Book

Missive #826 Published 7 Nov 2026

Quartered in a crumbling Portuguese fort, Richard Sharpe and his men are attacked by an elite French unit, led by an old enemy of Sharpe’s, and suffer heavy losses.
The army’s high command blame Sharpe for the disaster and his military career seems to be ruined. His only hope is to redeem himself on the battlefield. So with his honour at stake, against an overwhelming number of French troops, Sharpe leads his men to battle in the narrow streets of Fuentes de Oñoro.

Missive #824 Published 5 Nov 2026

Gunfighter Nation completes Richard Slotkin’s trilogy, begun in Regeneration Through Violence and continued in Fatal Environment, on the myth of the American frontier. Slotkin examines an impressive array of sources - fiction, Hollywood westerns, and the writings of Hollywood figures and Washington leaders - to show how the racialist theory of Anglo-Saxon ascendance and superiority (embodied in Theodore Roosevelt’s The Winning of the West), rather than Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis of the closing of the frontier, exerted the most influence in popular culture and government policy making in the twentieth century. He argues that Roosevelt’s view of the frontier myth provided the justification for most of America’s expansionist policies, from Roosevelt’s own Rough Riders to Kennedy’s counterinsurgency and Johnson’s war in Vietnam.

Missive #816 Published 20 Oct 2026

In spite of what the book promo claims I did not like this book as much as the travel books that Twain wrote. As I understand the differences in this book he has used Juvenalian satire whereas in his travel books he used Horatian satire. As the promo says it is one of the first works to feature time travel and it is one of Twain's most unique.

Missive #815 Published 19 Oct 2026

This book was first published in France in 2007 and was translated by George Miller for its 2010 English release by Bloomsbury. This was de Vigan’s first novel to be translated into English, there are a few more that I will try to find and read when time permits.

Missive #813 Published 17 Oct 2026

This is a book written by a historian that was able to write it without any academic styling. It is not an easy read but far easier than if written by an academic. I'll be reading volume two when I can get around to it.

Missive #811 Published 12 Oct 2026

The author's previous books have been entertaining, this one I found to be very boring.

Missive #809 Published 10 Oct 2026

This is a relatively short book and would have been even shorter if the joint authors had not used all the material from the references. It is written by two academics, why does it take two, for other academics written in an academic style. I don't recommend it.

Missive #807 Published 8 Oct 2026

This is a selection of seven very discrete tales, of which three are actually short novels, which this leading Japanese contemporary has written over the past fifty years. Tanizaki is a very special writer whose tapered touch often fingers and sometimes claws special areas of experience.

Missive #806 Published 6 Oct 2026

This book was published in 1954 and what the author says remains true today. His only errors were he was far to conservative in his guesses about the population growth and how much of the earth's resources they would use up by now. The last chapter is perhaps a more accurate assessment about man's future. If nothing else read it.

Missive #805 Published 5 Oct 2026

The Other Illinois is a 1958 nonfiction book by Baker Brownell that examines the history, culture, and economic decline of the 31 counties in southern Illinois. Published by Duell, Sloan & Pearce as part of the American Folkways series, the work is based on Brownell's research as the first director of the Division of Area Services at Southern Illinois University from 1952 to 1954.
The book details the region's transition from a prosperous area with mild climate and abundant resources to one plagued by poverty, depleted forests, and dwindling towns. Brownell analyzes the causes of this decay with clarity and humor, providing a documented study of social history that remains a key resource for understanding the unique identity of southern Illinois, often referred to as "Egypt."