Non Civil War Books and Movies

Jim Klag

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Just started reading the English translation of a new 2-volume biography of Hitler by Volker Ullrich. Volume 1 is Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 and volume 2 is Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945. Here is a Guardian review of Volume 1.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/27/hitler-ascent-review-volker-ullrich-outstanding-study


And the New York Times review of Volume 2.

 

O' Be Joyful

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Just started reading the English translation of a new 2-volume biography of Hitler by Volker Ullrich. Volume 1 is Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 and volume 2 is Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945. Here is a Guardian review of Volume 1.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/27/hitler-ascent-review-volker-ullrich-outstanding-study


And the New York Times review of Volume 2.


This is an oldie but a goodie, I have a copy.



 

Jim Klag

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Ian Kershaw and Joachim Fest have also written biographies of der Führer.
 

Matt McKeon

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Tinder, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Retired spy George Smiley, fat,, late middle aged, cheated on by his beloved wife is called on to discover the identity of Gerald, the Soviet mole among the leadership of the "Circus," aka British Intelligence. We're seen the Gary Oldman film, or watched the Alec Guiness miniseries, both excellent. I read the book in the 70s, and last week, reread it.

It's wonderful. The insanely complicated plot doesn't seem complex for complexity's sake, but the plausible messiness of real life.
 

rittmeister

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nothing to add but that i read it in the 80s
 

Joshism

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I'm currently reading a 600+ page biography of John Quincy Adams. He's a fascinating person. The introduction describes him as hard to love but hard not to admire; that seems accurate.
 

O' Be Joyful

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Retired spy George Smiley, fat,, late middle aged, cheated on by his beloved wife is called on to discover the identity of Gerald, the Soviet mole among the leadership of the "Circus," aka British Intelligence. We're seen the Gary Oldman film, or watched the Alec Guiness miniseries, both excellent. I read the book in the 70s, and last week, reread it.

It's wonderful. The insanely complicated plot doesn't seem complex for complexity's sake, but the plausible messiness of real life.

Precursor, with a humorous bite.

 

O' Be Joyful

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Yes like father, like son. They were amazingly similar.
I wish to add and revise. I have respect for the father and the son.

The common historical opinion is that they both were brilliant but a hard and eventual "acquired"...taste. ;)
 

Matt McKeon

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I wish to add and revise. I have respect for the father and the son.

The common historical opinion is that they both were brilliant but a hard and eventual "acquired"...taste. ;)
There's an interesting book called "Arguing About Slavery" about the gag rule. A sardonic J.Q. Adams is a key figure.
 

Nitti

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I am reading "Wagner Without Fear".It is a bio of Richard Wagner but mostly it is an ana
 

Matt McKeon

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"Zona" by Geoff Dyer

This is an analysis, in an informal tone, of a movie called "Stalker" made by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky.

I actually saw Stalker 2 years ago. We had parents' night at school, and rather than spend 90 minutes doubling my commute I watched it by myself in my classroom. Tarkovsky is perhaps better known for his version of "Solaris."

The plot is three men sneak into a forbidden zone that has been sealed off by the military, the site of a meteor crash, or some other unspecified event. It's lush and green, with ominous wreckage of tanks and jeeps that had tried to invade the Zone. It is full of booby traps and snares, that are constantly shifting: the rules of time and distance don't apply. But somewhere in the zone is a Room, a room that grants the innermost desire of who ever enters it.

The question is: what is your innermost desire? Not what you think you want, or what you should want, but what do you actually want.

Written in an informal, talky style, quite readable. More readable than the movie is watchable.
 
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