Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Review of From Plato To NATO: The Idea of the West and Its Opponents by David Gress

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 
Genre = History



Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Western liberty was not something marvelously distinct from historical reality, but the initially unintended side effect of the drive for power.  Rulers competing for power found that the niches of liberty of local communities made their societies stronger and more prosperous, hence more fit to compete.” – David Gress, Introduction, Page 2

 

“The Grand Narrative was both a version of history and a description of the ideal modern Western identity.  In its basic form, the Grand Narrative followed an axis that spanned five millennia, from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to mid-twentieth-century America.  It was a history of reason, democracy, and economic growth.  Its authors assumed that progress was real, objectively definable, and universally desirable.  Being free was better than being enslaved, being rich was better than being poor, being healthy better than being sick, being enlightened better than being superstitious, being at peace better than being at war.  Progress meant moving from subjection, poverty, disease, superstition, and violence to democracy, prosperity, health, science, and peace both domestic and international.” – David Gress, Chapter One: The Grand Narrative and Its Fate, Page 40

 

“In Western history, the drama of power was inseparably tied to two other fundamental and recurrent themes – empire and universalism.  Power was necessary for empire, which was a constant aspiration of the greatest Old Western rulers, because they believed that a universal empire was the only order for humankind; just as there was only one God in heaven, so there should be only one world ruler on earth.” – David Gress, Chapter Five: Germanic Freedom and the Old Western Synthesis, Page 171


Review

Is This An Overview?

As Western ideas have become dominant, they have also come under attack.  There is a lot to criticize about the West, but there is also confusion about what the identity of the West is.  Confusion that seeks to share the negative consequences without reference to the values. 

 

The West’s defining feature is the contrasting evolution of liberty and power.  Liberty came from the competition of power, as liberty enables societies to be more effective competitors.  The benefits of Western ideas were thought to be universally desirable, which has totalitarian features.  Universal values that leaders wanted to apply to everyone, wanted to rule over everyone.  In response to the totalitarian imposition, people sought for liberty.  A search for power lead to liberty, individualism.  But liberty without an appropriate administration, without governance, lead to totalitarian regimes. 

 

Caveats?

This book uses nonfiction and fiction to explain the Western identity.  Uses history and mythology.  The interpretations have mixed qualities.  Misinterpreting certain information for a simplified narrative.  Creating an essence of other authors, and the West.  Various authors presented have more complex claims than a single underlying theme provided.  The same narrative of the West, can apply to other societies as well, as the same aspects exist throughout various societies.  


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What are Western values?
•What are the criticisms of the West?
•What is the Grand Narrative?
•What is the Western identity? 
•How did the Greeks effect the West’s identity?
•How did the Roman Empire effect the West’s identity?
•How did the Germans effect the West’s identity?
•Who are the Germans?
•How did Christianity effect the West’s identity?
•How did Russia effect the West’s identity?
•Who are the Bolsheviks? 
•How did the U.S.A. effect the West’s identity?
•How does democracy effect military capacity?
•How does capitalism effect the West?

Book Details
Publisher:               The Free Press [Simon & Schuster]
Edition ISBN:         0684827891
Pages to read:          563
Publication:             1998
1st Edition:              1998
Format:                    Hardcover 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    3
Content          2
Overall          2






Saturday, August 31, 2024

Review of The Age of Reason: Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology by Thomas Paine

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 




Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Every national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals.  The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their apostles and saints; and the Turks their Mahomet; as if the way to God was not open to every man alike.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter II – of Missions and Revelations, Page 27

 

“The invention of a purgatory, and of the releasing of souls therefrom, by prayers, bought of the church with money; the selling of pardons, dispensations, and indulgences, are revenue laws, without bearing that name or carrying that appearance.  But the case nevertheless is, that those things derive their origin from the proxsym of the crucifixion, and the theory deduced therefrom, which as, that one person could stand in the place of another, and could perform meritorious services for him.  The probability, therefore, is, that the whole theory or doctrine of what is called the redemption (which is said to have been accomplished by the act of one person in the room of another) was originally fabricated on purpose to bring forward and build all those secondary and pecuniary redemptions upon; and that the passages in the books upon which the idea of redemption if built, have been manufactured and fabricated for that purpose.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter VIII – of the New Testament, Page 51

 

“It is owing to this long interregnum of science, and to no other cause, that we have now to look back through a vast chasm of many hundred years to the respectable characters we call the Ancients.  Had the progression of knowledge gone on proportionably with the stock that before existed, that chasm would have been filled up with characters rising superior in knowledge to each other; and those Ancients we now so much admire would have appeared respectably in the background of the scene.  But the christian system laid all waste; and if we take our stand about the beginning of the sixteenth century, we look back through that long chasm, to the times of the Ancients, as over a vast sandy desert, in which not a shrub appears to intercept the vision to the fertile hills beyond.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter XII – The Effects of Christianism on Education; Proposed Reforms, Pages 71-72

Review

Is This An Overview?

Religion has value, but has been corrupted by institutions.  Religious institutions are a human invention which creates justifications to persecute those who do not adhere to their claims, and to monopolize power.  Rituals are developed to filter those who accept the religion from those to be persecuted.  Rituals that are meant to be an expression of power. 

 

Faith is meant to be ubiquitous, but religious institutions have made faith exclusionary.  Certain groups are favored over others, and have select few individuals within the favored group who communicate with their deity. 

 

For religious institutions, only the ideas from religious texts are accepted.  Other ideas are persecuted.  Persecuting other ideas prevents improving the ideas, making society stagnant.  Religion prevents correcting limitations of ideas, which has led to many contradictions within religious texts. 

 

Caveats?

Methods of expressing ideas can be antediluvian, which can make the book difficult to read.  The focus of the book are the negative consequences of religion, specifically Christianity.  The author reflects on the contradiction found in the religious claims and their effects on society.  The book is not against religion, but against the institutions of religion.  The author declared oneself to have a faith.  Part of the antagonism for religious institution, is because the author was persecuted by the Church.  


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What about religion frustrates the author?
•Is the author religious?
•How have religious institutions corrupted religion? 
•What value does religion have?
•What is the purpose of redemption?
•What effect did religion have on science?
•Who is favored by a religion?
•Who can speak to a deity?


Book Details
Editor Author:   Moncure Daniel Conway
Publisher:               Green World Classics
Edition ISBN:         9789897784101
Pages to read:          186
Publication:             2020
1st Edition:              1794
Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    3
Content          1
Overall          1






Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Review of Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 
Book Club Event = Book List (01/11/2025)
Intriguing Connections = 1) Biographies: Auto, Memoir, and Other Types


Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Above all he was no totalitarian dictator, as many have been eager to suggest: he may have established an unprecedentedly efficient surveillance system, but he had no interest in controlling every aspect of his subjects’ lives.  Nor did he want the lands he conquered to be ruled directly by Frenchmen.  He believed that one can control foreign lands only by winning over the population and sought accordingly to present himself in terms that would make him sympathetic to the locals, feigning sympathy for their religion as a means to an end.” – Andrew Roberts, Introduction, Pages 37-38

 

“A victorious, hungry army pillages.  Napoleon was genuinely concerned by the conduct of his troops and wanted to keep the devastation in check.  Four days earlier he had published an Order of the Day blaming ‘fearful pillage’ on ‘perverse men, who join their corps only after the battle, and who commit excesses which dishonour the army and the French name.’  He authorized generals to shoot any officers who allowed it, though there are no examples of this actually happening.” – Andrew Roberts, Chapter 4: Italy, Page 147

 

“In his six days at Malta Napoleon expelled all but fourteen of the Knights and replaced the island’s medieval administration with a governing council; dissolved the monasteries; introduced street lighting and paving; freed all political prisoners; installed fountains and reformed the hospitals, postal service and university, which was now to teach science as well as the humanities.” – Andrew Roberts, Chapter 7: Egypt, Pages 241-242


Review

Is This An Overview?

There was more to Napoleon than military acumen.  Napoleon’s lasting influence was on the culture, as laws became equitable to everyone, made status based on merit, improved educational quality, enabled administration to be more efficient, and secularized society while trying to be respect those who were religious.  Many lands were conquered by Napoleon’s forces, with Napoleon being courteous to the conquered.  Napoleon wanted to gain the people’s approval, which would enable control of foreign lands with the support of the population.  Through Napoleon’s efforts, the conquered lands had their infrastructure and institutions improved.  The army was to be respectful of the local communities and ways of being, to prevent creating conditions for disapproving the French.  Napoleon tried to limit the army’s pillaging after a victory.   

 

Caveats?

There is a lack of reasons and explanations for why events occurred.  The book focuses on Napoleon’s actions and decisions throughout participated events.  The details of the various conflicts are provided, without explaining the reason for the events or conflicts.  Focusing on the details of what happened can prevent potential misunderstanding of subjective reasons that people provide, but the events lack meaning without the explanations. 

 

Among the details of Napoleon’s life that are provided, military affairs are prominent.  Napoleon’s family, and love life, along with French culture, and politics are provided but are relegated to military affairs.   For an understanding of French society, and history, additional research would be needed.  


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What methods did Napoleon use to think? 
•Was Napoleon a dictator? 
•How did Napoleon treat the conquered? 
•How to control foreign lands?
•What did Napoleon think of colonies? 
•What were Napoleon’s foreign policy methods? 
•How did Napoleon effect laws?
•How did Napoleon effect religion?
•Is Napoleon a warmonger?
•What were Napoleon’s battlefield tactics?
•How did Napoleon produce esprit de corps? 
•How did the French rule over Corsica?
•How did Napoleon’s origins from Corsica effect political life? 
•How was Napoleon educated?
•What was Napoleon biased against? 
•How did Napoleon behave on the battlefield? 
•What role did Napoleon have in the French Revolution? 
•What did Napoleon think of pillaging after a victory? 
•What was thought of Napoleon’s battle reports? 
•How were the French thought of in Italy after being occupied? 
•How did the French effect Egypt? 
•What happened at Acre?
•How did Napoleon gain political support? 
•What did Napoleon think of news?
•How did Napoleon become First Consul? 
•What effect did Napoleon have on slavery? 
•What is the dilemma in trying to have liberty, equality, and fraternity? 
•What did Napoleon think of disagreement? 
•How did Napoleon treat the staff?
•What happened in Russia?
•What happened at Waterloo?
•Who was Joséphine to Napoleon?
•Who was Marie Louise?

Book Details
Publisher:               Penguin Books [Penguin Random House]
Edition ISBN:         9780698176287
Pages to read:          1017
Publication:             2015
1st Edition:              2014
Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    4
Content          2
Overall          2






Saturday, August 24, 2024

Review of Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age by A. C. Grayling

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 
Genre = Philosophy


Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“A moraliser is a person who seeks to impose upon others his view of how they should live and behave.  Everyone is entitled to a view about what counts as acceptable behaviour, and everyone is entitled to put it forwards as eloquently and forcefully as he can.  But moralisers go much further.  They want others to conform to their views, and they seek to bring this about by coercion – employing means which range from social disapproval to legal control, this latter often being their preferred option.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Moralising, Page 3

 

“Civility is a matter of mores, etiquette, politeness, of informal rituals that facilitate our interactions, and thereby give us ways to treat each other with consideration.  It creates social and psychological space for people to live their own lives and make their own choices.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Civility, Page 12

 

“Ordinary life evokes more extraordinary courage than combat or adventure because both the chances and inevitabilities of life – grief, illness, disappointment, pain, struggle, poverty, loss, terror, heartache: all of them common features of the human condition, and all of them experienced by hundreds of thousands of people every day – demand kinds of endurance and bravery that make clambering up Everest seem an easier alternative.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Courage, Pages 21-22


Review

Is This An Overview?

This book is a composition of many short essays on a diverse set of topics.  Provoking reflection on values, to consider different ways on how to be.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to treat others, how to share values, how to compromise.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to thinking, how to reason, how to be honest.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to be part of society, how conflict if created, how differences are handled.  Life is a composition of a diverse set of emotions, struggles, and interactions.  Each aspect of life has limits, complexity, and consequences.  By learning and thinking about the aspects of life, can the individual improve themselves and society. 

 

Caveats?

Essay quality is mixed, as different topics will interest different readers, and the essays are short.  There is not much on each topic.  The topics are provided a complex understanding and provide valuable content, but for topics that interest the reader, the reader would need to search for more information to understand the different aspects and perspectives on the topic.  A bias of the book is the treatment of topics related to religion, as the topics are simplified and the references to them are primarily the negative consequences.  


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What does it mean to be a moralist?
•Is there a limit to tolerance? 
•What is mercy? 
•How is civility used in society? 
•How to comprise? 
•What is the difference between recreational fear and real fear?
•Is there a quality to courage? 
•How can defeat be used?
•What is death?
•What does hope provide? 
•When to persevere? 
•What does it mean to be frank? 
•What does it mean to lie? 
•When to be loyal? 
•What to punish? 
•Why defend a nation?
•Is race real?
•Are humans that different from other species? 
•What is the effect of religion?
•What is faith? 
•By what measure should a country be judged by? 
•What is reason?
•What is the effect of education?
•How to act?
•How can leisure be used?
•Why read?
•Should history be taught? 

Book Details
Publisher:               Oxford University Press
Edition ISBN:         9780195168907
Pages to read:          209
Publication:             2003
1st Edition:              2001
Format:                    Paperback 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    5
Content          4
Overall          4






Monday, August 19, 2024

Review of Forget About Heaven: Don’t Yell At Me, Take It Up With My Dead Mother by Kathleen Hoy Foley

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

This book was provided by the author


Book can be found in: 


Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“You did not want to cross my mother. Unfortunately, your mere existence already aggravated her, so angering my mother did not require much. It is a colossal understatement to say that my mother detested any attempt to gain sympathy, especially from her –– my mother received sympathy, she did not grant it.” – Kathleen Hoy Foley, Chapter 2, Page- 12-13

 

“Every once in a while, though, a mysterious something inside her gave way, an outburst of anger unrelated to an outwardly bland circumstance. Those times she’d burn fierce and swift –– an instantaneous eruption of molten fury. It meant big trouble for you if at that particular moment you were on her wrong side, because you’d end up a pile of cinder before you even knew what the hell happened. She wouldn’t tell you why, either. She’d just cast her weighted pall over the entire household and withdraw into the silent treatment that lasted as long as she damn well pleased.” – Kathleen Hoy Foley, Chapter 5, Pages 19-20

 

“If Kathleen’s trying to get me to say I’m sorry, she’s barking up the wrong tree. I don’t go in for apologizing. I don’t accept no apologies either. Don’t come crying to me with I’m sorry. My line is, If you’re sorry, you wouldn’t do it. I’m not apologizing for nothin’. You’re not gonna get me to apologize. Kathleen’s not gonna get me to apologize. I didn’t do nothin’.” – Kathleen Hoy Foley, Chapter 68, Page 157

Excerpts provided with permission from the author


Review

Is This An Overview?

In life, Kathleen could not reconcile with Kathleen’s mother Pat.  After Pat passed away, they could.  This is a book on how a mother and daughter are able to share their stories with each other, and through the processes of sharing, find reconciliation.  By sharing their views on events, they are able to understand how each affected the other’s life, how others experienced their actions and behaviors.  Throughout their life, they saw primarily the harm, the hardships inflicted on them by others.  Through sharing their stories, they were able to get to know each other and understand why they behaved the way they did.  Understand why there were bursts of anger, how they treated others when they were in pain, how emotional wounds affected their behavior.  Through sharing their stories, they were able to be heard, to find worth, belonging, and acceptance. 

 

Caveats?

The writing quality is mixed.  The path to reconciliation is emotional, through sharing tragic stories.  A reader should be emotionally prepared.  The conversation that occurs is with someone who passed away.  Pat’s responses and changes in thinking are based on what Kathleen thinks they would be.  Although the honestly in responses and the changes are desired, its uncertain if they would have happened while Pat lived.  Reconciliation takes immense effort to hear what another has to say.


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What did Kathleen think of Pat?
•What does Pat think of death?
•What do people want?
•How did Pat use sympathy?
•Why did Pat have outbursts of anger? 
•How did Pat pain effect Pat and others around Pat?
•How do emotional wounds effect behavior? 
•What is the role of women in society?
•Who is the women in the fog?
•How is George Washington involved?


Book Details
This book is currently free through publisher website: Women in Hiding Press: Forget About Heaven
Edition:                   First Edition
Publisher:               Women in Hiding Press
Edition ISBN:         9780982855850
Pages to read:          352
Publication:             2018
1st Edition:              2018
Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    3
Content          2
Overall          3