by envisionmg | Feb 27, 2015 | Jim Reviews, Non-fiction
I don’t normally read books with “A Natural History” in the title; for all that I love the natural world and history, I have a hard time getting excited about the life and times of, say, a Western Blue Throated Snow Toad (which I totally made up just...
by envisionmg | Jan 28, 2015 | Biography, History, Jim Reviews
Recently there has been a resurgence in interest in the character of George Smiley with the reboot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Although Gary Oldman does a credible George Smiley, for me he’ll always look like Alec Guinness from the BBC Mini-Series that follows...
by envisionmg | Dec 24, 2014 | History, Jim Reviews
How about a little Russian Revolution on Christmas Eve? Ok maybe not every ones first choice for the night before Christmas but at some point you should really check this one out (I briefly tried to come up with Russian Revolution themed lyrics to Night Before...
by envisionmg | Dec 5, 2014 | History, Jim Reviews
You might remember this title from my post Jim’s Bedside Table. Well, it isn’t on the table any more. I read it over the holiday and really enjoyed it. Open Cockpit by Arthur Gould Lee (sadly we don’t own a copy of the book, however I’m working...
by envisionmg | Nov 10, 2014 | History, Jim Reviews
I picked this book up simply because it was the only time I had seen a history of World War II told from the perspective of the Japanese. What I hadn’t realized is Hara’s Japanese Destroyer Captain was actually a much older book. It was originally...
by envisionmg | Nov 3, 2014 | History, Jim Reviews
I have to confess I used to hate the Italian Renaissance. This is largely because my only exposure to it was an art history class in which the teacher would (when not talking about the wonders of two point perspective) flash slides of paintings up on a wall and say...
