Welcome to the third reading list of 2022! Given that geopolitics is dominating the news over the last month and a half, I thought it was very much appropriate to emphasise both history and geopolitics in this latest edition.
Over the course of March, I read on everything from Russian oligarchs to WWII to the previous "empires" of the world. I hope you enjoy reading about what I've been reading, and as always please do keep your recommendations flooding in... I promise I will get around to reading them eventually (there are currently 12 books on the waiting list...).
I'm ashamed to say that this book has been sat on my shelf for almost a year, and it was only the Russian invasion of Ukraine which made me realise that this was currently essential reading for understanding the geopolitical system and the
sanctions process.
Unsurprisingly, a number of the names in this book are now familiar to anyone who's been paying close attention to the news lately... Abramovich, Gennado, Timchenko, Potanin and so on. There's so much of the rise of Putin which I was totally unaware of, and more than that so much interlinking between the current regime and former KGB members.
These posts are never supposed to be pure synopses of the books, but rather are designed to outline their relevance for the average reader of the blog, and I have to stress, this is most important reading for everyone... simply because it is so current, and to understand the complex world of sanctions, the invasion of Ukraine, and Putin's possible motives, you have to read this book.
A brief criticism on this book... I don't know if I had an early edition or something, but there was the odd typo / miswritten sentence here and there. But don't let that turn you off, it is most definitely essential and critical reading! The most important takeaway has to be the extent of Russian money/influence embedded not just across London but also the USA, and it is quite frightening to think just how far the money trail might go.
Next up in my biographies of key historical characters is the magisterial work by Andrew Roberts on Winston Churchill. I bought both the book and the audiobook for this, and I have to say both are stunning... but I would recommend the audiobook as an accompaniment - simply because it makes digesting this 1000 pager a little bit easier.
This work is simply astonishing. It is comprehensive, yet entertaining... yet also still full of gravitas. Punctuated by many of Churchill's witticisms, Roberts navigates us through the life of this most extraordinary man with an even-handedness which I actually found quite surprising. None of the current Churchill controversies are shied away from - particularly surrounding Churchill's views on race among other issues - and Roberts handles them with extreme nuance and historical perspective.
Clearly, I could spend most of this review writing about Churchill's various wartime heroisms or exploits, yet I'm not going to because it's frankly pointless to even try to summarise... this book is a titanic achievement, and even the non-history fan would delight in every page. The book takes us through the full range of emotions, from amazement at Churchill's prison escape, to awe at Churchill's prescient war predictions, to tears in his moving speeches... I confess I even felt the dreaded pride that I could claim to be even the same nationality as this most heroic figure.
Looking to our current situation, one can't help but feel that a Churchillian viewpoint would be most helpful in trying to gauge appropriate responses to the crisis in Ukraine. We must be sure to reflect that the easy path of appeasement of Putin's regime is not the right one, and rather we must seek to impose the maximum pain on the regime while balancing the costs to ourselves. One thing Roberts definitely gets right is the focus on Churchill's mistakes, and at times Churchill did make fatal errors in earlier conquests and Roberts does not spare Churchill for these, but clearly the man was right at the time for the job, and has rightly been celebrated as a hero ever since.
More on leadership next, and I read about the "modern" Prime Ministers and their respective approaches to leadership. This is an extremely good read since more than anything else Richards focuses on the flaws of the various leaders and how these flaws almost inevitably led to each PM's eventual demise.
What I thought the best takeaway from this book was that generally, the longer a PM is in power, the more likely it is that they will bring about their own downfall. A prime example of this is with the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher. Initially, she had a relatively solid cabinet whom she relied upon for debate, but after the third election victory, despite having another solid majority, she threw it all away by becoming increasingly convinced in her own convictions. I hope to learn from these lessons myself in any future trials of leadership I may be fortunate enough to have.
I was also particularly surprised by the biography of Gordon Brown. I found myself with significant sympathy for the crisis which he faced and the completely unfortunate timing of his rise to power. Years in the shadows only then to be eclipsed by a global crisis. Nonetheless, he too was not without flaws with his early musings about a general election only to change his mind time and time again later on. Conversely, where I expected to feel sorry for Theresa May, it turned out I felt less empathy than I did previously... a catalogue of errors played into her failure, and her history as a successful Home Secretary in fact did not prepare her at all for leadership.
This is definitely a book worth a read for anyone who seeks, or is currently in, a leadership position. The lessons run far and wide, although there does seem to be an inevitability behind many of them, such that even sufficient study wouldn't help prevent that air of invincibility which arises after a long period "on the job".
Well, this one was a little bit different to the rest, but wow did I learn a lot. I've never studied the Mongols, and prior to reading this all I could have probably told you was that they were the only people to ever invade Russia in the winter successfully.
Nonetheless, I feel much more erudite on the subject having read Weatherford's absolutely fantastic history of the Mongols. While the title refers to Genghis Khan, it should be stressed that this book goes far beyond the life of Temujin (Genghis Khan's actual name - 1162-1227) and spends a lot of time on how his descendants both expanded, and then frittered away the vast empires. As with all great powers though (see the next section)... their expansion beyond their means and increasing militaristic investments almost always leads to their eventual declines.
Anyhow, as an introductory text on the Mongols, this is definitely the one to go for - it's less than 300 pages! Significantly shorter than every other book I read this month! Clearly, Genghis Khan has quite the reputation for being a vicious marauder in the West, and yet this book revealed to me that this perception perhaps isn't necessarily as accurate as it first seemed. In fact, Genghis Khan generally hated the principles of torture and needless murder, and offered mercy to cities if they surrendered to him. It was, in fact, some of the descendants who began to engage in much more barbaric acts.
In other areas the Mongol Empire was also critical to the development of the Western world - in terms of money and trade especially. I'm not quite sure I would go as far as Weatherford does in terms of the importance of the Mongols to today, but no doubt this has changed my perception on just how revolutionary the Mongol Empire was for the world as a whole.
For those unaware, a map of the extent of the Mongol Empire is below... wow!
Source: World History Encyclopaedia
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Paul Kennedy
I think the first disclaimer required with this book comes from the fact it was published in 1988. Thus, the dynamic of the world in these 30+ years has of course shifted dramatically once more since Kennedy authored this book. Nonetheless,
the book gives critically important insights into the way in which global pre-eminence shifts.
The main sections of the book consider the Habsburg Empire, the British Empire, the Industrial Powers in the run to the First World War, the Second World War and the American Century, the Russian Empire / USSR, the resurrection of Japan and the beginnings of China.
You may well think this is far too complex a range of topics for one book alone, and I would probably have agreed with you before reading this, but much like Henry Kissinger's "World Order" (see the
very first reading list for this), this is a concise, insightful and highly researched investigation of Great Power.
The central conclusions of Kennedy's work are that economic and military power go hand in hand, but often the decline of economic power can stem from the overspending on military powers. We can see this clearly with the Habsburg and British Empire, the Soviet Union, and also to some extent the US here and now.
The final chapter of the book is devoted to "predictions" for the future, and here Kennedy (writing in 1988) shows that just being erudite on a subject doesn't make you guaranteed to be accurate (although, in fairness he does admit this himself). Kennedy in my view underestimated the rise of China, but at the same time overestimated the strength of Japan - which has stagnated largely in the last two decades. He also underestimated the likelihood of the collapse of the USSR with hindsight.
Nonetheless, the lack of predictive correctness hardly matters when you have a book which is so well written and constructed as this one. I am not going to lie, however, you must have a strong interest for geopolitics to even consider reading this one... it is quite academic, lengthy and detailed. You could probably get a good dose of the detail just by reading the first sentence of every chapter and have a good idea for Kennedy's general thoughts and theories. That said, I highly recommend it to the interested or academic audience, it is remarkable reading and deeply insightful.
---
That's all for this month. I hope that many of you will go away and buy some of these ones... I think they are all highly relevant to the current geopolitical situation.
Next month, I'm changing tack a little bit... but there's still going to be a good dose of history. Firstly, I'm going to be reading (and watching) Hamilton - the version by Ron Chernow. Then, I'm going to be reading Edward Gibbons' first two volumes of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Well, I'll be honest and say I'm going to try and read it... it was written originally in the 18th century, and will be roughly 1200 pages for these first two volumes.
Why am I reading it? Good question... it's cropped up in about 5 books I've read recently as a reference, and it was one of both Churchill's and Teddy Roosevelt's favourites... so why not :)
The change of tack though comes in the form of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I have a coursework project this month, and I'm totally unashamed to say that I'm going to be re-reading a broad swathe of his works to help with the module. I'm going to go with Fooled by Randomness, Anti-Fragile and Skin in the Game. Why not the Black Swan? I hear you ask. The reason is simply because I read it recently anyway, so there's no need to do it again. Nonetheless, still have a Taleb Trinity for the month ahead, so wish me luck :)
