What Books Are People Reading Now ?

[Sandy Freckle]

'Girt'  'The Unauthorised History of Australia' by David Hunt ........., very, very funny.

[CaptHaddock]

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

Currently reading,

 

John W.Dower

 

'War Without Mercy'-A startling study of both Japanese and U.S racial hatred in World War 2.

 

Which is an excellent companion volume to the author's

 

'Embracing Defeat-Japan in the wake of World War II'

 

Both good books.  On a related topic, if you haven't read it already, you might like "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb," by Gar Alperowitz.  Alperowitz has been among the leading revisionists of the official history of the bomb.

[Odysseus123]

35 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

Both good books.  On a related topic, if you haven't read it already, you might like "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb," by Gar Alperowitz.  Alperowitz has been among the leading revisionists of the official history of the bomb.

Alperowitz?

 

Yes-a very thought provoking book indeed and one that I read in conjunction with Richard B. Frank's "Operation Downfall" which tends to stick closer to the official line.

 

On another related issue;what do you think of Dower's argument that the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal's treatment of the Class A "Accused" was-due to the rigid SCAP exclusion of any negative mention of the emperor -all but a hollow legal mockery?

[CaptHaddock]

2 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Alperowitz?

 

Yes-a very thought provoking book indeed and one that I read in conjunction with Richard B. Frank's "Operation Downfall" which tends to stick closer to the official line.

 

On another related issue;what do you think of Dower's argument that the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal's treatment of the Class A "Accused" was-due to the rigid SCAP exclusion of any negative mention of the emperor -all but a hollow legal mockery?

The War Crimes trial was illegal, as Robert Taft believed, since the victorious powers had no legal jurisdiction nor was there any such thing as international law except to the extent of treaties such as the Geneva Convention, to which Japan was not a signatory.  Nevertheless, it is to be expected that the victors would punish the losers.  Certainly, the exculpation of the emperor was egregious.  (Have you read Herbert Bix's biography of Hirohito?)  I suppose you know that MacArthur and Hirohito had a secret joint bank account during the Occupation.  (But then MacArthur had previously profited from the war having agreed to ferry Philipine politician Carlos Romulo out of the country before the fall of Corregidor on the submarine for a price of $500,000 in gold.)

 

At any rate the Class A war criminals didn't stay in prison very long.  MacArthur later rehabilitated one of them, Nobusuke Kishi, grandfather of Shinzo Abe, to be prime minister.

 

It's all just power politics.  The veneer of legality or humanitarian principles is always quite thin.

 

Apropos of interesting, if not corroborated, speculation, have you read "Yamashita's Gold" by the Seagraves? 

 

[Odysseus123]

17 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

The War Crimes trial was illegal, as Robert Taft believed, since the victorious powers had no legal jurisdiction nor was there any such thing as international law except to the extent of treaties such as the Geneva Convention, to which Japan was not a signatory.  Nevertheless, it is to be expected that the victors would punish the losers.  Certainly, the exculpation of the emperor was egregious.  (Have you read Herbert Bix's biography of Hirohito?)  I suppose you know that MacArthur and Hirohito had a secret joint bank account during the Occupation.  (But then MacArthur had previously profited from the war having agreed to ferry Philipine politician Carlos Romulo out of the country before the fall of Corregidor on the submarine for a price of $500,000 in gold.)

 

At any rate the Class A war criminals didn't stay in prison very long.  MacArthur later rehabilitated one of them, Nobusuke Kishi, grandfather of Shinzo Abe, to be prime minister.

 

It's all just power politics.  The veneer of legality or humanitarian principles is always quite thin.

 

Apropos of interesting, if not corroborated, speculation, have you read "Yamashita's Gold" by the Seagraves? 

 

Herbert Blix?No-but he is on my must read list.

 

I have been trying to approach things from more of an "Asian" angle rather than a "Pacific" one for ,as Dower points out,because the US were the primary victors this gave them that particular historical/geographical viewpoint.

 

So I have been studying,

 

S C M Paine-"The Wars for Asia 1911-1949"

Rana Mitter "Forgotten Ally-China's World War II 1937-1945."

 

and Christopher Bailey and Tim Harper's

 

"Forgotten Armies-the fall of British Asia-1941-1945"

"Forgotten Wars-Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia."

 

If it is at all possible,I would like to continue to discuss this interesting topic upon my return from Bangkok in three days time.
 

[Odysseus123]

50 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Herbert Blix?No-but he is on my must read list.

 

I have been trying to approach things from more of an Asian mainland angle rather than a Pacific ocean one for ,as Dower points out, the US were the primary victors in the Pacific Theater and this has given us a rather one sided historical viewpoint.

 

So I have been studying,

 

S C M Paine-"The Wars for Asia 1911-1949"

Rana Mitter "Forgotten Ally-China's World War II 1937-1945."

 

and Christopher Bailey and Tim Harper's

 

"Forgotten Armies-the fall of British Asia-1941-1945"

"Forgotten Wars-Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia."

 

If it is at all possible,I would like to continue this interesting discussion upon my return from Bangkok in three days time.
 

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by Odysseus123

[CaptHaddock]

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

Herbert Blix?No-but he is on my must read list.

 

I have been trying to approach things from more of an "Asian" angle rather than a "Pacific" one for ,as Dower points out,because the US were the primary victors this gave them that particular historical/geographical viewpoint.

 

So I have been studying,

 

S C M Paine-"The Wars for Asia 1911-1949"

Rana Mitter "Forgotten Ally-China's World War II 1937-1945."

 

and Christopher Bailey and Tim Harper's

 

"Forgotten Armies-the fall of British Asia-1941-1945"

"Forgotten Wars-Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia."

 

If it is at all possible,I would like to continue to discuss this interesting topic upon my return from Bangkok in three days time.
 

It's "Bix," not "Blix" actually. Essential for understanding WWII from the Japanese perspective with particular attention to the deficiencies in decision-making that led the leadership to expand the war at every point of failure.

 

My own focus is on interaction between the West and Asia on the one hand and the economic development of Asian countries, but the wars are quite relevant, to wit, the Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, (cf. "God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence), but also "The Empire of Cotton: A Global History" by Sven Beckert which explains the economic base of the British Empire as its global control of the first globally produced commodity, cotton, and the role of war capitalism in creating the first modern, industrial economy.

 

The key book I find for understanding the economic structure and the underperformance of SE Asian countries is Joe Studwell's "Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and SE Asia."  The short story is that unlike the countries of NE Asia, S. Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the Asean countries do not face any serious military threat and therefore lack the urgency behind economic development of the kind that drove Park Chung-Hee to enable S. Korea to join the rich nations in only a couple of generations, starting from an economic and educational base below Thailand's, by the way.  Meiji Japan is the same story.

[bannork]

5 hours ago, CaptHaddock said:

It's "Bix," not "Blix" actually. Essential for understanding WWII from the Japanese perspective with particular attention to the deficiencies in decision-making that led the leadership to expand the war at every point of failure.

 

My own focus is on interaction between the West and Asia on the one hand and the economic development of Asian countries, but the wars are quite relevant, to wit, the Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, (cf. "God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence), but also "The Empire of Cotton: A Global History" by Sven Beckert which explains the economic base of the British Empire as its global control of the first globally produced commodity, cotton, and the role of war capitalism in creating the first modern, industrial economy.

 

The key book I find for understanding the economic structure and the underperformance of SE Asian countries is Joe Studwell's "Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and SE Asia."  The short story is that unlike the countries of NE Asia, S. Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the Asean countries do not face any serious military threat and therefore lack the urgency behind economic development of the kind that drove Park Chung-Hee to enable S. Korea to join the rich nations in only a couple of generations, starting from an economic and educational base below Thailand's, by the way.  Meiji Japan is the same story.

Thailand yes, no external military threat and a tropical  climate where things grow all year round. Why hurry?

Other Asean countries have been handicapped, and even crippled by civil war, and military dictatorships. I've never been to Vietnam but is it true the people are more ambitious? And what is the root of that,? Determination to 'catch up' after the war, Confucius mentality or a mixture of the two.

[Ulysses G.]

11 hours ago, bannork said:

I've never been to Vietnam but is it true the people are more ambitious? And what is the root of that,? Determination to 'catch up' after the war, Confucius mentality or a mixture of the two.

Vietnamese are definitely more hard working, ambitious and intellectual. However, they are so aggressive, they can also be obnoxious. I don't know why they are the way they are, but I much prefer living in Thailand. 

[tutsiwarrior]

tutsi to his companion inna car in the Ha Tinh - Quang Binh border countryside: 'the rice looks to be earlier this year than last...'

 

and she folds her arms an cocks her head and says: 'and why would you presume that I would have anything to say about that?' (ie, 'I see no cone hats or farmers in the car, d'you?')

 

she was magnificent...

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by tutsiwarrior

[bannork]

13 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

tutsi to his companion inna a car near the Ha Tinh - Quang Binh border countryside: 'the rice looks to be earlier this year than last...'

 

and she folds her arms an cocks her head and says: 'and why would you presume that I would have anything to say about that?'

 

she was magnificent...

 

 

Get down and write that book! It's not enough to throw out the occasional sentence/paragraph, sometimes accompanied by a music clip.

I can see the title now- 'Love is a four continent word.' - your amorous adventures cover North and South America, Europe and Asia if I recall right.

Apologies if you've had a few romances in the dark continent or even further south with some female scientist studying penguins.

Edited June 15, 2017 by bannork

[tutsiwarrior]

well...we weren't romantically involved but we liked each other...I had lost it with a woman in HCMC some years earlier that did irreparable damage to my marriage plus I had been dysfunctional since then and didna want to disappoint her...she was a manager at the hotel I was staying at long term and her and another girl (also senior hotel staff, both 35 years younger) were accompanying me to a leaving do for a colleague down in Dong Hoi...the other girl was another story that I won't go into...

 

the party was poolside at the Dong Hoi hotel and I got drunk and folks were frolicking fully clothed in the water and they fled into the hotel...I failed in my gentlemanly responsibility and they were disgusted...

 

later on the way home we stopped at a late night noodle place and she said curtly: 'we're going to get some noodles, for which you shall pay...' and I looked forlornly into my cup half full of vodka and wondered if they had any ice available...

 

oh,

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by tutsiwarrior

[bbi1]

I don't read books. Books are soooo 1900's.

[giddyup]

Just now, bbi1 said:

I don't read books. Books are soooo 1900's.

Spoken like a true ignoramus.

[JAFO]

I am reading the owners manual for the Samsung 8000 series Curve TV.  Does that count?  Its a PDF online...

 

I havent read a book in years.  Doubt I will ever pick up another one again in my life time. Everything is online nowadays.

 

 

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, JAFO said:

I am reading the owners manual for the Samsung 8000 series Curve TV.  Does that count?  Its a PDF online...

 

I havent read a book in years.  Doubt I will ever pick up another one again in my life time. Everything is online nowadays.

 

 

All my books are downloaded in epub format so I can read on my Nook, but it's still a book. No, reading a PDF manual doesn't count. If you were never a reader when you were young, you probably won't be as you get older either. A book stimulates the brain where movies or TV can't.

Edited June 16, 2017 by giddyup

[JAFO]

Just now, giddyup said:

All my books are downloaded in epub format so I can read on my Nook, but it's still a book. No, reading a PDF manual doesn't count.

Darn it...its a good read and the features this TV has is really something else. 

If it was the factory paper instructions would that have counted? :)

[giddyup]

5 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Darn it...its a good read and the features this TV has is really something else. 

If it was the factory paper instructions would that have counted? :)

You're not a reader, there's no faking it.

[Odysseus123]

On 6/14/2017 at 0:54 PM, CaptHaddock said:

It's "Bix," not "Blix" actually. Essential for understanding WWII from the Japanese perspective with particular attention to the deficiencies in decision-making that led the leadership to expand the war at every point of failure.

 

My own focus is on interaction between the West and Asia on the one hand and the economic development of Asian countries, but the wars are quite relevant, to wit, the Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, (cf. "God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence), but also "The Empire of Cotton: A Global History" by Sven Beckert which explains the economic base of the British Empire as its global control of the first globally produced commodity, cotton, and the role of war capitalism in creating the first modern, industrial economy.

 

The key book I find for understanding the economic structure and the underperformance of SE Asian countries is Joe Studwell's "Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and SE Asia."  The short story is that unlike the countries of NE Asia, S. Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the Asean countries do not face any serious military threat and therefore lack the urgency behind economic development of the kind that drove Park Chung-Hee to enable S. Korea to join the rich nations in only a couple of generations, starting from an economic and educational base below Thailand's, by the way.  Meiji Japan is the same story.

After enduring three days of the usual mayhem in Bangkok I must thank you for pointing out to me that I had misspelled Bix-even if I was on the run for the airport.

 

My focus is on the destruction of European colonization in India, the "Far East"  and the "East Indies" as the British used to call it.

 

Although,I must say, that the best micro-history of a campaign which thoroughly examines  the dysfunctional nature ofJapanese military decision making (from the top to the bottom) and the consequences  thereof, is

 

Alvin D Coox

"Nomonhan-Japan Against Russia,1939
 

 

Au revoir

Edited June 16, 2017 by Odysseus123
clarity.

[Odysseus123]

For any British expats interested in the period of the Burma Campaign then Fergal Keane's book is a must:

 

Road of Bones -the epic siege of Kohima,1944"

[bbi1]

17 hours ago, JAFO said:

I am reading the owners manual for the Samsung 8000 series Curve TV.  Does that count?  Its a PDF online...

 

I havent read a book in years.  Doubt I will ever pick up another one again in my life time. Everything is online nowadays.

 

 

I've decided to read my first book ever, it's called "50 Shades of Grey" 

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

I've decided to read my first book ever, it's called "50 Shades of Grey" 

Soft porn.

[Ramen087]

[bbi1]

49 minutes ago, Ramen087 said:

Hey! Who's this "David Deida" dude? Who gave him permission to write my autobiography without providing me a royalty income stream from each book sold?

[Ramen087]

4 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Hey! Who's this "David Deida" dude? Who gave him permission to write my autobiography without providing me a royalty income stream from each book sold?

Feel free to contact him, he's still alive and easily found using a google search. 

[essexman]

Always recommend a good read. The Arthur Ascot trilogy for people who like humour and nostalgia. The three books cover 36 different investigation cases over a nine year period starting in 1968. Written by a long time Pattaya resident. Available on Amazon.

Sent from my SM-J700F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[tutsiwarrior]

Adam Bede by George Eliot, very good...read Middlemarch some years ago, one of the best novels written in English, kicks Dickens' ass up and down the street...gonna look into some more of her stuff soon after I break it up with a Jo Nesbo...