A Polish gentleman was walking through Krakow one afternoon, and found a curious object covered in dust and grime. As he was cleaning it, out popped a genie. “I am the Genie of the Lamp™. I will grant you 3 wishes. Choose wisely.” The gentleman asked, “3 wishes? Any 3 wishes?” “Yes, any 3 wishes …
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Tag:history
why nations fail by daron acemoglu and james a robinson
I first came across {{Why Nations Fail}} at my local Half Price Books. After seeing it on the shelves a couple times, but still being unsure about whether I really wanted to read it or not, I reserved it at my local library. Now I wish I had bought it (and likely will) – {{Daron …
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to engineer is human by henry petroski
I’ve ogled {{To Engineer is Human}} by {{Henry Petroski}} for several years. So when I saw it at a local used book store for just a couple dollars, I snagged a copy. Along with some of his other works, such as {{The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance}}, I’ve found the titles interesting, and …
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the gospel according to hashtags
For the past many months I have been meeting almost bi-weekly with a small group to study the book of Matthew. We started in Jan 2012, and as of the end of May of 2013, we’ve made it through chapter 21. At our last meeting, I had an epiphany: if the gospels were written today, …
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maps
I love maps. I have a calendar with historical maps on my wall next to my desk. I love books based around atlases (such as the {{Historical Atlas of}} series (many by {{Ian Barnes}} (similarly related review)). I like going to museums, visiting websites, used book shops, etc and just peruse the maps. I used to …
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the basque history of the world by mark kurlansky
I have long been interested in the Basque people; first introduced to them nearly 13 years ago in an introduction to terrorism class (a year and a half before it was “cool”) with the separatist group {{ETA}}. So it was with great interest I grabbed {{The Basque History of the World}} by {{Mark Kurlansky}} off …
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ghosts in the fog by samantha seiple
For much of my life I have been interested in WWII – my grandpa Myers was in the Navy in the Pacific theater on a mine sweeper. My dad read extensively on the war, largely because of his father, and passed along an interest in military history – the navy in particular – and intriguing stories …
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