READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

[Stanley]

Stiglitz continues to educate me. Lovely Stuff. Piketty should arrive today so it looks as though Diarmid is on hold for the time being.
Had a book recommended today by someone whose opinion I respect, 'The Zealot' by Reza Aslan.

[Stanley]

Piketty's 'Capital' has arrived. A solid 650 pages. I shall have to work hard on Stiglitz on Inequality before I start on this! Beautifully produced book by Harvard and stunning reviews.

[Bruff]

I have 30 quid's worth of vouchers and these are earmarked for the Piketty book and I need to get my backside to Blackwells up at the University here. He was profiled in The Observer the other week, which piqued my interest. And I look forward to your review of The Zealot (recent PM refers...).

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

It might be a while Richard! I have yet to finish the primer, Stiglitz, the main event, Piketty, is going to be a hard read! Will have a trawl through the Jesus book as soon as it arrives and will let you know what first impressions are.

[Stanley]

Richard. Zealot arrived yesterday (from a hospice bookseller). Brand new, nice standard and on first skim through it's going to be OK but I'll give my final verdict when I've read it. Meanwhile, I plug away at Stiglitz despite having to break off for the snooker! (So many books, so little time!)

[Stanley]

I'm happy to report that I have finished reading Stiglitz, 'The Price of Inequality'. Whilst I admit that it isn't easy to read a dense text so full of examples and evidence it was made much easier by the fact that he has written in a direct manner and most importantly has proved to me that my long held convictions about the causes of inequality are largely connected to the imperfect distribution of wealth are correct. He goes further of course and details the political and social pressures that have embedded these imperfections in our modern society. Of course he is writing about the American economy but the evidence he gives applies equally well to our economy.
He completely destroys myths like the 'trickle down' theory of distribution, shows the flaws in too great a reliance on the market and details the way in which big money protects it's unearned income by managing politicians and persuading them that the falsehoods they peddle are in fact eternal truths. In particular he gives evidence to show how deregulation of the markets is not only inefficient in economic terms but actually damages the long term health of the economy.
If you're interested in the facts and not the myths, read this book. His qualifications are impeccable, Nobel Prize winner and holder of some of the most influential positions in government and economics. One can only wonder at the power of big money in that they have managed to resist such a devastating indictment for so long.
I haven't gone straight onto Piketty's 'Capital', I decided to give my economic brain a rest by reading Reza Aslan, 'Zealot', The story of Jesus the agitator versus Jesus the Christ. It's looking plausible so far.....

[Stanley]

Richard, 'Zealot' is a goody. Well written and researched. I'm enjoying it, a completely different, and very plausible, view of the life of Jesus the Zealot.

[Stanley]

I've finished Aslan's 'Zealot' and the book is well written, clearly organised and well researched. He gives the clearest guide to the early history of Palestine under Roman occupation I have ever read. This helps you to follow his arguments and I'm sorry to say that he has confirmed my suspicion that there was far too much certainty in the story I was taught. I knew that there were flaws on the Christ story from other reading. I also knew that much of the New Testament was revised during editing to give a 'clearer story' but now, thanks to Aslan's copious use of references, I'm reasonably certain that we were all sold a pup! (Love the part that details how the Pilate myth was slanted to give the Romans a good press and in the process putting the blame for the Crucifixion on the Jewish authorities thus giving a good basis for the Christian fixation on persecuting the Jews. Holocaust a good example of the consequences of bad copy writing by the evangelists in Rome?)
His account does more than simply hold together, it is a persuasive thesis and until I see a credible rebuttal I'll follow him. I like his conclusion that even though the Christ myth is spurious, there is enough good evidence to make Jesus the Zealot a good role model and worth following. This is most likely the reason why the movement survived, not the saccharin sweet story we were told!
Loved it, thanks to Roger Paas for recommending it. Read it and make your own mind up.

[plaques]

Amazing how we seem to know to the last detail of who said what and who did what nearly 2000 years ago but what is happening in Syria and the Ukraine remains a mystery. But as I have always said, "just because you believe in God doesn't make you a bad person".

[Stanley]

P, you can't get a balance of evidence unless there are credible sources. They simply aren't there in Syria, that's why the intelligence services will be crawling all over them. Aslan's book doesn't attack belief or faith, it simply details the best evidence and comes to the conclusion that ove the years the story was 'massaged' and what we are left with is at best, suspect. I sent my review to Roger and here's what he wrote to me:
"I'm glad you found it as persuasive as I did. In this context there is an interesting anecdote about Bertolt Brecht Supposedly, he was asked by a magazine reporter what book had had the most influence on him. Brecht the Communist/Marxist replied without hesitation, "The Bible." As a young student, I was always puzzled by that assertion, but over the years I have come to see Jesus as a revolutionary, and that is exactly how Brecht had seen Jesus, who valued the poor and fought against the corrupt leaders. Good communist stuff."

[Stanley]

Piketty, 'Capital' is going down well. I like the way he writes and it's all looking very balanced and persuasive so far.....

[Stanley]

Still slogging away at Piketty. Hard work but very rewarding....

[Stanley]

Interesting comment from one of my mentors this morning after I gave him my latest assessment of Piketty.
"YOU SEEM TO BE MAKING FASTER PROGRESS THAN I AM. BUT IT’S AN IMPORTANT BOOK—HOWEVER, WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE IT SO."
Dead right, we have to spread the word!

[Stanley]

I know you think I'm going overboard a bit about Piketty but other people have been reading it and it's starting a few ripples already. The news that one of the founders of Facebook has spent £4.5million on his Lord of the Rings themed wedding is prompting comment on the gap between the top 1% of the capital holders who are living on a different planet and normal people. One of the measures that Piketty advocates to slow the inexorable rise of the inequality between the top 10% of wealth holders and the other 90% of humanity is a global wealth tax. Of course this is anathema to those who hold the wealth and common sense to those who don't. The question is how bad this tension will get and what effect will it have on things like political decisions and social unrest. Just to complete the bad news, Piketty doesn't rule out old fashioned revolution. Shades of Karl Marx.....
I always thought Marx was right but how many have actually taken the trouble to read 'Das Kapital'. Don't bother with the full version, it's virtually impossible to read. Look for 'The Skeptical Reader Series' by Gateway press. Condensed and simplified but contains all the essential elements. (LINK) Here's a copy on Bookfinder for a Fiver.

[plaques]

As a follow up to the foundation stone (What Attracted your Attention Today, 15 May 2014) I thought I’d Google “J Bruce Glasier” who laid the stone. I must admit this exposed my ignorance of the founders of the Independent Labour Party. Among several of his achievements he became the successor to Keir Hardie as chairman to the party.Wiki Glasier link
Glasier wrote several books possibly the best known being “The Meaning of Socialism”. This can be read (free) on an internet download Open Library. Socialism Link
Since Stanley is working through Piketty, the section “Exploitation the Stores of Wealth” page 41 may be very relevant.
This perhaps adds some meaning as to why Nelson was once called “Little Moscow”.

[Wendyf]

Katherine Bruce Glasier donated Glen Cottage in Earby to the YHA, there is a lot of information about the Glasiers to be found there, and in the EDLHS Archive. Info on the old site Here.
A colleague of mine in the History Society has been researching the record of her great uncle who was a member of the ILP in Nelson and became a conscientious objector during WW1.

[Stanley]

Good period in the history of Socialism, some amazing people!
Finished Piketty. More on Speaker's Corner.....
I borrowed Tony Benn's memoir 'Dare to be a Daniel' from Susan yesterday. It will be light relief after Piketty!

[Stanley]

Almost finished Dare to be a Daniel. Interesting but very light and Benn admits he has never been a reader. It shows in his writing, it's more like a series of notes or memoranda. Much of what he says is just as true now as when he wrote it ten years ago. Useful reminder of some of the mistakes that were made and we are still making.

[Stanley]

Started on John Clayton's books yesterday. First impressions are the amount of work that has gone into the research.....

[Stanley]

I finished John's books. These are really good work, full of information and research and a godsend to anyone interested in the areas he covers. How I wish we had something similar for the Craven area!
Back to 'A History of Christianity for the second reading! Amazing how much more you absorb the second time around.....

[Stanley]

I'm close to the end of my second reading of A History of Christianity. A good informative read.....

[Stanley]

Still on Christianity... I came across this yesterday, it interested me because I have always been suspicious of the Beatification process in the Vatican.
In his later years, Pope Pius XII was failing in his Papacy and in an effort to show he was abreast of the modern world shortly before his death in 1958 he issued a proclamation that St Francis' associate, St Clare of Assisi was now to be patron saint of television. This was because on her death bed she had been able to attend Xmas Mass in the neighbouring basilica in the form of a vision. A miraculous medieval outside broadcast! (A History of Christianity, page 952)

[Stanley]

I finished my second read of Diarmaid MacCulloch's 'A History of Christianity' yesterday. A monster 970 page read but well worth the effort, I'd recommend it to anyone who seeks a clearer picture of how religions grow and work (often imperfectly!).
I have gone back to another favourite, David Omissi's 'Air Power and Colonial Control. The Royal Air Force 1919-1939'. Steve Constantine drew my attention to this many years ago and I decided to get a copy so I could read it all direct from the source. It took me 12 years to find a copy and it cost me £126! Quite right, daft I call it but this is the best book on the RAF from its inception in 1919, the politics of how it survived the Inter War cuts and the role it played in colonial policing, especially in Iraq. This is the reason why it is so hard to find, all the available copies were snapped up as soon as the problems with Saddam Hussein became headline news. It's just as good as I remember and contains some interesting history and memorable quotes! I shall be boring you with some of them I have no doubt....

[Stanley]

Have a look at Winged Heroes. I'm getting some good air force stories.

[Stanley]

I've posted again in Winged Heroes about the use of the RAF to combat unrest in England.