Biden was just the tip of the iceberg...

Everything you know about WWI is wrong! Okay... maybe not everything, but some things definitely.

Forgotten Victory: The First World War: Myths and Realities

By: Gary Sheffield
Published: 2001
318 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

An apologetic work directed at British leadership during WWI. It refutes the claim that the British Army was composed of “lions led by donkeys”, and instead lays out a case for increasing competence, the necessity of offensives, and a string of victories in 1918.

What's the author's angle?

Sheffield is a noted member of the revisionist school. He wants to revise the vision of futility most commonly associated with the British participation in WWI.

Who should read this book?

Someone who wants a more complete view of WWI, and who is wary of simplistic tales of strategic idiocy.

Specific thoughts: WWI was horrible for the British, but it couldn’t have been won any other way

Forbes magazine, the bastion of conservative American business journalism, called it "a filth-spattered lens of depravity and dysfunction".

Crisis Zone

By: Simon Hanselmann
Published: 2021
296 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

A very non-traditional household navigates the pandemic using violence and porn production.

Who should read this book?

I would not recommend this book to anyone. It is without a doubt the grossest, crudest work I have ever read. Though Forbes reviewed it and said:

In the deluxe and beautifully designed Fantagraphics edition, Crisis Zone ends up looking like a children's book produced in an institution for the criminally insane. Assuming we have a future ahead of us, Crisis Zone will be the keepsake to remind us what we became in [2020].

But even they had to admit that it was “a filth-spattered lens of depravity and dysfunction”.

Specific thoughts: A strong case against a certain lifestyle.

Noticing: An Essential Reader (1973-2023)

By: Steve Sailer

Published: 2024

458 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

A collection of essays from Steve Sailer covering immigration, culture war stuff, and human biodiversity.

What's the author's angle?

For some, Sailer is a horrible right-wing racist. For others he’s a data-driven contrarian. I mostly fall in the latter camp. Also whatever you think of his opinions, his tone is exceptionally mild. He’s not a fire-breather.

Who should read this book?

If you’ve been following Sailer forever there’s nothing especially new here. Even if you haven’t previously read all of the included essays (and I believe I was at probably 90%), he’s covering territory which is very well-trod by him in general. On the other hand if you’re only vaguely familiar with Sailer—perhaps you’ve come across his name once or twice, then this is a great summation of his opinions and writings.

Specific thoughts: How important is tone?

Collapse of Complex Societies

By: Joseph A. Tainter

Published: 1988

262 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

A new (at the time) theory for the collapse of societies based on declining marginal returns to complexity.

What's the author's angle?

This is a book definitely written in opposition to previous theories (think Spengler, Toynbee, etc.) many of which Tainter rejects as overly moralistic.

Who should read this book?

If you’re interested in how the United States will end (and I can’t imagine how you’re not) this is a great book.

Specific thoughts: Okay so this is how collapse happens. Can it be stopped?

By: Patrick McGee

Published: 2025

448 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

How Apple went all in on China, not merely moving manufacturing there, but also educating their companies in, and co-developing with them, numerous advanced manufacturing techniques. These techniques then spread all throughout China. As such, Apple, far more than any other company, enabled China’s rise to be the world’s most sophisticated manufacturer. In effect they imported a super-charged industrial policy for China. This was bad enough, but the eventual result was that Apple is now utterly dependent on a capricious one-party state.

What's the author's angle?

McGee is not entirely unsympathetic to Apple, but it’s also clear that he finds the consequences of their actions to be damaging, and, most of all, dumb.

Who should read this book?

If you’re interested in China, technology, the future, or competition then you should read this book.

In which I start by using my massive intellect to predicte a timeline for the end of the world and end with admitting that I couldn't remember whether I'd read a specific book or not.

In which I engage in an extended, and somewhat clunky Star Wars metaphor. And eventually conclude that clunkiness is sort of the point.