Fantastic read of probably the last remaining Iron Men of the Great War. Stalin was a ruthless leader with an iron grip over millions of people. But tFantastic read of probably the last remaining Iron Men of the Great War. Stalin was a ruthless leader with an iron grip over millions of people. But this book details the infighting between his cronies. The West led by Eisenhower only did lip service, without taking any concrete steps for global peace. Churchill did try to take the initiative but was too physically weak and insignificant to make any visible dent. The inner-circle used their common hate of Stalin's right-hand man Bernia to solve their leadership tussle. ...more
its a book about trying to figure things out, in this new world of politics where facts don't exist, a world in where all news is jaundiced, all politits a book about trying to figure things out, in this new world of politics where facts don't exist, a world in where all news is jaundiced, all politicians lie, where some pain is normal, history has ended, ideas don't matter, where we are innocent and its the outsider who takes undue advantage of our innocence, but it is our job to make the world right again, in the image of God again, because God did create the world but got it wrong, that's why facts we consider as true are in fact not true, the only thing which is true is God's totality, and the only way to restore God's totality is creating a successful Totalitarian state. The biggest problem with a Totalitarian state is the question of succession, what happens when Putin dies? That is where spectacle is introduced, which is the concept of Eurasia. Eurasia is pitted against the vulnerability in the concept of EU, the vulnerability that Europe was composed of nation-states which fought the Great War's and learned to trade amicably instead. There were no nation-states, only Empires, who fought each other lost their colonies and landed in Europe to form a new empire called EU. If you believe that you were a nation-state then you are vulnerable to the idea of a Brexit. Putin armed with his Eurasia has not only taken on EU, but also the USA in a new kind of propaganda war, in which they are winning, much more against the US than EU, because US resembles Russia in terms of economic disparity with a small number of rich people and large poor people. Can democracy rise against this new form of politics of inevitability?...more
The book is an interesting read for a 'solid' case for collusion, based on money and sex. But the trouble is why would Trump worry about a sex tape whThe book is an interesting read for a 'solid' case for collusion, based on money and sex. But the trouble is why would Trump worry about a sex tape when he has already survived numerous sexual allegations publically?
Putin and his popularity in Russia are connected to the fall of USSR, which justifies Russia's quest to enlist their own guy at the top. They want to revenge for the breakup and they are following the American method by convincing Trump to do their bidding like the Americans used Gorbochov to effectively breakup USSR.
What comes goes around comes around I guess....more
Authoritative book on the Russian Afghan intervention from the Russian perspective. The author compares this war with French-Algerian, American-VietnaAuthoritative book on the Russian Afghan intervention from the Russian perspective. The author compares this war with French-Algerian, American-Vietnamese, French-Vietnamese interventions. The Russians tried to implement their well tried developmental model in Afghanistan with a lot of determination and I think they might have been successful if they had been given enough time by the Americans. But the Americans wanted to get their revenge for their Vietnam humiliation, so they armed and trained the Islamist mujaheddin knowing full well that once the Russians had left, the Islamists would take over. What did didn’t realise was that once they had managed to defeat Soviet Union, they would be confronted by the very same enemy.
I found this aspect of this story a lot more believing than the Westernised version of all invading Russian infidel army destroying hell bent on destroying every Afghan at random....more
The great Soviet gulag system, its victims and its enforcers were the same people, of the same belief, which is what makes this book so riveting. AdamThe great Soviet gulag system, its victims and its enforcers were the same people, of the same belief, which is what makes this book so riveting. Adam has tackled the complex and deeply moving set of events as a travelogue, giving a deep insight in to the Russian phycology. Adam juxtaposes real stories with numbers of killed and killed with great effect. His analogy of the Russian denial and our own present day denial with the looming environmental fiasco are most potent. How should the Russians deal with this deeply engrained denial? For the misrepresentation of history by the elder generation destroys their credibility with the young generation making teaching history a major challenge. One way to approach this task would be to focus on the ideas instead of the names of the people attested to these ideas, which would encourage the students to think outside the box of denial. ...more
Heros or zeros? The Russian soldier was sent into Afghanistan to fight the American soldier and to help the Afghani people retain their freedom. InsteHeros or zeros? The Russian soldier was sent into Afghanistan to fight the American soldier and to help the Afghani people retain their freedom. Instead they found themselves fighting against the very same people who they were supposed to save. For a soldier steeped in ideological propaganda it was a horrid experience. The soldier found his escape shooting drugs to get over shooting ordinary Afghans. Looks like moral was a major issue in the 1980 invasion of Afghanistan. War without proper justification results in low moral.
When I was knocking off twenty people at a time on your orders, you said well done! Here is an army man with excellent results in combat. Put his name in the board oh honour. But when I got hungry, I did get plastered, I was drunk then, and went to get the lamb because there was no food, I killed some people that I always killed. This time however it wasn't your orders. So now you've decided to try me?
Proxy wars are the best method of winning, because there is little chance of exposing propaganda lies over a sustained period. The real battle was between ideologies, Russia had superior arms, greater numbers and much more resources but were poor reasons to occupy Afghanistan with its archaic 1000 year old Allah ideology. But the Allah ideology was well entrenched, understood, and widely accepted by the disparate Afghani people, as they united behind it to fight their Russian oppressor. ...more
If you want to understand Putin's Moscow and Russian mindset than this book is a great start. From escorts to gangsters, to political masterminds and If you want to understand Putin's Moscow and Russian mindset than this book is a great start. From escorts to gangsters, to political masterminds and cults. The only missing characters are politicians and oligarchs. The style and tone of the book was very engaging making it a very easy read. Although the book leaves a very dark miasma by the end. Maybe Peter should have heeded the advice of the three Russian producers to find some happy stories as well?...more
What a fascinating and enlightening experience of the horrors of WW2. If there is one book out of the hundreds available on the topic, choose this oneWhat a fascinating and enlightening experience of the horrors of WW2. If there is one book out of the hundreds available on the topic, choose this one without second thought. Max captures not only the European campus but also the Pacific and the Asian theatres of war with a high level of subjectivity which is pretty rare among Western historians.
All of my conceived perceptions of WW2 were not only challenged but argued and satisfied by Max in this very well researched narrative.
Yet another story of Turks managing their colony. It seems that Turks had not learnt the more subtler ways of amanging their colonies and resorted to Yet another story of Turks managing their colony. It seems that Turks had not learnt the more subtler ways of amanging their colonies and resorted to archaic and brutish methods in their controlling attempts. I dont think that Turks have ever been a part of Europe. they have always remained outside the shere of knowledge. Maybe if they were closer to Europe they could hav implemented the newer ways of managing colonies?...more
Peter has chosen to tackle the God question to counter his brother (Christopher’s) god denunciation of his famous book ‘god is not great’, by taking aPeter has chosen to tackle the God question to counter his brother (Christopher’s) god denunciation of his famous book ‘god is not great’, by taking a very personal view of religion to begin with. Peter began to reach out to God in his thirties after having lived in the godless Russia for years. Most of his arguments are pretty good denunciations of the atheist arguments spearheaded by Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. It is interesting that both rival brothers seem to be heavily influenced by the cultures they lived in, one in a authoritative Russia and the other in a free-er capitalist and still thriving USA. Peter’s arguments about Communism being atheist in nature do make a lot of sense. But Peter failed to answer one of Christopher Hitchens rendition on Blaise Pascal’s famous wager, often used by the religious to sell faith in God.
In the argument put forth by Blaise Pascal,which goes something like this, 'it is in one's best interest to believe in the existence of God, as it is a rational assumption and does no harm, and the possibility of eternal punishment in hell outweighs any advantage of believing otherwise.'
Christopher Hitchens response was that if someone chooses to invoke Pascal's wager in order to follow religion then it demonstrates two aspects, one that it portrays a very cynical god, one who does not seem to care about proper intent, and the other aspect is about the hypocritical follower, who chooses to follow without fully believing.
Christopher Hitchens did not want to believe in man made interpretations of religion, instead choosing to lead a life of constant quest, in an attempt to achieve absolute faith. And in case he did die before achieving this allusive faith and found that his scepticism was wrong and God does exist, then he would choose to argue his case in front of God by claiming that all his life he had been assiduously searching for His signs but failed to do so mainly due to the pathetic nature of arguments put forward by His followers and apologists.
For me Pascal’s wager is a very weak argument used by the religious apologist. I prefer to use Christopher’s deduction as it is more attractive, filled with desire and motivation for knowledge....more
Milan was a gifted novelist, the two main characters are sketched so well that by the end they felt like my family members. The novel has opened up thMilan was a gifted novelist, the two main characters are sketched so well that by the end they felt like my family members. The novel has opened up the history of Czechoslovakia, religious propaganda and animal love for me. I found the prose very moving and never dragging although the story has no real drama or excitement. Milan was certainly an extremely gifted writer. I am a huge fan....more
It's a longish story about exactly what it says, metamorphosis. It presents a pretty grim view of human kind with close family moving away after the pIt's a longish story about exactly what it says, metamorphosis. It presents a pretty grim view of human kind with close family moving away after the protagonist suddenly transforms into an insect. The story somehow reminded me of death, and how family cope with dear departed. Slowly over a period of time life returns to normality as the living slowly fill gapes left by the departed. Frankly I did not find this particular story so stimulating. I also noticed that there was no mention of any faith, which may explain Gregory's predicament. Faith can prove to be a great check in times of great depression. Wonder why Kafka missed throwing faith in the mix?...more
I loved this little book. It had all the right ingredients to keep me flicking through the pages, Russian girls, middle aged protagonist, sex, a whiteI loved this little book. It had all the right ingredients to keep me flicking through the pages, Russian girls, middle aged protagonist, sex, a white collar crime, sprinkled by a great dose of the current zeitgeist in Moscow which is captivating to state the least. This book is great read for anyone interested in Moscow life, set in Russia's historical context of war and cold weather, filled with a healthy amount of Russian narrative. My best one, which I found very similar to Pakistani situation is, 'They (Russian) know the rules, they can keep ripping their own people off, so long as they can play nice to the foreigners.'...more
I loved it, the whole story was put together with a lot of insight of the Russian people, their lives and the impact left on them of the Second World I loved it, the whole story was put together with a lot of insight of the Russian people, their lives and the impact left on them of the Second World War. The author has managed to present a reality of the hidden world of presidents, reflecting on their human sides which is very interesting. A very good effort. ...more
Its a good introductory book about the state of Russia today with focus on Putin's regime. Russia somehow falls off the radar from the general WesternIts a good introductory book about the state of Russia today with focus on Putin's regime. Russia somehow falls off the radar from the general Western media outlets enabling bullys like Putin to assert themselves. The best bit I enjoyed in this book was the author's description of her time spent with Gary Kasparov. As she witnessed one hurdle after the another orchestrated by the regime, she made a very astute observation.
'You can be the richest person in the world, you can be super popular, but without effective democratic structures, you can look very ordinary.' That is what Putin has effectively accomplished in Russia. He has effectively taken over the 'leader making' structures and shredded them apart.
The book is again written by a journalist. The only problem with such books is that they promise a lot, good marketing, but lack in actual substance, like literary material or logical conclusion. Still it is good quick read for some one cut off from todays Russia....more
Finally finished the huge monster of a book. I choose to listen to an audio version this time around which I found much more entertaining. Fyodor is aFinally finished the huge monster of a book. I choose to listen to an audio version this time around which I found much more entertaining. Fyodor is a master of depicting human relationship dramas. The book offered rich examples of mundane events to complex dialogues which left me yearning for more.
I think I might have to listen to this again some time in the near future........more
People are of two types, good ones and the bad ones. Both make mistakes, both make bad judgments, but while the good ones ruefully ponder over these mPeople are of two types, good ones and the bad ones. Both make mistakes, both make bad judgments, but while the good ones ruefully ponder over these mistakes and bad calls, the bad ones will not only ignore these but will gloat over their few good deeds..... ...more