Nandadevi third 75

                                2012 - 173 / 225 (71% Non-fiction)
January (4334)
001 Funeral in Berlin. Len Deighton (320) ★★★½
002 Blue Shoes and Happiness. Alexander McCall Smith (233) ★★★
003 Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. Alexander McCall Smith (212) ★★★
004 The Double Comfort Safari Club. Alexander McCall Smith (247) ★★★
005 Billion Dollar Brain. Len Deighton (254) ★★★
006 The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party. Alexander McCall Smith (323) ★★★
007 Horse Under Water. Len Deighton (238) ★★★
008 Cochineal Red. Hugh Thomson NF (330) - Reviewed ★★★★
009 Lords of the Atlas. Gavin Maxwell NF (272) - Reviewed ★★★★
010 East Timor, Australia and Regional Order. James Cotton NF (208) ★★★
011 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. Alexander McCall Smith (231) ★★★
012 A Dirty Little War. John Martinkus NF (428) - Reviewed ★★★★
013 Spy Hook. Len Deighton (267) ★★½
014 The Miracle at Speedy Motors. Alexander McCall Smith (256) ★★★
015 Tumbleweed. Janwillem van de Wetering (203) ★★★½
016 To Peking and Beyond. Harrison E Salisbury NF (312) - Reviewed ★★★★
February (3880)
017 Maigret and Monsieur Charles. Georges Simenon (189) ★★★
018 Moscow 2042. Vladimir Voinovich (343) - Reviewed ★★★½
019 The Cat. Georges Simenon (155) ★★★
020 The Japanese Corpse. Janwillem van de Wetering (280) ★★★½
021 Ocean Devil. James Macmanus NF (288) - Reviewed ★★★★
022 This Time Next Week. Leslie Thomas NF (172) - Reviewed ★★★★
023 The Heretics Apprentice. Ellis Peters (245) ★★½
024 The Lost Continent. Bill Bryson NF (320) ★★★
025 A Viking Voyage. Hodding Carter NF (320) - Reviewed ★★★★★
026 Whisky Galore. Compton Mackenzie (304) ★★½
027 Sand Castles. Nicolas Freeling (209) Reviewed ★★★
028 Britain, India, and the Arabs 1914-1921. Briton Cooper Busch NF (522) - Reviewed ★★
029 The Laughing Policeman. Sjowall & Wahloo (240) ★★★★
030 The Rattle-Rat. Janwillem van de Wetering (293) ★★★
March (4058)
031 The May 30 Movement. Richard Rigby NF (284) - Reviewed ★★½
032 The Blue Nile. Alan Moorehead NF (318) ★★★★
033 In Xanadu. William Dalrymple NF (320) - Reviewed ★★½
034 A History of India Vol 1: From the Discovery of India to 1526. Romila Thapar NF (384) - Reviewed ★★½
035 The King of the Rainy Country. Nicolas Freeling (251) - Reviewed ★★★½
036 Madame Mao. Ross Terrill NF (394) - Reviewed ★★★★
037 Tracking Marco Polo. Tim Severin NF (164) - Reviewed ★½
038 A Walk Around the West Indies. Hunter Davies NF (294) - Reviewed ★½
039 The Handsomest Man in Cuba. Lynette Chiang NF (242) - Reviewed ★★★★
040 The Unknown Citizen. Tony Parker NF (170) - Reviewed ★★★
041 Hanoi. Mary McCarthy NF (138) - Reviewed ★★★½
042 German Autumn. Stig Dagerman NF (128) - Reviewed ★★★★★
043 The Country Girls. Edna O´Brien (188) - Reviewed ★★★★½
044 The Girl With Green Eyes. Edna O´Brien (213) - Reviewed ★★★½
045 Cat and Mouse. Gunter Grass (144) - Reviewed ★★★★½
046 The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism; the Tʻung-chih restoration, 1862-1874. Mary Wright NF (426) - Reviewed ★★★★★
April (5125)
047 Land of the Rising Yen. George Mikes NF (188) - Reviewed ★★½
048 No Full Stops in India. Mark Tully NF (336) - Reviewed ★★★★
049 A Man on the Moon. Andrew Chaikin NF (720) - Reviewed ★★★★★
050 A Bend in the River. V S Naipaul (288) - Reviewed ★★★½
051 The Fate of the Elephant. Douglas H Chadwick NF (492) - Reviewed ★★★★½
052 Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour an Introduction. J.D. Salinger (256) - Reviewed ★★★★★
053 Thurber Country. James Thurber (256) ★★½
054 The Soul of the Ape. Eugene Marais NF (205) - Reviewed ★★★★½
055 Speak Memory. Vladimir Nabokov NF (242) ★★★
056 20th Century Journey: The Start 1904-1930. William Shirer NF (510) - Reviewed ★★★½
057 The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. Oliver Sacks NF (233) - Reviewed ★★★★½
058 Slowly Down the Ganges. Eric Newby NF (304) - Reviewed ★
059 A Hero of our Time. Mikhail Lermontov (158) ★★★
060 Love and War in the Apennines. Eric Newby NF (224) - Reviewed ★★★★
061 A Journey in Ladakh. Andrew Harvey NF (236) - Reviewed ★★★★★
062 Love´s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy. Irvin Yalom NF (270) ★★★★½
063 Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation. Heinrich Harrer NF (207) - Reviewed ★★★½
May (6052)
064 Ralegh´s Last Journey. Paul Hyland NF (242) - Reviewed ★★★½
065 In the Lap of Atlas: Stories of Morocco. Richard Hughes (124) - Reviewed ★★★★
066 The General in his Labyrith. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (285) - Reviewed ★★★½
067 The Woman in the Dunes. Kobo Abe (158) ★★★
068 King Solomon´s Ring. Konrad Lorenz NF (215) ★★★½
069 The Moon and Sixpence. Somerset Maughan (224) - Reviewed ★★★½
070 The Smile of the Murugan: A South Indian Journey. Michael Wood NF (247) - Reviewed ★★★★★
071 Yankee on the Yangtzee. Paul Quimby NF (176) - Reviewed ★★★½
072 Farming the Dust Bowl. Lawrence Svobida NF (256) - Reviewed ★★★★½
073 The Dead Hand: Reagan, Gorbachev and the Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race. David Hoffman NF (577) - Reviewed ★★★★
074 A River Sutra. Gita Mehta (277) - Reviewed ★★½
075 The Myth of Mental Illness. Thomas Szasz NF (296) - Reviewed ★★★½
076 Jaqueline du Pre: A Biography. Carol Easton NF (224) - Reviewed ★★★★½
077 New Guinea The Last Unknown. Gavin Souter NF (296) - Reviewed ★★★★
078 Morality for Beautiful Girls. Alexander McCall Smith (225) ★★★½
079 Throwim Way Leg. Tim Flannery NF (326) - Reviewed ★★★★
080 The Cleft. Doris Lessing (260) - Reviewed ★★★½
081 The Most Offending Soul Alive: Tom Harrison and his Remarkable Life. Judith M Heimann NF (468) - Reviewed ★★★★½
082 New Guinea Nurse. Elizabeth Burchill NF (151) - Reviewed ★★★½
083 The Children's Crusade. Gary Dickson NF (246) - Reviewed ★★★½
084 The Hindus: An Alternative History. Wendy Doniger NF (779) - Reviewed ★★★★½
June (4164)
085 Money Money Money. Ed McBain (312) - Reviewed ★★★½
086 Siddhartha. Hermann Hesse (119) - Reviewed ★★★½
087 The Floating Republic. Dobree & Manwaring NF (288) -Reviewed ★★★★½
088 Between Hope and Memories: A Spanish Journey. Michael Jacobs NF (430) - Reviewed ★★★★
089 The Tree Where Man Was Born. Peter Matthiessen NF (256) - Reviewed ★★★★
090 Lenin in Zurich. Alexander Solzhenitsyn (256) - Reviewed ★★★
091 Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings. Virginia Morell NF (638) - Reviewed ★★★★★
092 At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa's Wildlife. Raymond Bonner NF (322) - Reviewed ★★★★½
093 No Room in the Ark. Alan Moorehead NF (219) - Reviewed ★★★
094 Serengeti Shall Not Die. Bernhard Grzimek & Michael Grzimak NF (256) - Reviewed ★★★★½
095 The Year of the Gorilla. George Schaller NF (258) - Reviewed ★★★★
096 The Heart of the Hunter. Laurens van der Post NF (233) - Reviewed ★★★
097 Among the Elephants. Iain Douglas-Hamilton NF (285) - Reviewed ★★★★
098 A History of India: Volume Two. Percival Spear NF (292) - Reviewed ★★★★
July (5,603)
099 Assignments in Africa. Per Wastberg NF (231) - Reviewed ★★★½
100 Journey to the Interior. Laurens van der Post NF (239) -Reviewed ★★★★½
101 Malgudi Days. R K Narayan (255) - Reviewed ★★★½
102 Hermann Hesse Autobiographical Writings. Hermann Hesse NF (235) - Reviewed ★★★½
103 The Ape and the Sushi Master. Frans de Waal NF (433) -Reviewed ★★★★
104 Coasting. Jonathon Raban NF (301) - Reviewed ★★★½
105 The Mapmaker's Wife. Robert Whitaker (352) NF - Reviewed ★★★★
106 A Walk Along The Ganges. Dennison Berwick NF (234) - Reviewed ★★★★
107 In Search of Tusitala. Gavin Bell NF (333) - Reviewed ★★★★½
108 The Sandline Affair. Sean Dorney NF (352) - Reviewed ★★★★
109 b f skinner. Daniel Bjork NF (298) - Reviewed ★★★★
110 Time is Short and the Water Rises. John Walsh/Robert Gannon NF (224) - Reviewed ★★★★
111 The Life and Death of Lord Erroll. Erroll Trzebinski (364) NF - Reviewed ★★★½
112 Aerial Piracy and International Law. Edward McWhinney NF (213) - Reviewed ★★★½
113 The Captain and the Enemy. Graham Greene (189) - Reviewed ★★★½
114 War With the Newts. Karel Capek (215) - Reviewed ★★★★
115 The Painted Veil. W. Somerset Maughan (238) ★★★
116 On the Eve. Ivan Turgenev (234) - Reviewed ★★½
117 Sieze the Day. Saul Bellow (126) - Reviewed ★★½
118 Last Boat to Astrakhan. Robert Haupt NF (227) - Reviewed ★★★½
119 From The Diary of a Snail. Gunter Grass (310) - Reviewed ★★★★
August (4,516)
120 The Summer of the Danes. Ellis Peters (280) ★★★
121 The Rush That Never Ended: A History of Australian Mining. Geoffrey Blainey NF (431) - Reviewed ★★★½
122 Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden. Tim Page NF (254) - Reviewed ★★★★
123 Tula Hatti: The Last Great Elephant. Peter Byrne NF (240) - Reviewed ★★★★½
124 City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish. Peter Parsons NF (258) - Reviewed ★★★★
125 The End of Hong Kong: The Secret Diplomacy of Imperial Retreat. Robert Cottrell NF (244) - Reviewed ★★★★
126 The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner. Tim Flannery NF (198) - Reviewed ★★★★
127 Nanda Devi: A Journey to the Last Sanctuary. Hugh Thomson NF (181) - Reviewed ★★★½
128 Little Things. Prajuab Thirabutana NF (157) - Reviewed ★★★★
129 The Brendan Voyage. Tim Severin NF (292) - Reviewed ★★★★
130 The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong. Jonathan Dimbleby NF (461) - Reviewed ★★★★
131 Beneath the Wheel. Hermann Hesse (216) - Reviewed ★★★½
132 Riding Rockets. Mike Mullane NF (368) - Reviewed ★★★★
133 The Conspiracy and Death of Lin Biao. Yao Ming-le (231) NF - Reviewed ★★★★½
134 The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth's Antiquity. Jack Repcheck NF (247) - Reviewed ★★★★
135 A Time of Gifts. Patrick Leigh Fermor NF (304) - Reviewed ★★½
136 Rosshalde. Hermann Hesse (154) - Reviewed ★★
September (3,496)
137 Among the Islands. Tim Flannery NF (245) - Reviewed ★★★★
138 Time Now, Time Before. Osmar White NF (260) - Reviewed ★★★★
139 Setting the East Ablaze. Peter Hopkirk NF (252) - Reviewed ★★★★
140 Crocodiles and other Characters. Tom Cole NF (160) - Reviewed ★★★½
141 Singapore Samurai. Penrod Dean NF (250) - Reviewed ★★★★
142 Before She Met Me. Julian Barnes (174) - Reviewed ★★★
143 Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species. Edward O Wilson NF (157) - Reviewed ★★★★½
144 Jaques Tati: His Life and Art. David Bellos NF (382) - Reviewed ★★★★½
145 Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives. Thomas French NF (292) - Reviewed ★★★★:
146 Wheels Within Wheels: The Making of a Traveller. Dervla Murphy NF (236) - Reviewed ★★★★½
147 I See a Voice: Deafness, Language and the Senses - A Philosophical History. Jonathan Ree NF (399) - Reviewed ★★★½
148 The Ukimwi Road. Dervla Murphy NF (276) - Reviewed ★★★½
149 Human Instinct. Robert Winston NF (413) - Reviewed ★★
October (1,842)
150 Green Hills of Africa. Ernest Hemingway NF (244) - Reviewed ★★★½
151 The Drunken Forrest. Gerald Durrell NF (203) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 4
152 Memoirs of a Mountaineer. F. Spencer Chapman NF (446) - Reviewed ★★ message 7
153 Malarial Dreams. Stuart Stevens NF (236) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 8
154 The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow. A J Mackinnon (350) NF - Reviewed ★★★★★ message 9
155 Gregory Bateson: The Legacy of a Scientist. David Lipset NF (363) - Reviewed ★½ message 10
November (3,219)
156 All the Way Home: Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek NF (341) - Reviewed ★★★★½ message 11
157 Marching Powder. Rusty Young NF (370) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 12
158 The Future Eaters. Tim Flannery NF (423) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 13
159 A Likely Story. Donald E. Westlake (317) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 14
160 The Well at the World's End. A J Mackinnon NF (298) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 15
161 A Year in Lapland: Guest of the Reindeer Herders. Hugh Beach NF (227) - Reviewed ★★★★★ message 16
162 Necropolis: London and Its Dead. Catharine Arnold NF (304) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 19
163 Medieval Technology and Social Change. Lynn White Jr. NF (194) - Reviewed ★★★½ message 20
164 News from Tartary. Peter Fleming NF (384) - Reviewed ★★★★½ message 21
165 The Battle of Coral: Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral May 1968. Lex McAulay NF (361) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 22
December (2,625)
166 On a Shoestring to Coorg: A Travel Memoir of India. Dervla Murphy NF (261) - Reviewed ★★★★½ message 23
167 China Correspondent. Agnes Smedley NF (365) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 24
168 Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: History's Greatest Naval Disaster. James Delgado NF (225) - Reviewed ★★★★½ message 25
169 Wild Honey: More Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek NF (290) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 26
170 Beyond the Wild Wood: Further Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek (343) NF - Reviewed ★★★★ message 27
171 Nehru: The Making of India. M.J. Akbar NF (609) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 28
172 Those in Peril. Nicolas Freeling - Reviewed ★★★ message 29
173 Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Treasures. Richard Leakey NF (319) - Reviewed ★★★★ message 30

Pages - 48,711

½ Kindling (yes I know it´s wrong to burn books, but...) (0)
★ Just as bad, but not so offensive. I must have hoped it would get better, but it didn´t. (1)
★½ Really not much better, perhaps it had some redeeming quality but I can´t think of it just now. (3)
★★ Sort of sorry I read it - fortunately very soon I´ll forget I ever read it. (4)
★★½ I could should have done something better with my time. (12)
★★★ Average, a time-filler, nice but read-and-forget. (25)
★★★½ Readable, kind of satisfying/entertaining, worthwhile. (42)
★★★★ Interesting, informative, enjoyable, a read-again - along with higher rated books. (50)
★★★★½ Inspiring, uplifting, eye-opening. (24)
★★★★★ Extraordinary. (10)

Link to Thread: Nandadevi second 75: May 14, 2012 - Oct 01, 2012
Link to Thread: Nandadevi first 75: Jan 01, 2012 - May 13, 2012
Link to Thread: Nandadevi Non-Fiction 2012 (indicates subject)

A month by month summary (not including current month):



And a couple of Pie Charts that drill down into the non-fiction side of things in 2012.

That's it for 2012.

151 The Drunken Forrest. Gerald Durrell NF - Reviewed ★★★½

Again another Durrell in the tradition of Attenborough, collecting wild animals from the hinterland of Argentina and Paraguay. The whole 'plundering the native animal species for the entertainment of visitors to European Zoos' thing is treated quite casually in this story from the 1950's, but there is a redeeming note (or two). Firstly Durrell is a a proper zoologist, and secondly he has an evident affection and sense of empathy with his captives that sees them as more than commodities, valuable only in their market or scientific value. With that qualification this is an enjoyable, if light-weight book.

Love your reading chart/graph. Very Cool!

Thank you Ikernagh. It's a graph generated in LibreOffice Calc (opensource spreadsheet compatible with MS Excel) running on Ubuntu Linux (there is a Windows version as well apparently), clipped then edited in GIMP (cropped and converted to jpg) and uploaded into LibraryThing. Mostly it was useful for pointing out to me that I was spending a lot of time reading fiction earlier in the year.

Your interest has prompted me to have a look and see if anyone else is using graphs in LT. So far I have found an extraordinary array at Divinenanny and a very nice thematic pie chart at BoReD. I suspect that there are more out there... Cheers, Nd.

152 Memoirs of a Mountaineer. F. Spencer Chapman NF - Reviewed ★★

My first acquaintance with Spencer Chapman was his 'The Jungle is Neutral', the quintessential 'behind enemy lines' story of the Pacific War. An added irony to that story was that his allies in the jungle were essentially the Communist Party of Malaya led by the perennial Chin Peng (subsequently opposed to the British occupation and the independent State of Malaya, his group finally ceased hostilities in 1989). It may have been the dramatic circumstances surrounding the writing of 'Jungle', or a maturing in Spencer Chapman's writing, but it has to be said that this earlier book detailing his journeying in Tibet in the 1930's is exceedingly dull. Which is doubly odd - and disappointing - as he had extraordinary access (via his temporary diplomatic posting) to the most powerful and influential Tibetan leaders of the day. None of this, however, overcomes S-C's plodding style; "I did this, then I did this, after that I did this". If ever a man was in need of a good editor... As for the description of the mountaineering, well nobody has ever better conveyed the tedium of climbing up big piles of rocks. Don't dismiss his 'Jungle is Neutral' or think less of the man (try a biography perhaps), but this is more miss than hit. One for the modern Tibetan history folk.

153 Malarial Dreams. Stuart Stevens NF - Reviewed ★★★½

I'm not sure if Dervla Murphy's endorsement of this book (on the front cover no less - usually a sign of a desperate editor) as 'hilarious' isn't a little 'off the mark'. Dark, Kafkaesque, self deprecating in an engaging way, and perhaps even humorous come to mind, but hilarious suggests a certain shallowness which wouldn't give the reader a fair impression. For whatever reason Stevens finds himself in Central Africa he soon seems to have plenty to get out of there, but for reasons he doesn't share with the reader he decides to drive to the Mediterranean across the Sahara. With perhaps the calculated intent of writing about it afterwards - which would make him a commercially driven travel-writer rather than a whimsical traveler who writes occasionally. Nevertheless, the experiences are genuine, and get behind the various facades and prejudices to sample the real experience of Africa - at least the white man's experience of it. Steven's descriptions of everyday corruption, do-goodery and the everyday scrabble for existence in Africa have an air of authenticity about them, nicely balanced by his observations about his own naivety, cynicism and incompetence. All in all this is a worthwhile book, a real story of Africa that didn't really have to be packaged as a comedy to succeed. For those with a long reach, this would make an excellent companion to Peter Pinney's two books about traveling through Africa in the 1950's ('Who Walks Alone' and 'Anywhere but Here'). Recommended.

154 The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow. A J Mackinnon NF - Reviewed ★★★★★

It might be churlish to suggest that the most defining virtue of this excellent book is that it makes the efforts of others - not least Patrick Leigh Fermor - look self indulgent, turgid and dull by comparison. It is not dull, un-dull, indeed sparkling. Like good travel writing should be. And like the best travel writing it is about a journey, not about a book the author went on a journey in order to produce. That was probably churlish as well, but it disposes nicely of Theroux and Newby and just about everything they have ever written. I don't think there's any need to say any more than others here have already said quite well, except that I recommend it highly to the reader.

155 Gregory Bateson: The Legacy of a Scientiste David Lipset NF - Reviewed ★½

It escapes me how such a (potentially) interesting person who lived such a full rich life could end up with such a dull, plodding, mind-numbing biography. I can't even put my finger on what exactly is wrong with book by Lipset that seems to tick all the boxes - academic rigor, contextual background and a seemingly adequate balance between the scientific career and the (the details of his) personal life. All the boxes except 'interesting'. The closest I can approach it is that there is a sense of un-engagement with the subject, a lack of emotion or opinion. He marries and divorces, and seems to have on ongoing love-hate relationship with his mother and the closest we get to Bateson's inner life is a kind of series of dates and events - as if we are looking at a business diary. There's tantalising glimpses, in the way he engages with the families of the mentally disturbed (echoes of his own life and family perhaps...), but these are just laid on the page, elaborating a theory but not the man. Bateson, it seems to me, is at the crossroads of so many theories and lives that I will try again, but unfortunately the best that could be said for this book is that it didn't deflect me from that intention.

156 All the Way Home: Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek NF - Reviewed ★★★★½

My initial impression was that this would be another sentimental memoir, and it took 5 pages or so to realize that the author has a talent for writing, for natural science and for, well, life. The story once it picks up continues at breakneck pace for 340 pages, and I enjoyed it so much that as soon as I finished it I ordered the two sequels. The author has an acute eye for landscape and animal (including human) behavior. There is sentiment, but perhaps it's better characterized as a passion for things that matter to her, the animals the people and the place, and her genius for story-telling allows (indeed compels) the reader to share in it. Highly recommended.

157 Marching Powder. Rusty Young NF - Reviewed ★★★★

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of this story - and it's a good tale in its own right - is not how much different this prison is from those in so-called 'advanced countries', but rather how similar it is. Highly recommended for anyone with a serious interest in penology, or in a good yarn.

158 The Future Eaters. Tim Flannery NF (423) - Reviewed ★★★½

Flannery has a point (or several) to make and he makes and remakes them time and again to the point of (almost) screaming frustration or dull submission. What saves this book is the countless dips into prehistory and modern scientific analysis that he uses to illustrate his ideas. Essentially he suggests that Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia are all examples of populations of living creatures (including humans) that have developed in isolation and under pressure (usually lack of resources).

The deep question he poses is whether these examples have something to tell us about how we might live in the current world, and survive (collectively speaking) into the future. But on the way he also addresses (in a fairly rigorous way) questions of evolution, animal and plant extinction, the spread of human populations and the role of climate and fire in the environment. For anyone interested in the environment in this part of the world this is essential reading. Readers from other parts of the world might find the combination of a barrage of ideas and an avalanche of foreign examples just a little to much to take at one sitting, and might seek out a more 'local' story. However, this book does constitute an ideal introduction to the region for those with the interest to 'get to know it'. Flannery has impeccable credentials as a naturalist who has worked all over this region since the 1980's and has written some excellent books about those days, including 'Throwim Away Leg' and 'Among the Islands'.

159 A Likely Story. Donald E. Westlake (317) - Reviewed ★★★½

Westlake is a prolific author of comedic crime (cf Dortmunder). Here, however, he takes the reader on a journey through the publishing business told from the author's (and philanderer's) perspective. A book about an author writing a book (about Christmas in fact...). It's actually so well done that at times it seems like a manual on how to survive the publishing business, and how not to go about managing blended families and the world of serial monogamy. There's an ironic tone to the book, with just a few moments of Westlake's comedic genius. But it's not a satire, or indeed a comedy but a kind of gentle tribute to two institutions that he seems to have some affection for. (publishing and marriage). Recommended for fans of Westlake, and those curious about the world of book publishing.

160 The Well at the World's End. A J Mackinnon NF (298) - Reviewed ★★★½

I met Mackinnon through his previous book, 'Jack de Crow' (a dinghy journey across Europe) and thought well enough of that to order this book in. I didn't expect it to match his first journey and wasn't disappointed in the expectation, although the book was satisfying enough. Mackinnon himself I think pinned it down in the article linked to his author page. There he talks about travelling as a packaged tourist (missing the adventure and the gritty details), or travelling on an adventure quest (missing the sights on the way to the object of the quest), and the disadvantages of both approaches. This journey (from New Zealand to Scotland) proceeds at such a pace that Mackinnon's very slow reflective insights and humour doesn't have time to fully develop, so this ends up as more of a story about a journey, rather than a story about Mackinnon's reflections on journeying. That's not to say that there aren't gems on every other page, or that there aren't long intervals where he is going nowhere (waiting for a ride), but that even these slow times seem to pass at a breakneck pace (and actually he was dashing around trying to meet deadlines). One day he might write another book about slow and random travelling, wandering in fact, after the style of Peter Pinney. But first he'll have to give up his day job. So a worthy successor to 'de Crow' and recommended. But hopefully it is also a precursor to even better books to come.

161 A Year in Lapland: Guest of the Reindeer Herders. Hugh Beach NF (227) - Reviewed ★★★★★

Perhaps it's something about the title - or that the Smithsonian is the publisher - but the initial impression is that this is going to be the quintessential incomprehensible academic book about one of the most obscure and uninteresting subjects ever brought to light in print. And yet..., the rapidly changing lifestyle of the Saami reindeer herders as told by Hugh Beach is not just a fascinating story about an extraordinary bunch of people living somewhere 'over there', but a story about us. There are not enough words to praise this book too highly - the writing is superbly understated, yet the attention to detail is meticulous. Beach's respect for the people and culture is done perfectly (and evident in the the Book's title) with just the right amount of reflection, perspective and humility to make it easy for the reader to 'walk alongside' him and absorb - as he did - the meaning and significance of all of the things it is to be a semi-nomadic herder in one of the world's harshest environments. And indeed the meaning and significance of being human.

This book stands easy comparison to two others - Robyn Davidson's Desert Places and Sebastian Hope's Outcasts of the islands. And shares with them the common theme of traditional lifestyles coming into conflict with, and adjusting to the 'modern world'. Perhaps this is the theme that most resonates for me. How these people have come to terms with the the limitations (and opportunities) of modern technology, economics and governance, a world as radically different to them as the future will be to us. In those circumstances will we do as well to retain our individuality and humanity? This book deserves a much wider audience, highly recommended.

The Lapland book sounds interesting.

There are some interesting references to Hugh Beach's A Year in Lapland, here, and here, and here.. I find the disparagement of Beach's story for its lack of serious ethnographic credentials (in the second link) extraordinary, given that the reviewer in that case has gone on to praise the work for its realistic representation of the life of an ethnographer in a remote community. Beach's point is that the story is about an outsider experiencing this life as a guest of the community. Interestingly both Davidson and Hope would be similarly criticised as 'amateur ethnographers'. But I am interested in people's stories, much more than stories about peoples, and these three books satisfy that interest to the max. I hope you might be able to find a copy of this book and satisfy yourself about its worth. Best regards, Nd.

162 Necropolis: London and Its Dead. Catharine Arnold NF (304) - Reviewed ★★★½

I can't see any sense in lamenting that this book doesn't achieve a high level of scholastic rigour or focus, given that it is mass published paperback. It is, as the tag on the cover of the edition in my library explains, an 'entertainment'. Does it entertain? Well in parts. Personally the history of the economy of death and burial was the most interesting - both the legitimate economy (church fees and cemeteries as commercial enterprises) and the underground (or should I say black...) economy of grave robbing, diversion of bodies for profit, and plot reselling. Arnold writes very well on these particular issues in the period from age of Elizabeth through to Victorian times, but then seems to miss an incredible opportunity to expose modern practices (and malpractice) that would show that nothing much changes, only the profits get larger with time. One imagine the book's editors may have counselled that any events more recent than a 100 years past might best rest in peace else they come with a lawyer attached. And I could imagine that the editors might have prompted Arnold to spend more time on the macabre and less on the monetary side of the business. I suppose it is a saving grace - at least - that Arnold wasn't inspired (or coerced) into adding a section about vampire activities, although there are wooden stakes through the heart aplenty for reasons that I will leave for the reader to discover. All up Arnold does a fine job with the material. The only thing missing - and it's absence is felt on almost every page - was a host of maps and pictures. Arnold's descriptions of places and memorials is extraordinarily detailed and relevant to the development of the story, and this calls out for some extra resources to satisfy the readers interest. Recommended.

163 Medieval Technology and Social Change. Lynn White Jr. NF (194) - Reviewed ★★★½

Essentially this is a book made up of three essays on different technologies. There is very little to add to Kant's excellent review of this book in Librarything. Except perhaps to say that at least the publishers acknowledges that it would be a good introduction (rather than the 'last word') on the subject. Personally I found the assertions in relation to the Chinese lack of priority in the development and deployment of the windmill and gunpowder technologies unconvincing, and will go to my Needham's 'Science and Civilization in China' series to check the details. Which proves the point that White has written what at least could be called an intriguing and stimulating book. But the degree to which White 'claims' and 'asserts' comes across a bit strong, and I would have read his essays with less 'discomfort' if they had been in a larger collection containing some contrary views. Certainly recommended as an introduction or counterpoint, but best read in conjunction with some other texts, including some on the history of Chinese technology particularly.

164 News from Tartary. Peter Fleming NF (384) - Reviewed ★★★★½

Peter Fleming, in some ways 'a person of interest' to us as the brother of the much better known Ian Fleming (of Bond 007 fame if it is necessary to make that point), was back in those days just 'one of the gang'. That gang was, in the 1930's a pretty exclusive club, the wealthiest, best educated and best connected sons and daughters of an Empire that was about to plunge over the precipice into World War II. And oddly enough, for an Empire with vast military resources, and a history of using them without compunction (particularly against much less well equipped foes), a lot of the work of maintaining and extending its borders was done by projecting 'soft' power - the influence of trade agreements, playing contending forces off against each other, and slipping a little (or a lot of) cash into a pocket here and there. Britain had been playing a role in Central Asia (think of all the countries with the names ending in '-stan) between the Caspian Sea and Western China since the 1800's, bumping up against the Russian Empire (and later the Soviet Empire) along a thousand mile front. Known as the 'Great Game', the prize was not so much the colonisation of any of that territory by one power or the other, but the denial of it to the other. It was true, however, that India (and access to the indian Ocean) lay as a glittering jewel that the Russians from time to time dreamed of picking up. And it is true that Britain struggling to hold India against a rising tide of Nationalism couldn't afford not to take the Russian threats seriously. In this context Britain had a problem in the mid 1930's. They had lost track of (and influence over..) what was happening in Western China. In the days before satellites, and monitoring of radio traffic, they responded in the great tradition of British espionage, by sending a reporter from the Times Newspaper to have a bit of a 'look-see'. This is not to suggest that Peter Fleming was a spy and the inspiration for his brother's literary creation, well not entirely (in either case), in any case. But Peter Fleming's subsequent career working with Military Intelligence (and Deception) does, however, suggest a certain talent in that direction.

Peter Fleming's description of this journey, accompanied somewhat improbably by a Swiss female journalist Ella Kini Maillart, doesn't 'spill the beans'. There's no secret pen-guns, and the closest thing to a car fitted with ejector seats is an old horse with a loose saddle. But he does hide his diaries and has an extraordinary confidence in bluffing his way out of tight corners, and seems to carry a lot of photographic gear. And his description of how he obtains a look at the photograph of the half brother of a local potentate (and thereby confirms the half-brother's enrolment in the Soviet Army) is pure Bond. No, the book maintains the cover story, just a journalist wandering into a vast 'forbidden area' without proper documents, for no particular reason - 'a bit of a lark', 'see what's there old bean', 'pick up a story or two..' British author (and 'not in the spy business either') John Le Carre caught the role perfectly in his novel The Honourable Schoolboy. Somewhere about two thirds through the book is Fleming's 'report' on the political situation in the region, presumably largely the same story that he filed with his newspaper. He wrote that Russia was winning the game in bringing a railway line close to the region, thereby gaining military and trade access. But he also notes that the local tribes weren't happy with either Russian - or Chinese - control. At the same time he observes the mountain passes into India were proof against invasion from the north. His assessment is probably as valid today as it was then, and putting it in print (or at least that version of the story) was perhaps the main purpose of the exercise; gee up a bit of public sentiment among the locals and the Chinese to resist the Russian expansion, calm the folks at home about the prospects of a successful Russian invasion of Afghanistan (!) and India, and let the Indian Nationalists understand that the Russians weren't coming to their aid any time soon. If Fleming had 'other business' in Central Asia he isn't saying. But you could observe that his description of the condition of the roads, the water supply, bridges and fords, and mountain passes is incredibly detailed and - supplemented by photographs - would make a pretty good guide for anyone planning to move an army (or to resist an army) through that country.

The writing style is perfect British understatement. He was an amateur adventurer, but I suspect that he might have chosen to appear more 'amateur' than he really was, or perhaps due to his honesty about his own abilities he comes across as less 'professional' than some who write about their successes and cover up their mistakes. The situations that he threw himself into, and got out of, would (I suspect) give the modern 'adventure writers' such as Newby and Theroux cause to run home to their mothers. After listening (in a metaphorical sense) to Newby complain that boats couldn't be purchased for his convenience at the 'drop of a hat' on the Ganges, or Theroux complain about being pestered by his fans while travelling I must say I have nothing but contempt for their efforts. Even the fictional Bond strikes me as somewhat inadequate, always driven to master the woman around him, although in effect he is the slave to his own compulsion. Contrast Peter Fleming's observations about his travelling companion Kini Maillart. No, give me Dervla Murphy (a 60 year old lady on a bicycle in the middle of Africa), or Kini Maillart, or Peter Fleming any day. Indeed, Peter Fleming is not just an engaging, amusing and interesting writer who is travelling through a fascinating time and place, but he is above all, the 'real deal'. Highly recommended.

165 The Battle of Coral: Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral May 1968. Lex McAulay NF (361) - Reviewed ★★★★

The Battle of Coral-Balmoral, 40km north of Saigon, was a much larger engagement - with more Australians killed - than the better known (to Australians) Battle of Long Tan. Each however deserved it place in history for its own reasons. Both, however, were distinguished by the sheer desperation of the fighting. It is appropriate perhaps that the some of the best histories of both engagements have been written by Lex McAulay, an army intelligence officer in Vietnam as these events unfolded.

These histories do not answer the question of whether the war, or indeed the battles themselves were justified. While forthright in his own views on the justification for the war, McAulay gives what seems a fairly balanced view of the actual conduct of the campaign. But it is down at the Unit and individual level that he shines, taking up the tradition of Australian war historians from Charles Bean onwards. The story of the soldier, both Australian and Vietnamese is told in all its aspects, the mundane, heroic, ironic and the horrific. McAulay writes of sense of achievement and pride in the Australian victory, but it is (somewhat) muted by the reality of the losses on both sides, and the failures of tactics, equipment and (occasionally) command that he is honest enough to acknowledge.

To acquire (and read) these books is sometimes seen as a patriotic endeavour, reinforcing a certain jingoistic view of history and the world. One suspects the hand of editors and publisher pushing this line. But to give McAulay credit (and many other Australian war historians), the honest reporting of the 'din of battle' is one of the best places to start to make an attempt to understand both the merits and errors of Australia's involvement in - what has been for a very small country - a great many wars. The key note in McAulay's book is rememberance, not triumphalism or justification of some 'position', and he has succeeded remarkably well. Highly recommended.

166 On a Shoestring to Coorg: A Travel Memoir of India. Dervla Murphy NF (261) - Reviewed ★★★★½

For once not on a bicycle, Dervla Murphy travels through Southern India with her five year old daughter, giving rein to what must be one of the world's strongest travelling compulsions. But for someone whose wanderlust is so deeply embedded, she also seems to have a great attachment to place. In Ireland she still lives in the house she grew up in, and on this journey settles into and writes lyrically (and with an finely tuned political and sociological eye) about village life in the district of Coorg in the Indian State of Karnataka.

It is apparent for Murphy the 'journeying' is of secondary importance (she admits to not being able to fix her own bicycle). Her central interest is in people and culture. And there are wonderfully observant portraits of everyone from exiled Tibetans (in replanted communities) to the villagers of the Coorg who straddled ancient traditions and the modern world. Murphy, however, reserves some of her most acute observations to how she and her daughter react to an alien but not-so-different world. Murphy has a great sympathy for the people around her. There's an evident respect for what she comes to know about them (including the things she finds unpalatable such as the caste distinctions), and an acknowledgement of the limitations of her understanding. It seems to me that this is what makes for some of the very best travel writing, and brings to mind Michael Wood's The Smile of Murugan: A South Indian Journey ' which covers some of the same territory. Murphy has written many books, but if you were to choose one to start with this might be the one of the best. Highly recommended.

167 China Correspondent. Agnes Smedley NF (365) - Reviewed ★★★★

Agnes Smedley is one of a handful of Westerners that have (or had) iconic status within China due to their involvement in supporting or publicising either China and/or the Chinese Communist Movement in the 1930's and 1940's. This group includes Edgar Snow, Rewi Alley, George Hogg, Norman Bethune, Nym Wales, Joseph Needham, Anna Louise Strong and George Hatem. In the late 1940's and through the 1950's China's and the West's attitudes hardened against each other, effectively closing the door to any new member of the group.

Although Smedley died in 1950, from the chronic disease that was already evident as she was writing this book in 1943, her lifelong support (and some might say a life given in support) of the poor and oppressed provided a (albeit faint) narrative counterpoint within Chinese society to their demonisation of the West and Westerners between 1949 and 1973.

In her lifetime, her books (along with Edgar Snow's and Nym Wale's) gave the West its first glimpse of Mao Tse-tung and the Communist armies operating in China against the Japanese. And although Snow has been criticised for allowing Mao some editorial control over his book, it is evident that Smedley simply told the story as she saw it, without regard to how flattering or scathing it seemed at times. Ironically Mao gave her considerable access, but what Smedley didn't realize at the time was that Mao had become smitten with Smedley's Chinese translater. Referred to in this book as a 'former Shanghai actress', Jiang Qing later married Mao and became the foremost instigator of terror in the Cultural Revolution and later led the 'Gang of Four' in an attempt to wrest control of China from Mao's appointed successor.

Smedley's real contribution though, was to travel with and tell the story of the Communist and Koumintang armies who were at war with Japan from as early as 1937, and with each other from the 1920's through to 1949. Smedley at that time had taken a significant role in setting up medical services within the armies, and particularly in supporting front line medical units. She travelled extensively, often on foot or horseback, including long periods with guerilla units. At the same time she had considerable access to the military and political leaders of the day. A large part of this book is drawn from her diaries at this time, and if she perhaps over-faithfully repeats stories she has been told about 'heroic incidents', she also gives very raw and sometimes very unflattering reports of individuals and military units on all sides of the political spectrum. What is most evident, however, is that she is working herself to death during this period.

Modern readers will find that her style of writing, and the subject matter, has not aged well. Although Smedley gives the reader a brilliant window into Chinese history in the 30's and 40's, the casual reader (and historian) will have difficulty summoning an interest in a subject that is effectively obscured by the tens of millions of Chinese who died in the 1950's and 1960's as a result of Mao's persecutions and mismanagement. This is one for the historians, or those interested in Smedley's life, or (as in my case) those who chase the threads that connect the lives of foreigners who 'strode the stage' within Chinese history but whose lives are virtually unknown in the West.

168 Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: History's Greatest Naval Disaster. James Delgado NF (225) - Reviewed ★★★★½

There is a bit of a sense that this book overreaches itself when it uses the kind of subtitle more at home in those block-buster movies, 'History's Greatest Naval Disaster'. All that is missing is the exclamation mark. Oddly enough though, this is the only fault I can find with this very well written look at what is known about the attempted Mongol invasions of Japan in the 13th Century. Delgado, a marine archaeologist, gives a workmanlike account of Mongol, Japanese and Chinese history during this period, and a very restrained account of what has been achieved so far in terms of revealing the sunken Mongol ships along the shores of Japan. On top of this, he leads the reader through a very well argued account of how the historiography and mythologising of those events has evolved over time. It comes as a surprise to learn that the story of the 'kamikaze' typhoon that purportedly wiped out the Mongol fleet at the instigation of the Japanese Emperor had very little currency in Japan until the 19th Century, or that during the period of Japanese isolation prior to the Meiji Restoration all mention of the Mongol Invasion attempt was suppressed. Delgado concludes his account with some observations about the evolution and potential of marine archaeology, noting that efforts to uncover the remnants of the Mongol fleet have fallen away as the Japanese economy has languished. What comes across, however, is Delgado's certain belief that major finds will be uncovered when the money, and the expertise, is available to search in deeper waters around Japan.

There are a few photographs in the book, but as in any paperback, they are limited. There is no doubt that there's a coffee-table sized book with rich illustrations hanging around this story somewhere in the future, but in the meantime there are resources on the Internet for those who'd seek them out, including this from Delgado and this from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and a Japanese archaeologist's Thesis on the shipwrecks, and a journal article from the same writer. All of these links contain photographs of items mentioned in Delgado's books. A 'latest update' report contains details of the latest ship discovery and information about sites in Vietnam mention by Delgado. As for Delgado's book; well it ticked all the boxes for me. It didn't attempt more than the evidence (so far) warranted, it opened up other areas of interest, and it was thoughtful without requiring a huge mental effort. Highly recommended.

169 Wild Honey: More Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek NF (290) - Reviewed ★★★★

Sequels, such as this one to Bookey Peek's first book about her Zimbabwean wildlife reserve, can never achieve the surprise (and perhaps delight) of a first essay into someone else's world. But it is a measure of the richness of that world that her second book engages and entertains as much as the first. Peek's talent for recounting the small details as well as the broad strokes of human and animal existence (and how little separates them) brings to life an extraordinary place and time, the Matobo Hills in southern Zimbabwe in the early years of the new century. This was a time of hyper-inflation and the breakdown of civil order and infrastructure, as Zimbabwe spiralled into chaos. And yet - and this is a very Peek kind of observation - she notes that in some ways this brought out the qualities of mutual support among people, and she sets her focus on the next generation, teaching children to appreciate Africa's wildlife and environment.

What is missing is the rawness of her first book, where the travails of existence of her family and the peril that faces the world they live in are slowly revealed. Inconvenience turning into difficulty, difficulty turning into nightmare, but in such an insidious way (and told so well) that the author and the reader share the experience of reflecting on how it is possible to regard the impossible as possible, and live through and rise above bad times. But whereas in her first book it is not at all clear whether Peek and her place in the bush will survive, by the second book you appreciate that this is a person with a huge amount of resilience - we used to call it 'pluck'. And you begin to understand that this resilience comes not from some sense of superiority based on race or religion or birthright, but from the example of the animals all around her. In that sense, Wild Honey is equally the story of the warthog and the honey beaver that are adopted by Peek, and who in turn adopt her into that wider family of life on earth. Highly recommended, but start with 'All the Way Home' to really appreciate this.

170 Beyond the Wild Wood: Further Stories from an African Wildlife Sanctuary. Bookey Peek (343) NF - Reviewed ★★★★

This is the third in Bookey Peek's series of books about the wildlife sanctuary that she and her partner run in the Matobo Hills in Southern Zimbabwe. Once again he story and the telling of it are both done very well. As Peek herself notes, there are still many more stories to tell - because (as you come to realise) she has a talent for telling other people's stories as well as her own, and then of course the stories that the animals share with her (by dint of her careful observations). All of these stories blend together against the background of a country that you begin to appreciate is much more than a few headlines and a sinister reputation. It is perhaps Peek's greatest achievement that after reading these books you get a hankering to see and experience this country for yourself.

Looking back on the three books which I read in fairly quick succession, it seemed at first that the first had a kind of wild energy that settled down in the subsequent books, and to a certain extent that is true. But the reader would do well to start with any of the three volumes, and I suspect might find - as I did - that Peek has infused all of the books with an extraordinary 'aliveness' and given granted the reader the gift of a kind of astonishment as they find themselves drawn into a world they hadn't imagined existed. Highly recommended.

171 Nehru: The Making of India. M.J. Akbar NF (609) - Reviewed ★★★★

This book opens with an unbelievably tedious account of Jawaharlal Nehru's childhood. The man who led India to independence, Gandhi's chosen successor, drives the reader to utter distraction with his - and his father's - obsession with acquiring and cultivating British upper class status and manners in the early 1900's. I am not sure that M.J.Akbar appreciates how repulsive is the story of young Nehru that the reader - if he or she can bear to persist - has to drag themselves through during the first hundred pages of his otherwise brilliant biography. Perhaps Akbar's intention is to contrast Nehru's early life and with what he became, perhaps the only person in modern Indian history who stands comparison with Gandhi for both his character and his achievements.

The stunning contrast between the privileged youth, and the man who welcomed imprisonment and faced danger is extraordinary. Akbar is most certainly a sympathetic biographer, at times he seems almost dazzled by his subject. And he certainly doesn't spare Nehru's detractors his scorn. But throughout he seems to have done his research carefully. If his comprehensive assassination of the character of Jinnah reflects a certain passionate view, it is all the more thorough for being meticulously backed up with documents and apparently independent accounts.

You could scarcely ask for a better or more readable account of the development of Indian independence, and particularly how the very many Indians working towards it were influenced by and reacted to (and against) Mahatma Gandhi. The drama and tragedy of the partition of British India into the Republics of India and Pakistan is laid out. I would only recommend reading this in conjunction with a biography a little more sympathetic to Jinnah's role in the creation of Pakistan. I highly recommend this book as an introduction to the history of Indian independence and to the life of a man who was not only influential in the founding of India, but also in global politics in the 1950's and early 1960's.

172 Those in Peril. Nicolas Freeling - Reviewed ★★★

Lightweight perhaps, but Freeling does something with language that is always special. It's a kind of shorthand that blends thought and dialogue, and leaves enough gaps to give the reader a sense of the disjointedness of real life captured in a crime novel. Those that know Freeling will enjoy this, but those looking for an introduction to him might do better to look at one of his early much grittier novels.

173 Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Treasures. Richard Leakey NF (319) - Reviewed ★★★★

Leakey gives his own very personal account of his appointment to the role of Head of the Kenya Wildlife Service, his subsequent fight to preserve Kenya's reserves and eliminate corruption, and his eventual hounding from the job and triumphant return. It's all a bit of a roller coaster story, but if you take into account his tendency to say what he feels rather than what might be politic in the circumstances (which he holds to be a virtue most of the time, but also a fault every now and then) then this is a very readable and believable story. It is almost mandatory, however, to read this is conjunction with almost any other book that gives a wider perspective on the events of these years - 'The Fate of the Elephant' by Chadwick might be my pick. Not that Leakey is unreliable, but he writes this entirely inside his own perspective. This allows his passion to shine through, and gives the book tremendous energy, but you feel that you are being taken at a great pace down a particular path and the urge to check the map - the bigger picture - begins to niggle as the journey progresses. And it's not just conservation, but also a book about African politics, tribalism and corruption. Interestingly, one of the people who engaged my sympathy and interest in this story is President (and dictator) Daniel arap Moi. The relationship between the democratic, but fiercely patriotic, Leakey, and the wily Moi is a fascinating backdrop to his work in conservation, and eventually politics. All in all an excellent book, highly recommended in the company of others on this subject.

End 2012

This closes out my 2012 Reading.