Category: Books

Published in 1967, Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled is a two volume set written by Joseph Buttinger. Written during the rising crescendo of the Vietnam conflict, Buttinger lucidly describes the modern history of Vietnam from the colonial conquest of the French, to poor French management and overzealous French colonialists, the effects of World War 2, the resulting French return and the rise of the Vietmienh to Dien Bien Phu and the division of Vietnam at the Geneva conferences (due to US intransigence), finally leading to the US backing of the Vietnamese nationalist Diem until his dictatorial tendencies and rampant corruption brought about a military coupe that would lead to his ousting and murder. It is an amazing feat and Buttinger does an admirable job of fairly portraying all the different individuals, parties and policies involved – although he is quite harsh about French (and US) missteps that ruined the possibility of non-communist Vietnam. But he also levels appropriate criticism at the Vietnamese – pointing out Communist failures that led to useless suffering (collective farming issues that led to the only major north Vietnamese revolt against the communist government).

Buttinger, in 1967, clearly points out what could have been if better policies had been followed, if France had treated the Vietnamese nation with the respect and dignity it deserved, if the US had chose to back the Vietnamese nationalists instead of France, if the US would have forced Diem to make the essential and necessary political and social changes that were so desperately needed. It is fascinating and troubling to see the answers so readily apparent in 1967 and yet these answers were not followed (or possibly understood). It makes a tragic read to some extent.

In the end, “Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled” is an amazing, well-written social, political, and historical review of modern Vietnam (up to 1967 standards any way) and is amazingly prescient about the problems that would eventually turn Vietnam into a communist nation.

So I just finished reading a book called “Thugs” by Micah Halpern. And I recommend that you not read it unless you have a good background in history and would like to enjoy it’s many mistakes.

Written in a style that probably is appealing to middle-school to high-school age folks, it’s short punchy sentences at first seem appealing and easily readable. The book deals with ancient and modern thugs, providing a short biography of the individual and some of their acts which are construed as thugish (and in many cases, downright evil). Not a bad idea for a book. But then you start running into absolute howlers that suggest problems with fact-checking or fundamental issues with the study of history.

I’ll share two. When speaking of Ramses II, the “Thugs” states, “The symbol of the society in which the pharaohs lived was the fertile crescent, and to this day the crescent-shaped moon is one of the great symbols of Islam.” Two problems inherent in this sentence. One is the very fact that the historical definition of the fertile crescent does not include Egypt or the Nile river – it is the Levant down through Iraq (between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). This is an area where the first historical agrarian societies began and flourished. That is the historical and correct definition of the fertile crescent and it is amazing that a history/factual book gets this wrong. The second part wrong with that sentence is the implied suggestion the Islam uses the crescent moon symbol because of the Nile river’s “crescent” shape. Nope. It comes from the 53rd sura in the Koran. And from ancient history where the people in the Arabic peninsula and Levant worshiped a large pantheon of gods including a “moon” goddess, who, incidentally was a major deity at the ancient shrine at Mecca before Islam entered the scene. We’ll let the smart readers of this blog put it together.

Another example of egregious errors found in “Thugs” is when Halpern highlights Stalin. Halpern states,” The Warsaw Pact was the engine that drove industrialization of the Soviet Union.” No. The Warsaw Pact was a Soviet Union-driven response to West Germany entering NATO in 1955. It was a mutual defense treaty among the various Communist-controlled countries that the west reffered to as the Soviet-bloc. It was not an economic treaty, much less an economic “engine.” This mistake is even more problematic since this is fairly recent history.

And that’s just two of the many errors I found throughout this book. I can not recommend it and in fact I emphatically request that high-school students (who wouldn’t be able to spot the mistakes because of lack of experience and knowledge) avoid it at all costs. I will grant that Halpern’s conclusion in “Thugs” was interesting and showed an unusual understanding of some of the beneficial after-effects of evil individuals on the stage of history and civilizations. But good conclusions and interesting thoughts can’t hide the marring of the mistakes strewn throughout the book.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

4/5

A good, romping, fun read. Looks huge, but reads well. Perfect for when you’re sick. Thanks Ryan!

Likes: Great story, moves quickly and packed full of memorable characters

Dislikes: The ending is a bit abrupt with less closure then I’d have liked. Also some mild historical innacuracies and perhaps overuse of swearing.

Bulletproof Web Design, 2nd edition by Dan Cederholm

4.5/5

Useful resource of best practices for developing websites that are accessible and flexible. Dan also does a great job of emphasising the need for pragmatism in web development. Recommended for a web developer/web designer bookshelf.