Anthony Sampson has re-written his old work on power in Britain as 'Who Runs This Place' - a good starter on how undemocratic we are in the UK. Jeremy Campbell's 'The Liar's Tale' is a good intro to modern philosophy, John Stachel presents 'Einstein's Miraculous Year' very well if you can take some basic physics and realise this bloke and others made a great deal out of what we didn't understand at school and Paul Strathern's 'Dr Strangelove's Game' makes some sense of economic idiocy.
On 1 Aug, 17:47, Jean Briscoe <[email protected]> wrote: > well hidden > > On Aug 1, 12:13 am, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Agreed! A sci-fi short story. Could be your very own 'Nightfall.' > > > dj > > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 6:43 PM, deripsni<[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I suggest you write instead of read ;-] > > > > On Jul 31, 6:25 pm, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> I've a couple of weeks holidays coming up ta the end of August and > > >> would be interested to hear some reading suggestions. But, as one > > >> shouldn't take without giving, I thought I'd get the ball rolling with > > >> a brief description of some of the books I've found good in the past > > >> few months ;-) > > > >> Harry Thompson, This Thing of Darkness: I owe this tip to Ian - thanks > > >> mate! A well researched, very well written historical novel, based > > >> mainly on the voyage of the Beagle and the lives of its captain, > > >> Robert FitzRoy and his most famous passenger, Charles Darwin. The > > >> character of FitzRoy, an interesting historical figure in his own > > >> right, is particularly well done. Sadly, there will be no more gems > > >> from this author, as he died tragically young four years ago. > > > >> Tom Holland, Persian Fire: Who says ancient history is boring? > > >> Holland's excellent book describing the war between east and west, a > > >> war between a superpower representing then civilised values (the > > >> Persian empire) against barbarian rogue states (Athens and Sparta) > > >> challenging the world order reads like a thriller. His previous work, > > >> Rubicon, about the fall of the Roman Republic is equally good. I'm > > >> loking forward to reading his latest, Millenium, about the early > > >> European Middle Ages, featuring the crusades. > > > >> Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind: This is the best fantasy book > > >> I've read in a long time (and I read quite a bit of fantasy). > > >> Extremely well written, it's hard to describe. As the author himself > > >> says, "If I could sum it up in 50 words, I wouldn't have needed to > > >> write a whole novel about it." The first of a trilogy, the second part > > >> of which is due out this summer, it's simply an amazing first novel. > > > >> Daniel C. Dennett, Consciousness Explained: For anyone wanting to get > > >> into contemporary philosophy, and particularly the vexed questions of > > >> consciousness and epistemology, this is a very good starting point. > > >> Dennett's position is unashamedly empirical (he identifies himself as > > >> a Bright and is a pal of Dawkins [though a much more incisive > > >> thinker]) but, more importantly, he also, unusually for a philosopher, > > >> writes lucidly, entertainingly and well. > > > >> Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow/Children of God: These two have to be > > >> read together. Wonderful science fiction, the hero being a Jesuit > > >> scientist whose first contact with an alien civilisation brings his > > >> faith into fundamental crisis. The books take a sympathetic position > > >> regarding rational faith in a personal God, although the author > > >> describes herself as an agnostic. Many issues discussed on Minds Eye > > >> come up here, along with complex characters, a compelling story and > > >> good science fiction. > > > >> So, what about you? > > > >> Francis- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
