Extremely readable account of the important role played by humanities scholars in World War II.
Reviews and Comments
Theology, fantasy and science fiction, science, history, classics, general bibliophile
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John McChesney-Young finished reading Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham
John McChesney-Young finished reading Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
John McChesney-Young rated Island of Whispers: 5 stars
John McChesney-Young finished reading Island of Whispers by Emily Gravett
John McChesney-Young finished reading Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black
I read this aloud to my wife and we were both fascinated. I read to myself The Ends of the World by Brannen a few years ago on all the mass extinctions but it was interesting to read the details about the K-Pg one, with chapters on the impact, the first day, first month, first year and other periods of lapsed time. It's written in a journalistic style - approximate since the author is a journalist - which makes it an easy read, but she has a chapter at the end explaining some of scientific findings on which she based and the sources of her more speculative reconstructions.
John McChesney-Young finished reading Ministers of Propaganda by Scott M. Coley
John McChesney-Young finished reading Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
John McChesney-Young finished reading Auden, the Psalms, and Me by J. Chester Johnson
Messily organized and remarkably repetitive, with quotes repeated multiple times, there are still a lot of interesting anecdotes and accounts here.
John McChesney-Young reviewed Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
John McChesney-Young finished reading Stories Are Weapons by Annalee Newitz
Utterly fascinating and wide-ranging, Newitz wires about The relationship between propaganda, advertising, and popular literature in particular science fiction. Some of her case studies could be expected, like the one on The Bell Curve, but some are not, like her chapter on the Indian Wars. She ends the book with a section on why she thinks there's cause for optimism, which I thought was the weakest part of the book, but perhaps others will be less cynical than I am.
John McChesney-Young finished reading Inwardly Digest by Derek Olsen
The subtitle of this book is "the prayer book as guide to a spiritual life" and that understates its scope, which embraces Christian spirituality as a whole in addition to providing a brief history and practical guide to the 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and its calendar, Daily Office, and the Eucharistic services. Very readable and highly recommended!
John McChesney-Young finished reading The Seed Detective by Adam Alexander
John McChesney-Young finished reading Burn Book by Kara Swisher
John McChesney-Young finished reading Jesus the Eternal Son by Michael F. Bird
I found this study of the New Testament and post-biblical texts convincing. His argument is essentially that although it's true that certain packages (in particular, in Mark, Acts, and Romans) can be interpreted as adoptionist, in the context of the theology of the authors as displayed elsewhere the case for an adoptionist view is severely weakened.