Moving Towards Zion: A Review of The Story of the Jews, Vol. 2: Belonging, 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The recent surge of anti-semitism in Europe and America has been heart breaking, especially when that anti-semitism led to violence at a Pittsburgh synagogue by a white supremacist terrorist in 2018. Sadly, Jewish history is fraught with such tragedies, even before you get to the Holocaust under the Nazis. But Jewish history is far more than these senseless tragedies. In this second volume to his planned trilogy, historian Simon Schama traces the history of the Jewish people from the Renaissance to the dawn of the 20th century, laying out in dense detail their many triumphs and tragedies and their persistence in the face of unbelievable hardships.

Starting right where he left off in volume one, Mr. Schama details how the constant attacks on the Jewish people forced them to adapt and migrate multiple times.  What is interesting is that the beginning and end of this narrative are bookended by messianic movements that led Jews to try to migrate out of Europe and into Palestine.  The earliest attempts were not always successful, but the last one detailed by Mr. Schama leads readers into the beginning of the Zionist movement, which will lead to the creation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century.  It was fascinating to see how Jewish people could be just as susceptible to messianic movements and false messiahs in the same way that Christians of this period could.  It seems looking forward to a better world and trying to proactively bring it about is not exclusive to any single religious group.

Though the descriptions of anti-semitic assaults are difficult to read, Mr. Schama does a great job of walking his readers through it and drawing a subtle line from the attempts at forced conversions and the creation of the ghettos in the 16th century, and the nationalistic anti-semitism of 19th century Germany, which would be supercharged by the Nazis later.  Yet, in the midst of these terrible trials, Mr. Schama also paints several portraits of fascinating characters in Jewish history.  People like Shabbetai Zevi, Moses Mendelssohn, Uriah Levy, and so many others are absolutely fascinating in this book.  Also, Mr. Schama’s details about the rise of Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Kabbalah Judaism are interesting too.

Another great aspect of this book is how Mr. Schama describes how the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution promised to amicably assimilate Jews into the wider European culture, but it was a promise that was never fully realized.  As soon as France and other nations offered a hand, once Jewish groups tried to take it, they would find that it was almost always filled with empty promises.  The failure of the Enlightenment’s assimilation promises, combined with a new and virulent form of anti-semitism by the late 19th century, creates the historical backdrop for the forming of the Zionist movement.

However, this is not an easy book to get through.  This book is stuffed to the brim with details and stories that it implores you to read it slowly.  Skipping or speed-reading a single paragraph means that you will inevitably miss important details and get lost pretty quickly.  This is, without question, one of the densest history books I have ever read. In fact it is denser than his previous volume.  Do not start this book expecting to get through it quickly.  I did, and I ended up having to pause my reading or slow it down considerably just to get through it all.

Overall, this is a fascinating book, but one that is incredibly dense and begs its readers to chew on it slowly, rather than to rush through.  I look forward to reading Mr. Schama’s third volume and hope that it will be released sooner rather than later.

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A Surprisingly Deep Thriller: A Review of Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it comes to kids spy thrillers, my only past exposure to it had been either campy kids movies like Spy Kids or cartoon shows like Codename: Kids Next Door. So when I picked up this middle grade spy thriller, my expectations were pretty low. Now having finished this book, I have to say not only is it not campy at all, but it is incredibly fast-paced, deep, and intense. In fact, this may be one of the best books I have read this year so far.

The plot of the book starts with the famous scientist Albert Einstein creating a secret formula known as Pandora that could unlock unlimited energy for the world, or bring about massive destruction.  This equation has been lost for decades, but a new clue sets off a race to discover it amongst rival intelligence agencies and a group of international white supremacist terrorists.  Unable to make head or tails of the clue, CIA agent Dante Garcia taps child genius Charlie Thorne, a 12-year old girl who may be the only person smart enough to figure out the clues and find Pandora before anyone else.  Thus, Charlie gets pulled into this world of spies and intrigue in order to find Einstein’s lost equation and save the world.

While the premise of the CIA tapping a 12-year old girl, even a child genius, may sound like a stretch, Mr. Gibbs does a tremendous job of selling it.  Charlie is scary smart and surprisingly competent, if a bit reckless.  But beyond making Charlie herself an entirely believable character, Mr. Gibbs does an outstanding job of making this book an intense spy thriller with some deeper subplots going on.  The connection between Dante Garcia and Charlie Thorne was surprising, but also makes up the heart of Charlie’s character development throughout.  Mr. Gibbs also avoids tropes that could’ve made this book a campy mess.  For example, at one point Charlie Thorne uses a skateboard to pursue one of her antagonists.  On the surface, this may sound rather hokey, but it really isn't.  In the moment, it is surprisingly practical and leads to a great fight scene.  Speaking of fight scenes, there is no campiness whatsoever in the threats posed in this book.  The danger is sky high for everyone, including Charlie, and people do die.  One person in particular dies a pretty horrible death.  Parents need not fear though as there are no gory descriptions of violence.  Blood is not mentioned a single time in this book, though people do get shot.

Another great thing about this book is the main antagonists.  Known as the Furies, this group of white supremacist terrorists are given great characterization for a middle grade novel.  Their motivation is chilling because it is so relevant to what is going on in the world today and is especially poignant as Charlie herself is mixed race.  It does turn out that the Furies are being controlled by someone else and they did get despatched towards the end in a wee bit of an anticlimactic moment, but they are still a formidable threat in their own right.  Speaking of that someone else, the reveal of who is behind the Furies is the only weak point of this book.  Unlike the Furies themselves, the person pulling the strings just doesn’t have a very compelling motivation.  Sure, their reveal is a bit of twist, but not a very interesting one.

One more thing I would like to mention in more detail is just how deep this book is.  The premise of this book is Einstein’s powerful Pandora equation, which a middle grade author might be forgiven for having their characters work to turn it over to the US government because, “Hey! We’re the good guys.”  But throughout the book, Charlie raises the point that maybe no one should be trusted with Pandora.  It’s even hinted that maybe Charlie herself, due to her recklessness and past criminal behavior, may not be the best person to have Pandora either.  This is a rather surprising thing to be discussed in a middle grade novel and Mr. Gibbs shows a great deal of trust in his middle grade audience understanding why even their own government may not be completely trustworthy.

Overall, this was an outstanding book.  Not only is this a great book for middle grade readers to transition from middle grade books into young adult or even adult novels, but is surprisingly deep and thrilling for older readers as well.  Whether you are young or young at heart, I highly recommend this book to anyone look for a great thrill ride of spy novel.

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City of Blinding Lights: A Review of City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since J.R.R. Tolkien wrote one of the first modern fantasy series with both The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and The Lord of the Rings, much of the fantasy landscape has been dominated by white, Northern European roadmap mythologies and tropes. However, in recent years a slew of authors have been writing fantasy novels from new perspectives and breaking this mould. Tomi Adeyemi, for example, has published two YA fantasy novels based on African mythology. In this novel, Ms. Chakraborty has written an excellent fantasy novel based on Middle Eastern mythology and folklore that further breaks that old mould.

Set around the time of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, this book follows two main characters: Nahri, a Cairo street thief with an unknown pedigree, and Ali, a sensitive and devout prince of Daevabad, the mythic and titular city of brass in this novel.  When Nahri accidentally frees Dara, an ancient Daeva (or Djinn) warrior, from a magical imprisonment, thus endangering her life, they flee across the Middle East to try to find safety in Daevabad.  But their journey to the City of Brass is only the beginning of their travails as the conquest of the city centuries ago has led to oppression and racial tension within the city that threatens to blow up at any point.  Ali, in his desire to do good, walks a precarious line between the supporting the city’s oppressed subjects and remaining loyal to his family.  But Nahri and Dara’s arrival in Daevabad threatens to break all of these tensions wide open.

One of the key features of any new fantasy series is the world-building.  Without quality world-building, a fantasy series can completely collapse.  Thankfully, Ms. Chakraborty has done an incredible job of building up this fantasy world.  It is populated with numerous races and creatures, each one of them with a unique origin and magical powers.  For those of you looking for a dense new fantasy world to jump into, look no further than this novel.  That said, Ms. Chakraborty’s world-building is both a strength and a weakness.  At times, the amount of background and number of different magical races, each with their own particular origin, powers, and grievances felt a little too overwhelming.  I was especially confused by the conflict between Daevabad’s residents that informs much of the novel’s plot and it wasn’t until I had finished the book that it started to click a little.  Ms. Chakraborty does have a few parts in the first half of the book where the world is explained to Nahri and the reader, so I would suggest that new readers slow down at those parts and maybe even reread them to make sure that they understand everything.

Fantasy novels are also known for having a good amount of action in its narrative and this book is no exception.  From Nahri and Dara’s close calls on the road to Daevabad to the climactic battle at the end of the novel, Ms. Chakraborty knows how to write a pulse-pounding action sequence.  I was totally enthralled by the climax as narrative threads and characters smashed up against each other in a glorious mess that makes me eager to find out what happens next.  There is a good amount of political intrigue here to satiate any Game of Thrones fans.  There is also a bit of a love triangle that happens between the three main characters that, on its surface, may seem a little trope-ish and rushed, especially near the middle of the book, but actually feels right for this story.  That said, there is a lot of time jumping that happens in this story.  For example, in one chapter, Nahri and Dara have just entered the city and in the next chapter two weeks have passed.  To be fair, significant time jumping was probably necessary to keep the narrative without unnecessarily slowing down, but I nevertheless felt a little whiplash reading this book at times.

Overall, this is an excellent start to new type of fantasy novels that continues to break the old mould and reinvigorate the genre.  If you are looking for something new and unique in your fantasy books, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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Deep Crisis: A Review of War on Peace by Ronan Farrow

 

War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Despite its role in shaping the post-war liberal world order, American diplomacy is at a crossroads. With the end of the Cold War, the State Department and its dedicated diplomats have had their work maligned by politicians of both parties and their budgets slashed by a skeptical, even hostile, Congress and Executive branch. The hollowing out of the State Department under Pres. Trump and his two Secretaries of State, Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, is just an acceleration of trends that have been in place for decades now. In this wonderful and critical read, Mr. Farrow use both his own personal experience in the State Department as well as hundreds of interviews, including with all the living Secretaries of State from Henry Kissinger to Rex Tillerson, to chart American diplomacy's declining reliance by policy makers at the highest level. It also charts the disastrous consequences of America's hand over of diplomacy to the military and is a not-so subtle plea for reinvestment in American world leadership and diplomacy.

Before Mr. Farrow was writing articles about Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault allegations that would launch both the #MeToo movement and Mr. Farrow's own reputation into the journalistic stratosphere, he was a young Foreign Service Officer under legendary diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who negotiated the famous Dayton Accords ending the war in Bosnia in the 1990s and died tragically while trying to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan under Pres. Obama. The first half of the book is Mr. Farrow's eyewitness account of Mr. Holbrooke's Afghanistan negotiations and its unrealized potential. He makes a compelling case that, had Mr. Holbrooke lived and the Obama administration given more support to his efforts, the U.S. could have negotiated a deal with the Taliban and exited the conflict instead of being militarily bogged down for nearly two decades now. The rest of the book is a charting of how years of budget cuts and neglect has allowed the military to dominate spaces in foreign policy normally reserved for the military and how that has contributed to endless military confrontations and violence. Mr. Farrow also charts how the Trump administration's total lack of interest in diplomacy under Sec. of State Rex Tillerson has accelerated these trends. Though the book was published in 2018 and, thus, does not include Mike Pompeo's tenure nor the Trump administration's overtures to North Korea nor Pres. Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has not happened yet, the picture Mr. Farrow paints in this book is one of American diplomacy and world leadership in a state of deep crisis.

This is perhaps one of the best and most accessible books to date on the current state of affairs in American foreign policy. Mr. Farrow's research and interviews are incredibly thorough and he has a journalist's nose for a great story. I greatly enjoyed this book and my only critique is that it needs an updated edition in 2021 now that Joe Biden is the President-elect and the full story of the Trump administration's approach to foreign policy can be fully told. Foreign policy is just one of many areas that need to be rebuilt in the future Biden administration and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in foreign policy and and America's continued role as a world leader.

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Tragedy Upon Tragedy: A Review of Assad or We Burn the Country

Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria by Sam Dagher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Of all the tragic events that became known collectively as the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War is perhaps the most tragic, the most well known, and the least understood. For one brief, shining moment, it appeared that a new Middle East was possible free of dictatorships and terror. Syria seemed on the brink of change only for its ruthless dictator, Bashar al-Assad, to deem survival worth any cost, event the lives of thousands of his own people, millions of refugees, and a resurgence of Islamic extremist terror groups across the region and the world. In this detailed account, Mr. Dagher takes his reader into the inner sanctum of the Assad regime, the protest movement, the international community, and the rebellion to give one of the most complete accounts of the Syrian regime, its origins, and the series of events that led to such a brutal civil war.

To fully understand the conflict, Mr. Dagher takes the reader all the way back to the origins of the modern Syrian state and the rise of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father and the dictator of Syrian from the 1970s until his death in 2000. Sadly, the roots of Syria's trouble lie in the lies and fears that make up the Assad regime from the very beginning, with a foundation soaked in blood as Haze also ruthlessly put down challenges to his rule too. All throughout, Mr. Dagher follows the Tlass clan starting with Mustafa Tlass and then his son Manaf as they assist the Assads' rise to power. Through the Tlass', and Manaf especially, we get a clearer picture of the inner workings of the regime and how duplicitous and ruthless Bashar and others were in deciding to violently suppress peaceful protestors as the Arab Spring reaches Syria. Because of Bashar's choice to stay in power at all costs, Syria soon devolves into a morass of blood and death with international powers either looking on rousing the Syrian people to further their own agendas. It's a tragedy that only gets more tragic as it goes along.

This book really helped clarify what was always a complicated topic for me. Mr. Dagher never wavers from pointing nearly all of the blame at Bashar al-Assad, but he also makes sure to point figures at all the international figures who looked on or actively assisted the Assad regime slaughter its own people. The only thing I have against this book is that the narrative begins to lose steam once (view spoiler)[Manaf defects to the West and it becomes clear that the West is not interested in using him to replace Bashar, as was his hope (hide spoiler)]. From that point on, the end seems inevitable, but the tragedies continue to pile on top of each other.

The Syrian Civil War is one of the greatest tragedies of the Arab Spring and the 21st century so far. With moral clarity and inside information, Mr. Dagher has written an account that should not be missed.

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Everything is Better: A Review of Factfulness

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The news seems to always be filled with bad news. Even without the threat of COVID-19, the news is littered with stories of violence, illness, and death. While this may be a more dramatic story, it unfortunately hides the major story of the last 50+ years: that on nearly every indicator (health, education, the economy, etc.) the world has made an extraordinary amount of progress. Enter Hans Rosling and this wonderful book to correct the misperceptions of the affluent "West".

This book could've easily fallen into a trap of pure humanistic triumphalism, but Mr. Rosling has done more than just list a series of good news items that are routinely missed. He also challenges our preconceived notions about why things are terrible in the world and addresses why we think that way too. At the same time, each chapter is filled with strategies about how one can reorient their mind and try to think of the world both positively and rightly.

This is a wonderful book filled with great charts and figures. A few of them have to be walked through by the author, but once you see where the data is pointing after the first few chapters, it is easier to predict where the other sets of data are pointing. What is most invaluable is how Mr. Rosling tries to make his reader drop the typical "West vs. the Rest" or "Us vs. Them" mentality and instead think of the world as on four different economic levels. This allows one to see the incredible progress the world has made in closing so many gaps on so many levels. Today, most people in the world do not live in extreme poverty, though it still exists. And that brings up another great point about this book, which is Mr. Rosling's use of maxims to illustrate his points. One of his most memorable is to think of the state of the world as "bad, but getting better." It's a little more complicated than that though, but I do not want to spoil anything for you.

One thing I will say about this book is that at times he seems to bash on the media a bit too much. Granted, Mr. Rosling does humbly admit that he is probably too harsh on the media, but it still stands out. Also, this is not a book that I would read alone. This is a book that demands to be read and discussed with other people so that you don't just tuck all these facts away into your brain and carry on. The good news about that though is that this is a very accessible book. Both experts and lay readers should have no problem sifting through the data presented in this book.

Whether you are looking for a respite from all of the doom-and-gloom news about COVID-19 or not, this is a book that you should read to better understand just how much better things are in the world today. I highly recommend this book to all readers, not just those interested in current affairs.

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Turning Point: A Review of All the Shah's Men

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup & the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it comes to understanding the modern Middle East and why it is the way it is, there are a number of dates and events that are key to it, such as the end of World War I and the Sykes-Picot agreement, the beginning of the U.S.-Saudi relationship during World War II, and the creation of modern Israel as a Jewish state. In this wonderful book of history, Mr. Kinzer makes an excellent case for why we should consider the 1953 coup that overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran.

Despite this book's short length, it is full of so much information. First, it is an incredibly fascinating look at the history of Iran up to the mid-twentieth century, including both the religious and political spheres. There was so much information about Zoroastrianism, Islam, British imperialism, democracy and fundamentalism that I would love to pick up a more comprehensive book on Iran's history in the future. It seems genuinely fascinating. This book is also a great spy thriller. The very first chapter starts with the U.S.'s first attempt to overthrow Mossadegh in August of 1953 and quickly reveals the ins and outs of the coup. Though you know the terrible consequences Mossadegh's downfall will lead to, you can't help but turn the page to learn how everything comes together for the coup plotters.

While I give this book five stars, it is not a perfect book. The upside of starting the book with the first failed coup attempt is that it whets your appetite for the story, but it has a significant downside of making the end of the book feel rather rushed. There are 12 chapters, plus a preface and an epilogue, and after that first chapter you get 9 chapters of backstory afterwards. Thus, once the second and successful coup attempt happens in chapter 11, it all felt so quick that I had trouble figuring out what exactly was going on. I suppose that's how it felt to everyone involved too, but it does give the reader a sense of whiplash at how quickly everything ends.

Overall, for anyone who is interested in learning more about the modern Middle East, especially now that tensions between Iran and the U.S. are elevated once again, this book is a must read. Along with Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present, Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel, Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS, and Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42, this is a must read book.

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Senseless Violence: A Review of Frankenstein in Baghdad

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The War in Iraq was devastating to the people of that country, but there have been few books written about the war from their perspective, and even fewer of those books have been fictional. This book greatly rectifies that by riffing on one of the greatest books in the Western canon and using it as a vehicle to meditate on the senseless violence of the civil war that gripped the country in the mid-2000s.

The book starts not long after the the invasion of Iraq, around 2005 or so, and Baghdad is just beginning to sink into the sectarian violence that will grip it for several years. In the midst of this, an eccentric homeless man collects the body parts of different bombing victims and puts them together. Suddenly, the body comes to life, goes on a killing spree, and becomes the obsession of a local reporter, the general of a rogue Iraqi division, and the residents of the local district the monster inhabits.

If this all sounds exciting, just know, going into this book, it is not a super exciting book. While there are moments of high drama, this is not exactly some kind of horror-suspense novel. Rather, as I said above, this book is more of a meditation on the senseless violence that the invasion unleashed. The monster itself is more of a metaphor, though he does have a great chapter that he narrates in the middle of the book.

Honestly, it was not the book I was expecting when I picked it up, but that does not mean that it is a bad book. Indeed, this is a book that I am going to have to revisit in the near future as my stuttered reading of it probably did not lend itself to the best reading experience. All I can say is that, after reading this book, I am still fascinated by its premise and I feel like I have to read it again in the near future.

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