User Profile

Daniel

wurzbacher@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 1 month ago

My interests range from history to science, and sometimes include Clancy and Michener.

Since 2016, I've consumed quite a bit of content about UK politics - first, because Brexit was the train wreck none of us could look away from; and second because I didn't particularly want to watch our news. I knew what was happening here, and didn't have much need (or appetite) for reading about our own recent history and politics.

I've largely shifted my social presence (what little I had) to the Fediverse where possible, and you'll also find me at @me@djw.li and my alt BookWyrm https://b.djw.li/user/me.

I struggle with chronic illness that's sleep-impacting, so some weeks are better than others and sometimes I find myself reading the same page multiple times in particularly dense texts. I don't always make as much progress as I want to, but continuing to make progress, learning, and having my assumptions challenged is the core of why I' m here.

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John Bercow: Unspeakable (Hardcover) No rating

As any autobiographer might do, Bercow puts a positive spin on most things.

Unlike many autobiographers, Bercow is not afraid to admit when he has turned out to be painfully and brutally wrong - as with his early political alignment. I suspect the story of a friend with a helicopter when interviewing at multiple councils may be apocryphal but the generally refreshing honesty shines through.

Sonia Purnell: Clementine (2015) 4 stars

A portrait of Winston Churchill's extraordinary wife and her lesser-known role in World War II …

Breathes Life Into A Strong Figure Who Is Often An Afterthought

4 stars

Purnell writes both a good story and a historically accurate biography of Churchill's wife, who was largely responsible for his successes and indeed for much of the character of the PM that we knew, and know now with the benefit of hindsight.

Interesting and engaging, Clemetine is an excellent overview of Mrs. Churchill's life, path, and the ways she supported Winston through a wide variety of challenges. To some degree, parts of those challenges are rehashed and discussed, but that seems a reasonable thing to do for context rather than assuming that the reader has any knowledge of those aspects of the historical record.

While this is not always the case with non-fiction, I fully expect to make a second trip through this book and to get more out of it the second time.

Michael Ashcroft: Jacob's Ladder (Hardcover, 2019, Biteback Publishing) No rating

Jacob Rees-Mogg is one of the most prominent and controversial figures in contemporary British politics. …

I read this a little over two years ago, though my copy is long since lost to time and life circumstances. I'll likely be buying it again in the future to re-read.

Few people embody the Eighteenth Century quite as well as Mr. Rees-Mogg. Even fewer people are such exemplars of all that is wrong with moneyed classes who perceive that they are somehow both different from and benevolent to those "below them."

This is particularly interesting in the context of the money problems suffered within recent generations of Mr Rees-Mogg's own family. While some have borrowed an expression oft associated with Martin Shkreli to describe him, and some try their best to ignore him, he's a character worthy of study - even if only as a manual of how not to represent anyone except one's self in Parliament.