Non Fiction being currently read

[Hobbit]

I think Dalrymple's got a good rep amongst the Historians I know, Av.

For me though, a lot of historians these days seem to use real events and characters to write as if its a historical novel. Is this the case here?

 

[Av Demeisen]

I think Dalrymple's got a good rep amongst the Historians I know, Av.

For me though, a lot of historians these days seem to use real events and characters to write as if its a historical novel. Is this the case here?

In The Anarchy, and I believe in general, Dalrymple uses a lot of lengthy quotes from eyewitness accounts. For Return of a King: The Battle for Aghanistan Dalrymple, who lives in Delhi, traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to do research. He uncovered nine previously untranslated full-length contemporary Afghan accounts of the conflict, including the autobiography of Shah Shuja himself. Shah Shuja Durrani is the ruler the British tried to reinstall on their disasterous expedition up north.

This book was only delivered this afternoon, but The Anarchy was serious, detailed but accessible history. His books are written chronologically and are popular in India and the West, but are not dumbed down. According to the reviews, Return of the King is especially valuable for incorporating all these previously unused sources. These three books I bought read like a great story start to finish, but it would be unfair to characterise them as a kind of historical novel.

What would tick off a lot of people, though, is Dalrymple's exposure of the arrogance, rapacity, brutality, etc. of the British colonial enterprise.

 

[Hobbit]

What would tick off a lot of people, though, is Dalrymple's exposure of the arrogance, rapacity, brutality, etc. of the British colonial enterprise.

Perhaps a hundred years ago - less so now.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Perhaps a hundred years ago - less so now.

Certainly less so than in the past, but to this outsider the comment sections of British newspapers and the rhetoric surrounding Brexit give the impression the old views are alive and well in large sections of the population.

 

[Trollheart]

Crows: Encounters With the Wiseguys of the Avian World by Candace Savage.
Crows play a large part both in my WIP novel Broken Wings and a short-long story called The Witching Tree, so I need to learn all about them. Very interesting and informative.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Crows: Encounters With the Wiseguys of the Avian World by Candace Savage.
Crows play a large part both in my WIP novel Broken Wings and a short-long story called The Witching Tree, so I need to learn all about them. Very interesting and informative.

Now I'm curious who are the connected guys of the avian world?

 

[Trollheart]

Given that they have all the best stuff, I'd imagine Magpies? Could you just see the crows being summoned by the magpie don? What is THIS? I asked for something shiny and sparkly and what do you bring me? PAPER!

 

[Hobbit]

I'd imagine Magpies? Could you just see the crows being summoned by the magpie don? What is THIS? I asked for something shiny and sparkly and what do you bring me? PAPER

I tend to think of the intelligent crows at the top of the pile, whilst the magpies do their bidding....

 

[Trollheart]

Nah nah nah. You're raven mad, mate!

 

[Hobbit]

Not the first time that's been said....!

 

[Trollheart]

No need to crow about it...

 

[Av Demeisen]

William Dalrymple's Return of a King: The Battle for Aghanistan.
These Afghans. George R.R. Martins' red wedding was amateur work compared to all this blood feuding. Damn!!!

 

[Trollheart]

On a similar note, have you seen House of Saddam and Assad: A Dangerous Dynasty? Both highly recommended

 

[Av Demeisen]

On a similar note, have you seen House of Saddam and Assad: A Dangerous Dynasty? Both highly recommended

Not yet. I'll check them out.

 

[Trollheart]

Very impressive. I seem to realise there's a really upsetting scene in Assad, not sure about Saddam, which is more a drama/docu-drama while Assad is a true docu. Just be warned. I think it's something to do with animals, not sure, but it's either gory and/or horrible.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Very impressive. I seem to realise there's a really upsetting scene in Assad, not sure about Saddam, which is more a drama/docu-drama while Assad is a true docu. Just be warned. I think it's something to do with animals, not sure, but it's either gory and/or horrible.

Thanks for the warning. Then I'll take a pass on Assad.

 

[Trollheart]

It's something you can avoid. It's spoken of beforehand. Think it might be puppies. I really can't remember. I just know I had time to turn my head away and stick my fingers in my ears or fast-forward before I had to see it. The docu is definitely worth watching, but it's up to you whether you want to do that or not. I think it might be in part three, not sure.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Not yet finished with the Dalrymple, but far enough in to start another non-fiction book. The History of Bhutan by Karma Phuntso.

Karma Phuntsho’s The History of Bhutan is the first-ever attempt to cover the entire history of Bhutan in some detail in English, combining both traditional perspectives and modern academic analysis. Written by a leading expert on the country, the book tells the story of Bhutan in a narrative style interspersed with some analytical and topical discussion, and numerous citations and translations from earlier writings. It is primarily a historical account, but it also includes substantive discussions of Bhutan’s geography, culture and society to give the readers an incisive introduction to the country.

 

[Av Demeisen]

New arrival. You can never read to many non-fiction titles at the same time.

Mind Seeing Mind by Roger R. Jackson.
This book provides a useful historical overview of Mahāmudrā (Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་, phyag rgya chen po, great seal), a term used to refer to both the nature of mind and the meditation techniques for its realization, in India and Tibet in general before focusing on the Geluk school in particular. This historical overview contained in the first 432 pages and not so much the translations of Geluk texts in the next 200 pages is why I bought the book.

 

[Av Demeisen]

This week I preordered Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose (@HPluckrose) & James Lindsay (@ConceptualJames)
Out May 5th, 2020, this is one I am really looking forward to.

I just received my copy of Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. Exactly a month before publication (according to Amazon)! Will be reading (but not writing here about) it.

Proof: