Abraham Lincoln is one of the greatest US Presidents. As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day this Thursday it is good to recall that it was Lincoln…
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Month: November 2019
Provocative – When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order
This excellent book published in 2009 and updated in 2012 argues that a modernising and modernised China will retain her essential Chineseness. Jacques contends that…
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The famous escape attempts
Here are 3 books on the famous escape attempts by Allied prisoners of war during World War Two. The 4th book The Last Escape is…
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What China was like back in the 1980s
China has progressed by leaps and bounds since Deng Xiao Ping took charge after Mao died in 1976. These two books are for readers interested…
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The fall of the Berlin Wall
Last Sat 9 Nov 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Checkpoint Charlie was no more. This momentous event which…
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Beautiful but too small – Splendors of China’s Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong
It is rather unfortunate that such a wonderful book has too small pictures. In some pictures, one can hardly see the fine details of the…
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Not great – Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India
I expected more from this book. There were 3 clear errors in the Introduction which unfortunately slipped through: 1. On page 4 there was a…
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Gem of a book – Why the Allies Won
Richard writes very fully. His analysis of key themes of why the Allies won is excellent. The prose flows well and it is a joy…
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Not a full biography – Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man
According to the review by the Washington Post, “historian Zhang Dai’s long life, which began in 1597 and ended around 1680, spanned the Ming Dynasty’s…
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Wonderful book – Letters to Auntie Fori: 5000 Years of Jewish History
The author is a prolific historian. This is a wonderful collection of letters written by the author to his 90-year-old friend based in India. She…
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