The American Presidency

Mainly focussing on presidents Ford through Bush 43, the author tries to explain the contrast's of these presidents. The intentional inability of any branch to wield absolute power has led to tensions between the executive and the legislative branches. The problem with the book is that for some chapters it reads like a history or constitutional textbook, while in others it is a chatty and bright summary of each president.  There are interesting facts and explanations of events here, one just has to wade through a lot of jargon to get there. I did learn a  fair amount but much of the material was fairly basic and should be part on the normal process for any educated citizen. The bottom line for me is that the impotence of any branch is really a process designed from scratch by the founding fathers with the express intent of ensuring that a single branch or individual could rule the country. Pretty clever really.

Anarchism

It was probably a mistake getting an anarchist to write this very subjective book. It seems to be his idea of anarchism supported by a fairly obscure cast of references. This book dispells the notion that anarchism is a destructive force bent on continual disruption and upheaval. According to the author anarchism is not a anti-everything force but a sort of communalism between individuals who can combine to deal with larger problems then revert to the individual when needed. He suggests that the naion state is what is standing between Nirvana and us. This view may be historically correct but it is certainly not the commonly held view of anarchy. He cites the postal system community as a good example of a working multinational system without an organizing body, which is patently untrue as the UPU governs intersystem mail. The author is also very fond of citing the Swiss example as a Anarchistic system, small common groups with local issues held as the most important, however, recently this has not shown to be completely true. The last section deals with the greens and anarchy and implies that some urban farming communes will save our energy problem. All in all a wishy washy version of communal life governed in small anarcho-syndicalist communes (shades of the holy Grail)

American Political Parties and Elections

American Political Parties and Elections
This was an excellent introduction to what is, to many immigrants and outsiders, a very confusing system. There is a short historical introduction and a more complex analysis of the elections of the last 20 years. It covers elections at all levels and discusses (sometimes with multiple repetition) why there are no European style political parties in the US, managing to finally explain how a Reagan Democrat, a concept foreign to an Englishman, could exist. It does not pull punches on the failings of the system. The lack of voter interest, the lack of discussion of real issues and  the fairly strange system of picking candidates for the Presidential elections which is often over months before some of us get to vote in the primaries. If the book has a failing it is that it seems to have been written in separate chapters and there is a fair amount of repetition. Overall a great read and an excellent short introduction.

Agnosticism

A very challenging read. About half way through it became clear to me that this will need several readings, returning at intervals as I read other philosophical works in the series. It  does make a strong point for an Agnostic not merely being an Atheist who does not have the courage of his convictions. It uses scientific principle and does take some pains to explain the rational theory behind each philosophical test, I did learn something about the rational school, logical positivism, the cynics and various schools of philosophy. Along with Descartes, Hume and Richard Dawkins to name a few. I believe that I remain convinced that I am truly an agnostic and as such I also believe that it is possible to participate in organized religion as such.
Stimulating stuff with a great amount of mental effort needed by those of us unused to reading philosophical texts daily.

Book 2: African History

African HIstory: John Merriman says in his History of Modern Europe (itunesU) that "all histories have their history" and that is certainly the case with African History. This is an excellent short introduction, but certainly not a potted history of Africa. Though some of the key points in African History are covered much of this book is a discussion of how the study of Africa has developed over the last 200 years. All the major periods are covered pre-colonial with its paucity (in most cases) of evidence both written and archeological. The colonial period, which was quite short and has much written evidence though much of it written by the conquerors. And, finally, the tumultuous post-colonial period where culture and, inevitably history, are determined by the powerful.This book reminded me of the necessity of reading history books that are up to date. 

A wonderful book which  also serves as  an introduction to the conflicts within the discipline of history itself.

Book 1: Advertising

Advertising: My first alphabetical read. This book is mis-titled, it should be titled "the advertising business". This wasn't a particularly illuminating book. Mostly it describes the history and structure of an advertising agency, who sells, who buys and where it goes. Having just finished the fourth MadMen series much of this was familiar territory, though I do now understand that in the post 1970 world the account does not move agencies when the account manager does.  I had hoped that it would explain, at greater length, the psychology behind the buying impulse and the phenomenon of brand loyalty. It does mention these concepts but they are clearly a minor issue for the author. More important to him is the structure of the agency and the various roles and responsibilities therein. There are a number of interesting illustrations and it is clearly written for the UK reader (luckily I grew up in London as much of this would have been lost on me). 


It was certainly interesting to red about some of these but I felt that the thrust of the book was in the wrong direction, I also felt that much of it was stating the obvious and its tone was that aimed at a high school student.


So for my first alphabetical read it was rather a disappointment  but I have already ordered African History which will be number 2.

Why?

A very short  introduction to my very short introduction blog.

I read a lot and I am intellectually curious, so for a long time I have been buying non-fiction books about every subject that has interested me. Some of these are very long, some of these are too technical and , in total, only about half of these ever get read. I am looking at you "The Force of Destiny".

I have decided to take a different approach. I am going to try and read as many of the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions as I can. I have read a few in the past (the First world war, the French Revolution, Classics)  and have found them to be excellent reviews for the curious reader.

To add a random twist, I am going to read them in alphabetical order starting with Advertising, this may take me the rest of my life and will cost a considerable amount but I will be satisfied that I will die knowing something about a wide and strange range of subjects.