Author Archives: Mike
Visit Sunny Chernobyl
I have to thank Andrew Blackwell for the time and effort that went into researching and writing this fascinating book of industrial disaster areas (some still serving industrial functions) throughout the world. As I might want to visit some of … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, non-fiction, public policy, review
Comments Off on Visit Sunny Chernobyl
The End of Money
David Wolman’s The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers — and the Coming Cashless Society (2012) is an interesting look at our faith-based economic system. If you haven’t already thought the through the implications of an economic system based … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, public policy, review
Comments Off on The End of Money
The Architect
The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power (2006) is an interesting (though uneven) review of Karl Rove and his ride to the White House by two veteran Texas political reporters. A non-believer who built a machine … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, public policy, review
Comments Off on The Architect
Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun
Paul Barrett’s Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun (2012) is an eminently readable history of the lightweight Austrian pistol. Somehow, the gun that’s “uglier than a sack full of assholes” has become the “Google of modern civilian handguns: the pioneer … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, public policy, review
Comments Off on Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun
The Mark Inside
The Mark Inside (2012) tells the fascinating story of a swindled Texas rancher who refused to rest until he got his revenge against each member of the team that took him for $45,000. But what I fond most interesting was … Continue reading
Posted in book, con man, non-fiction, review
Comments Off on The Mark Inside
Moneymakers
Ben Tarnoff’s Moneymakers (2012) tells the stories of three counterfeiters who plied their trade during different periods of American history – the Colonial era, early America and during the Civil War. While their stories are interesting, I thought he did … Continue reading
Posted in book, con man, public policy, review
Comments Off on Moneymakers
Island of Vice
The subtitle of Richard Zacks’s Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York (2012) gives away the result — hard-charging reformer Teddy Roosevelt aims to clean up New York City as a Police Commissioner, but … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, non-fiction, review
Comments Off on Island of Vice
The American Way of Eating
Tracie McMillan’s The American Way of Eating (2012) should be required reading for any American who eats regularly. One blurb describes it as “Nickled and Dimed meets Fast Food Nation”;that pretty much sums it up. The author picks garlic in … Continue reading
Posted in book, non-fiction, public policy, review
Comments Off on The American Way of Eating
Survival City
Tom Vanderbilt’s Survival City (2002) is more than just a trip back to the post-World War II era when — it’s good reading in preparation for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. It is the fascinating story of the nation’s preparation for … Continue reading
Posted in book, history, public policy, review, zombies
Comments Off on Survival City
Drake’s Fortune
In Drake’s Fortune (2002), Richard Raynor tells the story of what may be the greatest long con in history. Depression-era con man Oscar Hartzell convinced thousands of Midwesterners that he was the executor of 16th century English explorer Francis Drake’s … Continue reading