The Man Booker shortlist is here. Two Canadian authors, Patrick deWitt and Esi Edugyan on it; neither of their books is about Canada or Canadians. A message there?
In The Mail
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Anything Goes, by Theodore Dalrymple. Plus, this bonus interview with the author. (h/t Walter) |
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A few decades later one got “Cool Britannia”
Virginia Cowles: The American who saw Britain at its best
Charles Moore reviews Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles (Faber)…
Cowles was most struck, especially when she compared it with the rout of France, by the way the British naturally respected their political leaders, and the way those leaders did, when they finally had to, lead. She also noticed how the British were positively pleased (see above) to be alone, defending their own shores. “I was more than impressed. I was flabbergasted. I not only understood the maxim that ‘England never knows when she is beaten’; I understood why England never had been beaten.”
What would she think now?
Via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs (“Book Reviews” at end, with further links). Your thoughts?
In The Mail
One step ahead of you, Mr. Steyn…
In The Mail
| The Patriot’s History Reader – Essential Documents For Every American. |  |
SDA Book Club
Tyler writes;
I enjoy your work, SDA is a great place to stop by.
I am looking for reading material for the summer. Do you have a list that you could recommend? May be you have had a post in the past?
That’s pretty open ended, but I thought I’d open it up to our readers – feel free to share your summer book recommendations in the comments.
The Death of a Writer and Warrior
From Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs:
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Lives Lived
James Campbell — The Guardian
Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor has died aged 96 – More – More – More
Plus at Arts & Letters Daily (not quite what one might think in terms of leanings–take a look):
Patrick Leigh Fermor, warrior, scholar, autodidact, travel writer, extraordinary raconteur, is dead at 96… Telegraph… Jan Morris… Christopher Hitchens… Robert Kaplan
I’ve read A Time of Gifts : on Foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube and Between the Woods and the Water.
Wonderful books (I hitchhiked around Europe and Morocco when 18).
Update: More at National Review Online:
…As a young man, he’d walked through pre-war Hungary and Romania…Those walks provided the material for books that evoke Central Europe as it then was, now far away and long ago, before politics destroyed the picturesque [truly a vanished world–the Hungarian uppercrust, in whatever post-Trianon county, are marvellous].
…The great and unforgettable exploit was the kidnapping of General Kreipe, the German commanding officer in Crete…At another point as dawn was coming up on Mount Ida, General Kreipe quoted the opening lines of Horace’s ode praising this very snow-capped sight, whereupon Paddy recited the remaining verses.
“Ach so, Herr Major,” was the compliment with which the general ended this exchange, as unexpected as it is chivalrous. Stanley Moss wrote up the whole exploit in a memoir, Ill Met by Moonlight. I could never get Paddy to say much about it, except that he thought the film of the book was not much good. Could there be men like that again?..
In The Mail
The Benefits Of Socialism, by A. Hunter Solomon. “A comprehensive itemization of leftist contributions to humanitarianism, prosperity, liberty and society.”
I read “Benefits of Socialism” from cover to cover, without putting it down. In my opinion, this may be the most illuminating book on the topic, ever. |
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In The Mail
Michael Totten’s The Road To Fatima Gate.
Summer Of 2016
| Support our Saskatchewan authors – check out Terry Anderson’s new novel here. |
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Known and Unknown
Victor Davis Hanson reviews Donald Rumsfeld’s memoir.
In The Mail
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Helpless
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Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy and How the Law Failed All of Us – Christie Blatchford Preorder here. |
Update: comments glitch now fixed.
In The Mail
| Rush Limbaugh: An Army Of One, by Zev Chafets. Not too bad a read. |
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In The Mail
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“Why the world is cooling and why carbon dioxide won’t make a detectable difference.” – By David Archibald. Easy to read, chock full of graph candy, you can order from the website here. When you’re finished with it, donate it to the local school library! Related: PDF version |
In The Mail
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In The Mail
| A new offering by Saskatchewan author (and SDA supporter) Terry Anderson. |  |
Taken By Storm
Given the events of the past few days, I emailed an old friend to ask if he’d like a free plug for his excellent book.
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You can order directly from Amazon via the Taken By Storm website, but it’s best if people go into a bookstore and ask to have it ordered in. It increases the chance they’ll decide to stock it.
Another recommendation: this soon-to-be-published gem is an “extraordinarily powerful and detailed history of the hockey stick scandal”.