The First Team by John Ball (1911-1988)

 

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

Copyright: 1971

ISBN: ?

I first read this book many years ago, and since this time have read it a few more times, as I find the characterization and plot to be very well structured. The author did a fair bit of research into the workings of various parts of the United States government, as well as the US Navy.

The story deals with the essentially bloodless takeover and occupation of the United States by Russian forces. While this may seem somewhat impossible to many people the events depicted in the story leading up to the successful takeover are quite plausible, although today somewhat dated as it has been 51 years since this book was first published.

When you consider recent political events in the United States I find it quite likely that something like this could've happened. In the book and outgoing president foresees the future and the dangers coming towards the country when the president-elect takes power and creates an underground to forestall any problems. An intelligent act like this seems to me something that President Obama would've done. When you take into account the idiot who succeeded him, and who is portrayed in the book as a totally ineffectual president then this becomes even more realistic.

At the time I'm writing this review Russian forces are still in the Ukraine after having invaded six months ago. There are massive casualties on both sides, due primarily (in my humble opinion) to the egotistical stupidity of Vladimir Putin, and his attempt to make a name for himself. Unfortunately it's quite likely this name will be warmonger, or something possibly even worse.

While the premise might seem a little unlikely, the novel is well written and for those fans of intrigue and espionage novels is a must read.

"Evolution: The Human Story" by Dr. Alice Roberts

 

Publisher: DK Publishing

Copyright: 2018

ISBN: 9781465474018

Dr. Alice Roberts is the Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Birmingham in England, and a Biological Anthropologist, and host of "Digging for Britain", and is the is the author of a number of books.

This book is a great explanation of the evolutionary process as it applies to the human species. It takes the reader from a time about 8 million years in a past up to modern times in very well written sections that explain the origins of life in general, and then break down the individual stages of human evolution.

It would I believe be suitable for any young person who is interested in the subject, and make a fantastic addition to any school classroom, as it is very well written and easy to understand. It is full of pictures that explain the concepts of evolution, how facial reconstruction works, and much more.

While even though a book as well written as this one is will still likely not convince those people who are adamant that evolution isn't true, it should I believe go a long way towards convincing those who are on the fence.

Highly recommended.

"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne (1828-1905)

 

Publisher: Crown Publishers, Inc.

Copyright: 1983

ISBN: 0517413736

This book is another classic in what would come to be known as science-fiction. It was originally written in 1869, and illustrates Verne's fascination with science. It is true that the science depicted in this and other of Verne's stories does not match what we consider to be science today, but for the most part it is accurate as far as the scientific knowledge of the time is concerned.

This is essentially a story of discovery, in that Professor Arronax is taken on a voyage under the sea, and being a naturalist is enamoured with the things he sees. It is true that the book is quite long, but the detail Verne goes into is excellent. He is one of a number of authors that I would have loved to have met.

I recently rewatched the Disney version of this book which came out in 1954. As is typical the director once again took huge liberties with Verne's story.  However, considering the year this was made they weren't all that bad as the movie would've had to be quite a bit longer to encompass the entire story. One major change they made however was to hint that Captain Nemo had discovered nuclear energy, and that the Nautilus was powered by it, this was also reinforced when at the end of the movie Nemo's base was destroyed, and a telltale mushroom cloud was evident. Neither of these things were part of Verne's story, and considering that the story is set in 1866, it seems rather silly to contemplate as atomic theory was definitely in its infancy, and Albert Einstein wouldn't be born for 13 years. Add to this that the nature of the atom was formulated in 1911, that electron surrounded the nucleus was discovered in 1897, etc. and we are once again confronted with age old puzzle of why Hollywood can't do basic research.

It would be nice to see some studio take on this and many other classic stories and do them as a miniseries, as the author intended.

"The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of reason" by Sam Harris

 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Copyright: 2004

ISBN: 9780743268097

This book was an extremely interesting one to read, not only because of the information provided but because of the stance that the author takes on the subject of religion and especially faith and what it can make normally rational people do in its name.

The opening chapter briefly recounts the events leading up to when a suicide bomber sets off his charge in a bus. And then goes on to examine how this one act is influenced pretty much solely by what the person has been told about their religion.

Now, before you think that Mr. Harris focuses solely on terrorism that is perpetrated by Muslims, he doesn't. He also goes after the other Abrahamic Religions (Christianity and Judaism - Yes, in case you were wondering all three have the same roots). He also exposes the atrocities performed by Christians, e.g., The Inquisition, Witch burnings, and much more. He also points out a rarely admitted / known fact that the Catholic Church was culpable in their condemnation of the Jews, and their support of Adolf Hitler and his cronies. 

Mr. Harris does a wonderful job of telling the facts as they are, and with the addition of footnotes, and a fantastic bibliography to back up his claims he proves without a doubt that faith it's simply a very dangerous thing to have. He does tend to get somewhat philosophical towards the end of the book, but considering the topic I think this is quite acceptable, as it tends to calm readers down after reading the first parts and finding out how inhumane, humans can be to each other when certain philosophies are followed without the person first thinking. 

Highly recommended, especially for those who are on the fence about religion. Any religion.

"The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

 

Publisher: George Allen & Unwin

Copyright: 1966

ISBN: 0048230871

Unlike the hobbit which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago I don't remember exactly when I first read this book, but it was approximately 30 years ago and since then I have read it probably a good five or six times. 

It is without a doubt the seminal work of high fantasy, and one which has influenced numerous Fantasy authors since. Unfortunately many of these authors want to attempt to replicate professor Tolkien's works. Rather than come up with something new. This in fact is taken to some odd levels in that most fantasy novels now seem to have three parts (or more) even if they aren't required.

In any case this is a fantastic novel, and even though it is written as three separate books I will be treating it as one as that's always the way I read it. For those who do not know the three books are "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".

All three novels feature likely the greatest examples of world building in fantasy, as well as some of the best character design. There are many who will dispute these facts by saying the story is slow, and goes into too much detail, but Professor Tolkien was a linguist, historian and this was his forte.

In the event you are one of the people who has only seen the movies by Peter Jackson you will be in for a treat by reading these books as Mr. Jackson made a number of changes, which I believe altered the overall storyline sufficiently to corrupt Professor Tolkien's overall intent. Still, with this in mind his version of "The Lord of the Rings" is much better than his version of "The Hobbit.

Enjoy.

"Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark" by Cassandra Peterson

Publisher: Hachette Books

Copyright: 2021

ISBN: 9780306874352

I don't read a lot of biographies or autobiographies (in fact it even says this in my blog notes). However, I am extremely glad that I chose to read this book. While I can't say It grew up with Elvira, I do remember seeing her on TV occasionally but this was primarily because I was not a horror movie buff. After reading this book though I definitely wished I had been introduced to these great movies years earlier.

An interesting coincidence is that the first movie that Elvira introduced was "The House on Haunted Hill" with Vincent Price, and this is one of my favourite horror movies of all time, even though I came to it many years later.

Without a doubt Ms. Peterson has had a very interesting and troubling life, but she has managed to persevere, succeed and win. This in and of itself should be an inspiration to all young women throughout the world. Her ongoing fight against what I consider to be the built-in misogynistic culture of Hollywood shows that it is a fight that can be won, although it will likely take time.

I would recommend that you read this book and take the messages Ms. Peterson shares to heart. These messages show that you can overcome pretty much anything in your life with sufficient perseverance, friendship and the courage to stand up for your ideals. I found her honesty and courage to out some of the people in Hollywood, and sports was commendable to say the least.

Finally in the event you have never watched the movie "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" or "Elvira's Haunted Hills" I would seriously recommend you check them out as they are great movies.

"The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again" by JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

 

Publisher: George Allen & Unwin

Copyright: 1937

ISBN: 0048231479

This is one of the classics of all high fantasy novels. And has been read by millions of people. I'm not overly sure how many times I've read the book, but over the years probably around ten times as a guess. I can remember exactly when I first heard of the book, and that was when my parents were having a garage sale, and it happened to be one of the books they had for sale. This was in the early 1980s, so yes, I'm a late starter. 

Prior to this I can't clearly recall a time when I even heard of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. I cannot recall anyone mentioning it when I was in school. In hindsight, I would've thought that a book of this quality would've been hard to miss but I guess it was, either that or it just wasn't discussed.

For those of you who are unaware of the story as I was it tells the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, and his adventures with 12 dwarves and Gandalf the wizard who set out to reclaim the dwarfs stolen treasure from the lonely mountain, and if necessary fight the dragon Smaug. Bilbo goes along as he he's purported to be a master thief.

During the first part of this adventure Bilbo encounters Gollum, and finds a certain little golden ring that changes his life from that moment on. If you haven't read the story yet I'm not gonna go any farther and tell you what happened, so read it!

In the event you are one of the people who has only seen the movies by Peter Jackson you will be in for a treat by reading these books as Mr. Jackson made a number of what I consider to be rather drastic changes, and which I believe corrupted the story so much that I refused to even watch the third movie.

Happy reading,

"Morals Without Religion and other essays" by Margaret K. Knight (1903-1983)

 

Publisher: Dennis Dobson

Copyright: 1954

ISBN: None

Dr. Margaret Knight, a psychologist, is likely remembered in some certain circles as the person who created a fervour when she was finally permitted to broadcast two humanist programs on the BBC in the 1950s.

She did this in response to the standard education curriculum in Britain at the time which required students to be trained or better yet indoctrinated into the Christian belief system as put forward by the church of England. As I understand it parents who objected to this training had little to no choice if they wished their child to be educated.

This is an extremely interesting book to read given the current climate with regard to religion as a whole. The topics of humanism, culture, politics etc. are also dealt with to a certain point. 

As could be expected the information is somewhat dated being that the broadcast was 70 years ago. Even though the Christian religion is the only one actually mentioned in this book (other religions were rarely ever mentioned that long ago), it would be interesting to see what the reaction to a rebroadcast -- or better yet an updated broadcast that took into account the many different religions that are seen today. I'm sure somewhat the same response wold be garnered today, but I'm sure a number of them would be quite a bit stronger than simply writing letters. 

Well worth the read for both it's historical value, as well as an insight into how some people behave towards each other, especially when they feel long established boundaries have been crossed.