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This is a partial list of the books I have recently read and enjoyed. None of the books I consulted in building this web site are included here, instead you will find a list of them on the sitebuilding pages.
Those on this page were read for pure enjoyment but, as usual with books, a lot of learning came with the enjoying.
I have shown the ISBN number, but for older books the number shown may not follow the current 13 digit international standard. See this Wikipedia article for more details.
| The Black Swan Nassim Nicholas Taleb |
Penguin ISBN: 978-0-03459-1 |
If you want to know what has really brought on the current economic crisis, then this book and the two that follow are good places to start. It investigates why highly improbable events keep hitting us. |
| Fooled by Randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb |
Penguin ISBN: 978-0-141-03148-4 |
If you find yourself saying that you could sing better than Britney Spears, you may be correct, but that does not mean you would be as successful as Britney. Most things, says Taleb, are the result of the workings of chance. Excellent and thought provoking. |
| The (Mis)behavior of markets Benoit B Mandelbrot |
Profile books ISBN: 978-1-86197-790-9 |
Mandelbrot is famous for those wonderful fractal patterns and Taleb says that Mandelbrot provides the theoretical basis for his own work on probability. With only minimal mathematical knowledge needed; the fractal nature of biological and social functions is explained clearly and concisely. Essential reading.for these credit crunch days. |
| Nation Terry Pratchett |
Doubleday ISBN: 978-0-385-61370-5 |
I have read nearly every one of Terry Pratchett's books and certainly all of the Discworld series. Very few people writing today can make me laugh like Terry does. This is a new book (2008), set on Earth. I am only up to page 21, but already the Earth is starting to look warped into a shape that is trademark Pratchett. |
| Intelligence in War John Keegan |
Hutchinson ISBN: 978-0-09-180229-6 |
John Keegan is my favorite writer of military history. He combines a very readable writing style with an agile mind unhindered by dogma. This books demonstrates what good intelligence can achieve and, most importantly, what it cannot achieve. Good intelligence has never by itself won a battle, but it can have a vital role to play. I was fascinated by the chapter on Nelson's intelligence problems in chasing Napoleon around the Mediterranean before the battle of the Nile. |
| The Craftsman Richard Sennett |
Allen Lane ISBN: 978-0-713-99873-3 |
A sociologists view of the history, philosophy and practice of craftsmanship. There are some good ideas and an excellent exposition of quality driven work in this tome. However, the number of typos shows that craftsmanship doesn't apply to book editing or typesetting. |
| Rome's greatest defeat Adrian Murdoch |
The History Press ISBN: 978-0-7509-4016-0 |
A very lucid description of the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, in which three Roman legions were massacred by a confederation of Germanic tribes in AD 09. What is particularly fascinating about this account is that it traces the history of how the view of the battle evolved as Germany grew to nationhood before falling into the Nazi abyss. |
Last updated 4 January 2009