How to Think Like a Neandertal by Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge is an extremely interesting book.
"Oh,your such as Neandertal!" Will shriek some man or woman when they are criticising the behaviour of someone they know.
Yet if they were challenged and asked: "OK, who were the Neandertals? Where did they live? How did they live? How did they treat sick members of their group? Did they have any concept of religion?" they would be utterly and entirely clueless, as their views on Neantertal society were probably based on a hodgepodge of vague ideas from seeing a model of a caveman in a dusty, somewhat grim museum, and Raquel Welch in a fur bikini.
Wynn and Coolidge have examined many branches of science to work out how Neandertals lived, worked, played and prayed. Or at least, how they dealt with the death of a family member or of a member of their group.
The book is fascinating and very readable. Unlike many other books of the academic rigour of How to Think Like a Neandertal, the authors want to share their discoveries with their readers. This is no dry as dust worth tome! It's a highly readable worthy tome!
They explore and explain how and what Neandertals ate, how they hunted, the types of work they did, the average length of their lives, how they reacted and inter-reacted with each other, their concepts of an afterlife, how they tended the sick and the elderly, how they thought, how they communicated, etc. They also showed that although Neantdertals and humans did intermarry, that the relationship between humans and Neandertals was not always a happy one.
They also explore several interesting concepts. For example, did Neandertals have a sense of humour? Did they dream? What happened to them?
The book is published by the Oxford University Press in hardback. It is, of course, available from the That's Books bookshop.
I can heartily recommend it to academic and general reader.
Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Eminent Victorians on American Democracy, The View From Albion, by Frank Prochaska
What, exactly, DID eminent Victorians think of the American democracy?
In this likely and thought provoking book, Frank Prochaska explores how things looked in this fledgling democracy. Or rather, how they looked to outsiders, many of whom had firm views of how government should work in the modern, Victorian era.
I had hoped that the book would be a collection of essays, perhaps with notes and an explanation of each essay, how the author of the book understood the eminent Victorian to mean.
However, the book in question is not that book. The author of the book tells the reader what HE thinks -for example- Bagehot, Mill, Bryce, etc., meant, rather than letting the eminent Victorians actually say it in their own words and allowing the reader to form their own conclusions. Guided with footnotes, etc.
It is a good book, but it could have been a great book. However, students of modern politics and of history of the Victorian era will find it eminently useful.
It is published by the Oxford University Press in hardback.
In this likely and thought provoking book, Frank Prochaska explores how things looked in this fledgling democracy. Or rather, how they looked to outsiders, many of whom had firm views of how government should work in the modern, Victorian era.
I had hoped that the book would be a collection of essays, perhaps with notes and an explanation of each essay, how the author of the book understood the eminent Victorian to mean.
However, the book in question is not that book. The author of the book tells the reader what HE thinks -for example- Bagehot, Mill, Bryce, etc., meant, rather than letting the eminent Victorians actually say it in their own words and allowing the reader to form their own conclusions. Guided with footnotes, etc.
It is a good book, but it could have been a great book. However, students of modern politics and of history of the Victorian era will find it eminently useful.
It is published by the Oxford University Press in hardback.
A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison
Look at any map or Atlas of the Victorian era and you will not find The Jago. However, every large city and town and even some smaller towns throughout Britain had their own Jago, an area of streets for which the word "mean" really comes nowhere near descriptive enough.
The Jago of Arthur Morrison in his work A Child of the Jago is based very closely on the worst part of the East End of London.
His description of the hovels the people of the East end occupied, of the filth, the dirt and the squalor are very well realised.
There are certain little facts that he salts his novel with that make its reading even more compelling. For example, did you know that people residing in slum areas such as the Jago often had to keep a light on all night, to ensure that their sleep was not disturbed by being attacked by rats?
Morrison tells the tale of young Dicky Perrott, who is the child of the Jago. His mother reminds him that they are not like the other people of The Jago, although when his father returns home with a cosh covered in the blood and hair of a victim of a coshing robbery, the reader is forced to conclude that perhaps she is not really even fooling herself. Street robberies and urders punctuate the book like grimy comas.
Dicky knows what he wants out of life. He wants to become a leading criminal, in the parlance of the area, a High Mobsman.
But due to the herculean efforts of Father Sturt, it eventually becomes clear to Dicky that perhaps there is another way? Another path that might not lead him ever downwards to the prison cell or even the gallows? Or worse?
Some novels that told of the life of the Victorian working classes were sentimental and mawkish. This novel, however, is not. Its attention to detail and its realism set it high above novels by Morrisons well-meaning but lesser fellow contemporaries.
Although Morrison gives a warts and all description of what was the worst part of the East End of London, a place where even some criminals would fear to visit, let alone the police officers who would only ever visit it in threes, he also showed that the denizens were capable of normal acts of human kindness. One example of this is the obvious love that Dicky Perrott showed to his baby sister, early in the novel.
This edition caries a very good introduction which gives a background to the area upon which The Jago is based. It also provides as much biographical detail of the author as is to hand. Which is not much. Morrison was an extremely private man whose desire for privacy seemed deep-rooted. He felt that he had enemies who would use information from his past against him.
The book also contains a very helpful glossary of terms used in the book.
The Appendix also includes a chapter on Morrison and his Critics,
It is published by the Oxford University Press in paperback at £8.99 and is available via the That's Books bookshop and all good bookshops.
The Jago of Arthur Morrison in his work A Child of the Jago is based very closely on the worst part of the East End of London.
His description of the hovels the people of the East end occupied, of the filth, the dirt and the squalor are very well realised.
There are certain little facts that he salts his novel with that make its reading even more compelling. For example, did you know that people residing in slum areas such as the Jago often had to keep a light on all night, to ensure that their sleep was not disturbed by being attacked by rats?
Morrison tells the tale of young Dicky Perrott, who is the child of the Jago. His mother reminds him that they are not like the other people of The Jago, although when his father returns home with a cosh covered in the blood and hair of a victim of a coshing robbery, the reader is forced to conclude that perhaps she is not really even fooling herself. Street robberies and urders punctuate the book like grimy comas.
Dicky knows what he wants out of life. He wants to become a leading criminal, in the parlance of the area, a High Mobsman.
But due to the herculean efforts of Father Sturt, it eventually becomes clear to Dicky that perhaps there is another way? Another path that might not lead him ever downwards to the prison cell or even the gallows? Or worse?
Some novels that told of the life of the Victorian working classes were sentimental and mawkish. This novel, however, is not. Its attention to detail and its realism set it high above novels by Morrisons well-meaning but lesser fellow contemporaries.
Although Morrison gives a warts and all description of what was the worst part of the East End of London, a place where even some criminals would fear to visit, let alone the police officers who would only ever visit it in threes, he also showed that the denizens were capable of normal acts of human kindness. One example of this is the obvious love that Dicky Perrott showed to his baby sister, early in the novel.
This edition caries a very good introduction which gives a background to the area upon which The Jago is based. It also provides as much biographical detail of the author as is to hand. Which is not much. Morrison was an extremely private man whose desire for privacy seemed deep-rooted. He felt that he had enemies who would use information from his past against him.
The book also contains a very helpful glossary of terms used in the book.
The Appendix also includes a chapter on Morrison and his Critics,
It is published by the Oxford University Press in paperback at £8.99 and is available via the That's Books bookshop and all good bookshops.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Virgin To Veteran: How To Get Cooking With Confidence - New Release From our Most Prolific Young Culinary Writer
From mastering the basics to insider tips and techniques, this book will teach you everything you need to become a confident cook. From fast food to slow, food to go or eat in, healthy to greedy, there's something in the over 100 Masterclass recipes featured to match every mood, budget and lifestyle.
Core dishes are accompanied with advice on saving cash, time, and delicious and wide-ranging variations that will expand your cooking repertoire in the blink of an eye - if the exotic Hot Mixed Mushroom Bruschetta is not to your taste, you can opt for the more homely topping of Broad Bean and Wensleydale instead. If a formal dinner isn't your style, convert your refined fillet steak into a fast and fabulous BBQ treat. The possibilities are endless.
Sam's passion for making the kitchen accessible to all is reflected through diagrams, step-by-step guides and the Virgin Kitchen Set-Up (the stuff you need to know to set up a workable kitchen). In no time at all, relevant skills such as knife work, sauce making and baking can be picked up with ease and placed at your disposal, while such necessities as sourcing and substituting ingredients, seasonality and the secrets of great presentation are also covered.
This wealth of information, accompanied by stunning photography that gets right to the heart of Sam's delicious cooking, is presented in such an engaging way that it will have you turning out brilliant meals without too much fuss, cost or effort before you know it.
20-year-old Sam Stern is studying Politics, Sociology and Business at Edinburgh University. He is also the author of 5 bestselling cookbooks which currently dominate the teenage market, and has been cooking for as long as he can remember.
What started as a personal passion for cooking (and fierce kitchen competition with his older brother) turned into a mission to inspire his generation to cook. Cooking Up A Storm (2005), Real Food Real Fast (2006), Get Cooking (2007), Sam Stern's Student Cookbook (2008) and Eat Vegetarian (2010) were published by Walker Books to great critical acclaim while Sam was studying for his GCSE's and A levels.
Cooking up a Storm has been translated into 14 languages, with worldwide sales nudging 700,000 copies. The books and associated activity have attracted global media attention and have given Sam a unique status as the voice for aspiring young cooks.
www.quadrille.co.uk.
Core dishes are accompanied with advice on saving cash, time, and delicious and wide-ranging variations that will expand your cooking repertoire in the blink of an eye - if the exotic Hot Mixed Mushroom Bruschetta is not to your taste, you can opt for the more homely topping of Broad Bean and Wensleydale instead. If a formal dinner isn't your style, convert your refined fillet steak into a fast and fabulous BBQ treat. The possibilities are endless.
Sam's passion for making the kitchen accessible to all is reflected through diagrams, step-by-step guides and the Virgin Kitchen Set-Up (the stuff you need to know to set up a workable kitchen). In no time at all, relevant skills such as knife work, sauce making and baking can be picked up with ease and placed at your disposal, while such necessities as sourcing and substituting ingredients, seasonality and the secrets of great presentation are also covered.
This wealth of information, accompanied by stunning photography that gets right to the heart of Sam's delicious cooking, is presented in such an engaging way that it will have you turning out brilliant meals without too much fuss, cost or effort before you know it.
20-year-old Sam Stern is studying Politics, Sociology and Business at Edinburgh University. He is also the author of 5 bestselling cookbooks which currently dominate the teenage market, and has been cooking for as long as he can remember.
What started as a personal passion for cooking (and fierce kitchen competition with his older brother) turned into a mission to inspire his generation to cook. Cooking Up A Storm (2005), Real Food Real Fast (2006), Get Cooking (2007), Sam Stern's Student Cookbook (2008) and Eat Vegetarian (2010) were published by Walker Books to great critical acclaim while Sam was studying for his GCSE's and A levels.
Cooking up a Storm has been translated into 14 languages, with worldwide sales nudging 700,000 copies. The books and associated activity have attracted global media attention and have given Sam a unique status as the voice for aspiring young cooks.
www.quadrille.co.uk.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Mridula Baljekar Launches Her Latest Book
Mridula Baljekar's latest book, The Food and Cooking of India, has been published by Lorenz Books (an imprint of Anness Publishing).
In this book, Mridula takes the reader on a gastronomic journey through India, explaining along the way, the culture, history, geography, religious and social customs and uncovers unknown territories of this fascinating country.
An authoritative explanation unites the myriad strands of Indian culinary heritage and offers you the ultimate taste of this world-famous cuisine in 150 exquisite recipes accompanied by 850 stunning colour illustrations.
Ranging from simple street foods to luxurious curries fit for a Maharaja's table, delectable marinades, exquisite kebabs and exotic vegetables, the book captures the diversity of Indian cuisine in an evocative and enticing manner.
Mridula will be officially launching her book at the prestigious Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey www.wentworthclub.com) on 21st February 2011. Wentworth is famous not just for golf championships; it also offers excellent facilities for fitness, social events, tennis and fabulous cuisine influenced by London's renowned Caprice Group.
In this book, Mridula takes the reader on a gastronomic journey through India, explaining along the way, the culture, history, geography, religious and social customs and uncovers unknown territories of this fascinating country.
An authoritative explanation unites the myriad strands of Indian culinary heritage and offers you the ultimate taste of this world-famous cuisine in 150 exquisite recipes accompanied by 850 stunning colour illustrations.
Ranging from simple street foods to luxurious curries fit for a Maharaja's table, delectable marinades, exquisite kebabs and exotic vegetables, the book captures the diversity of Indian cuisine in an evocative and enticing manner.
Mridula will be officially launching her book at the prestigious Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey www.wentworthclub.com) on 21st February 2011. Wentworth is famous not just for golf championships; it also offers excellent facilities for fitness, social events, tennis and fabulous cuisine influenced by London's renowned Caprice Group.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds
A great deal has been written on the Battle of Midway, some good and some not so good. The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds has to be one of the most definitive works on the Battle of Midway. And one of the better books on this subject by a long way.
The Battle of Midway. Was it a miraculous event, as some see it? Or a culmination of tactics and weapons?
Craig L. Symonds takes a long view of this key battle in World War 2. He traces the origins of some of the points that would be of vital importance, back to the latter years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
He examines the military careers of the Japanese officers and the American officers from their earliest days at their military academies, teasing out facts that would prove important in the roles they played in the battle of Midway.
He also examined how blunders on both sides cost many lives and could have impacted on the outcome of not only the Battle of Midway but on the outcome of the war itself.
He points out that the decisions of Japanese officers was often coloured by their very real fear of being murdered by their subordinates, of how hundreds of US pilots were sent to their deaths because their planes had dreadful design faults or their torpedoes just did not work.
Apparently the US government in pre-war days did not want to 'waste money' on testing the new design of torpedo, so the many faults in the design were not discovered in a timely manner and corrected. Instead they chose to blame the pilots, many of whom lost their lives attempting to launch useless, inert torpedoes. The torpedoes used by the US Navy submarines were just as bad.
The Japanese side was no better. They failed to provide adequate damage control facilities on their warships, so that a fairly minor explosion or fire could result in the loss of a ship and the subsequent unnecessary loss of many lives. Symonds also points out that the Japanese were doomed to fail by their desire for quality in pilot training and the construction of ships, planes, etc.
Symonds looks afresh at what we thought we knew about the progress of the battle, and has discovered that some of it was flawed due to error and that other information was simply wrong due to what appeared to be covering up by some persons involved.
The book is superbly illustrated with battle maps and photographs. These appear throughout the text, so do help to tell the story.
Although very readable indeed, the book will make a most suitable textbook for students of World War 2. The footnotes, appendixes, notes and index are worth their weight in gold.
It is 452 pages long and published in hardback by the Oxford University Press at $27.95.
I can heartily recommend this book to old servicemen, their families, students of military history and serving forces personnel.
The Battle of Midway. Was it a miraculous event, as some see it? Or a culmination of tactics and weapons?
Craig L. Symonds takes a long view of this key battle in World War 2. He traces the origins of some of the points that would be of vital importance, back to the latter years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
He examines the military careers of the Japanese officers and the American officers from their earliest days at their military academies, teasing out facts that would prove important in the roles they played in the battle of Midway.
He also examined how blunders on both sides cost many lives and could have impacted on the outcome of not only the Battle of Midway but on the outcome of the war itself.
He points out that the decisions of Japanese officers was often coloured by their very real fear of being murdered by their subordinates, of how hundreds of US pilots were sent to their deaths because their planes had dreadful design faults or their torpedoes just did not work.
Apparently the US government in pre-war days did not want to 'waste money' on testing the new design of torpedo, so the many faults in the design were not discovered in a timely manner and corrected. Instead they chose to blame the pilots, many of whom lost their lives attempting to launch useless, inert torpedoes. The torpedoes used by the US Navy submarines were just as bad.
The Japanese side was no better. They failed to provide adequate damage control facilities on their warships, so that a fairly minor explosion or fire could result in the loss of a ship and the subsequent unnecessary loss of many lives. Symonds also points out that the Japanese were doomed to fail by their desire for quality in pilot training and the construction of ships, planes, etc.
Symonds looks afresh at what we thought we knew about the progress of the battle, and has discovered that some of it was flawed due to error and that other information was simply wrong due to what appeared to be covering up by some persons involved.
The book is superbly illustrated with battle maps and photographs. These appear throughout the text, so do help to tell the story.
Although very readable indeed, the book will make a most suitable textbook for students of World War 2. The footnotes, appendixes, notes and index are worth their weight in gold.
It is 452 pages long and published in hardback by the Oxford University Press at $27.95.
I can heartily recommend this book to old servicemen, their families, students of military history and serving forces personnel.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Explore the Humorous Side of Life with “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” A Collection of Aphorisms and Cartoons
Can people handle the truth or will it be too painful? When faced with the easy or hard decision, do people take the easy way out even though it doesn’t give them their desired result? Aleksandar Krzavac releases his new book, “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun”.
Are you a person who always sees the bright side of every challenge? Are you the person who is seen as the one who always makes lemonade out of lemons?
For the individual who likes to think and live outside of the box, Aleksandar Krzavac has just the e-book for you, “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” which is humorous and illustrated with cartoons.
Krzavac says he wrote “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” to challenge people to think out of everyday convenient life. However, a result is achieved even if readers have great fun reading the book.
Some of the aphorisms contained in the book are: “Survival skills have nothing to do with morals. Force is a side effect of ruling. Fight for the future, do not adopt it.”
“Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” contains 401 aphorisms and approximately 77 cartoons.
“Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” addresses almost all issues people are annoyed with, no matter what their economic status, education level or race. Sub-genre but not sub-culture, that keeps our eyes wide open revealing the extent of self-delusion in everyday life we are exposed to.
Author Krzavac states, “Once you read this e-book, the reader will figure out what the side effect of sex is, what real engine of revolution could be and even why communism failed or the real reason we vote for democracy.
In “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun”, each single aphorism or cartoon is a world unto itself. It will literally draw the reader in and expand their thinking about the circumstances and world around them. Readers are encouraged to face the truth, no matter how painful it can be.
About Aleksandar Krzavac
Aleksandar Krzavac was born in 1959 in Belgrade, the former Yugoslavian capital, where he spent his teenage years and his thirties in what is referred to in the West as a Communist dictatorship. Holder of a University degree in economics, e-book author Aleksandar Krzavac does not object to wasting his time writing aphorisms and drawing cartoons.
Krzavac has published his aphorisms and cartoons in highly regarded Belgrade newspapers and magazines and a selection of Krzavac's cartoons are published on the Aydin Dogan Vakfi website. Aphorisms of Aleksandar Krzavac have appeared in the New York Times bestselling author James Geary's website at www.jamesgeary.com.
Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun can be purchased at Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Lulu.
Are you a person who always sees the bright side of every challenge? Are you the person who is seen as the one who always makes lemonade out of lemons?
For the individual who likes to think and live outside of the box, Aleksandar Krzavac has just the e-book for you, “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” which is humorous and illustrated with cartoons.
Krzavac says he wrote “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” to challenge people to think out of everyday convenient life. However, a result is achieved even if readers have great fun reading the book.
Some of the aphorisms contained in the book are: “Survival skills have nothing to do with morals. Force is a side effect of ruling. Fight for the future, do not adopt it.”
“Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” contains 401 aphorisms and approximately 77 cartoons.
“Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun” addresses almost all issues people are annoyed with, no matter what their economic status, education level or race. Sub-genre but not sub-culture, that keeps our eyes wide open revealing the extent of self-delusion in everyday life we are exposed to.
Author Krzavac states, “Once you read this e-book, the reader will figure out what the side effect of sex is, what real engine of revolution could be and even why communism failed or the real reason we vote for democracy.
In “Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun”, each single aphorism or cartoon is a world unto itself. It will literally draw the reader in and expand their thinking about the circumstances and world around them. Readers are encouraged to face the truth, no matter how painful it can be.
About Aleksandar Krzavac
Aleksandar Krzavac was born in 1959 in Belgrade, the former Yugoslavian capital, where he spent his teenage years and his thirties in what is referred to in the West as a Communist dictatorship. Holder of a University degree in economics, e-book author Aleksandar Krzavac does not object to wasting his time writing aphorisms and drawing cartoons.
Krzavac has published his aphorisms and cartoons in highly regarded Belgrade newspapers and magazines and a selection of Krzavac's cartoons are published on the Aydin Dogan Vakfi website. Aphorisms of Aleksandar Krzavac have appeared in the New York Times bestselling author James Geary's website at www.jamesgeary.com.
Close Your Eyes the Future Has Just Begun can be purchased at Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Lulu.
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