equal weight to those of experts. This phenomenon fuels hoaxes, conspiracy theories, fake news, and the rejection of scientific and medical consensus—all symptoms of a world increasingly divorced from reason.
Nichols pinpoints several forces driving this troubling trend, including shifts in higher education, the rise of social media, and the transformation of journalism. He argues that universities have become service industries, catering to attracting students and keeping them satisfied, validating their beliefs rather than challenging them. Consumer satisfaction has become more important than intellectual rigor. Polarization dominates classroom discourse, leaving little room for nuanced debate or critical thinking. It could also be argued that this is not an entirely new thing and has been happening for a long time already, but could it be happening faster now?.
Social media, another significant culprit, amplifies this issue. It has democratized access to information but also obliterated the distinction between credible and dubious sources. Librarians were not just to manage the operations, the shelving, and to keep people quiet. They gave help in guiding people to finding information and determining what sources were credible and what were not. Social Media refuses that role in the interests of “democratizing” information. Yelling matches and unfounded opinions proliferate online, drowning out reasoned arguments. Nichols observes that even educated individuals can succumb to misinformation, pointing out that vaccine skepticism is often higher among affluent, educated communities than among less formally educated populations.
The book’s sharpest insights focus on the broader societal implications of these changes. Nichols laments how the belief that “all opinions are equally valid” undermines not just expertise but democracy itself. He writes, “When resentful lay people demand that all marks of achievement, including expertise, be leveled and equalized in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘fairness,’ there is no hope for either democracy or fairness.” Nichols illustrates this vividly with anecdotes, such as a Dartmouth student dismissing a renowned astrophysicist’s insights with the flippant remark, “Your guess is as good as mine.” It is a stark reminder that not all perspectives are equally informed.
The book also ventures into areas like politics, public health, and foreign affairs, demonstrating how the dismissal of expertise plays out in various contexts. His discussion of the anti-vaccine movement and resistance to scientific authority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, where misinformation has had real-world consequences shows how important the issue has been. And yet more and more, in appointments to important positions, especially in government, only a surface level of expertise is required, if even that much.
Nichols’s writing is passionate and this intensity underscores his deep frustration with the current state of affairs. Those of us already alarmed by the erosion of expertise will probably appreciate his book. Others will not. Still, the arguments remain compelling, grounded in thorough analysis and supported by timely examples.
One of the book’s strengths is its refusal to oversimplify. Nichols acknowledges that experts can be wrong and that expertise itself requires accountability. However, he argues that the solution is not to discard expertise but to better understand its role and limitations. As he notes, “Laypeople cannot expect experts never to be wrong; if they were capable of such accuracy, they wouldn’t need to do research and run experiments in the first place.”
Nichols closes with a sobering warning: “These are dangerous times. Never have so many people had so much access to so much knowledge and yet have been so resistant to learning anything.” The Death of Expertise is a scathing but necessary critique of a society losing touch with intellectual humility. By illuminating the forces behind this cultural shift, Nichols challenges us to reclaim respect for expertise before it’s too late.

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Caffeine Audiolibro Por Michael Pollan arte de portada

The most addictive drug

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-28-24

This book is about caffeine, which we tend to equate with coffee. The words are related, but we get caffeine from many sources, some new and some common long before coffee. We’re talking about the West, though, but caffeine entered civilization in various places before being “discovered” (in the sense that Columbus “discovered” America) by the West.
This is a free audiobook for Audible subscribers. It is an overview of the science of caffeine without getting so “scientific” that it is above the head of the average person or getting too boring. It also covers the history of caffeine and its various sources. It’s also personal in that it includes the ritualized coffee shop visitor and author Michael Pollan’s personal experiment in going caffeine-free for several months and then eventually starting up again but in a more limited way. His experience is scattered throughout the book.
The book is more focused on coffee, but Pollan reminds us that coffee is just the tip of the iceberg and calls caffeine the most socially acceptable drug that is also regularly given to children. We equate caffeine with coffee, but it’s also in most teas, chocolate, and carbonated drinks. And a few now advertise themselves as giving you a super-shot of energy based on caffeine.
Scientifically, it is a drug. Interestingly, though it is poisonous to most insects, bees and other pollinators are attracted to caffeine and can become addicted. The caffeine molecule fits into a certain brain receptor that is designed for adenosine, which is what tells your body that it is time to sleep. Caffeine blocks adenosine from being recognized. Adenosine still exists, but the caffeine is in the way so you don't feel tired.
It increases concentration and affects memory. Things that we learn when we are on caffeine are more easily remembered the following day. Pollard notes that the introduction of caffeine and its broad availability came along just as the Industrial Revolution took root and at the beginning of an age of great scientific, engineering, and artistic creativity. And what makes it especially different is that it does so very subtly.
But it isn’t all good. If it gives you energy and keeps you awake, that doesn’t just turn off. Its quarter-life is 12 hours. That means that 1/4 of the caffeine you drink at noon is still in your system at midnight, as is some of what you drank before noon. And since it’s also in that soft drink you had in the afternoon, the iced tea you drank at supper, and the chocolate cake after supper, you are never free of caffeine unless you go scott-free. Could that be why you have trouble going to sleep, or why you wake at 3:00 AM, but can’t wake up at 6:00? Yes, by then, you still have caffeine in your system, but after a whole night of sleep, or trying to sleep, you’re starting to go through withdrawal. It’s no longer giving you a lift. It’s keeping you going.
Early visitors to China along the Silk Road, including Marco Polo, found that Buddhist monks drank a hot beverage to help them stay awake while meditating. But what was surprising was not just the caffeinated effects but the fact that they were drinking it hot. Both tea and coffee (and later, the fascinating chocolate drink from the Mayans in Mexico) required hot water. Westerners didn’t drink boiling hot beverages. The thing about boiling water is that it kills germs. Though they didn’t know anything about germs, they did know that people often got sick just drinking water, so beer and wine were staples of drink from the Middle East to the West, not because they liked to stay drunk but because it was safer than water. It was often watered down, but that’s what most people drank all day, including children. Alcohol is a drug also, but it has the opposite effect as caffeine. It reduces concentration and energy levels. But the turn to boiled drinks reduced the incidence of disease while also reducing the incidence of alcoholism.
Interestingly, coffee was the first popular caffeinated beverage in England, and London had many coffee houses, some of which became specialized and developed into stock exchanges and insurance companies (e.g., Lloyds). But tea was cheaper, and as trade with the East developed more rapidly than with the coffee-producing countries, tea became the staple drink of England and later America. Of course, we all know why America turned more towards coffee, while tea became more popular when iced.
Today, 90% of human adults have some addiction to caffeine. So, how did Pollan’s experiment with abstinence go? He says that it took him a couple of weeks to get past withdrawal. He slept extremely well and woke feeling completely rested. But in the end, he couldn’t resist the smell of coffee as he passed his favorite shop and turned back to have just one cup. After all, he’s going to control his caffeine now, just a cup occasionally, or maybe one per day.
It's not a long book, but it's very interesting. I do recommend it.

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