TSF Book Club
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Following on from "The Big Short" i read a book called "Fools Gold" by Gillian Tett
It's essentially the story of credit derivatives, and how they went from their inception in the '90s right through to the shitstorm they created in 2008, told through the eyes of JP Morgan, and the team that essentially "created" them.
It was interesting to see the story told from the other side, and see how we got from some smart people creating the fantasy of reducing or spreading risk (and believing it) to everything falling in a heap. It's pretty technical at times (mainly for those of us without a background in finance) but i guess it has to be to tell the story.
The way the process was abused, and the assumptions that were made, are startling with the benefit of hindsight. The complete lack of oversight by regulators with regards to a lot of the processes and assumptions are also telling.
In the end, JP Morgan, thanks to their culture, and the fact they paid at least some attention to their risk modelling, emerged from the crisis as pretty much the top dogs on Wall Street, despite the fact they pretty much created this shit to make more money to stop themselves being left behind. However the writer goes pretty light on the main "characters" inside JP Morgan considering their role in the creation of the system, but also their involvement in the lobbying that kept regulation at bay.
As a study of human behaviour, it's a pretty good read i think.
I'm now reading Beevor's book on the Spanish civil war. I had no idea Spain was so fucked up at the start of the 20th century.
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@mariner4life said in TSF Book Club:
I'm now reading Beevor's book on the Spanish civil war. I had no idea Spain was so fucked up at the start of the 20th century.
Fan of Antony Beevor ever since reading Berlin and Stalingrad.
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@antipodean said in TSF Book Club:
@mariner4life said in TSF Book Club:
I'm now reading Beevor's book on the Spanish civil war. I had no idea Spain was so fucked up at the start of the 20th century.
Fan of Antony Beevor ever since reading Berlin and Stalingrad.
Those two are superb as is D Day and The Second World war ,I found the Spanish civil war book fairly tedious in comparison .
The war in the pacific doesn't get the same amount of attention as Europe but this is a great read, quite detailed about how fucked up the campaign in China was -the japs were still advancing when the nukes were dropped and also how many people suffered for MacArthurs ego. Also the aussies were pissed off when it came out about how their troops were depicted but imho they were being incredibly precious about what was actually said. Also a fair bit about the way the yanks were keen to destroy europes colonies in the east which came back to take a huge bite out of their arses 20 years down the track.
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Yeah that book was great, Gillian Tett is fricking excellent - writes for the FT. Jamie Dimon who came out of the book very well turned down the role of Treasury Secretary this year unfortunately.
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Probably the right place, but topically... -
LtGen James Mattis' Reading List | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Commander, United States Marine Corps Forces, Central Command Reading List Commander's Intent: The Global War on Terrorism is a long war, and as such we need to continue our preparation to be engaged in all aspects of this war. For our current fights the MARCENT Reading List provides a collection...
General James Mattis reading list for soldiers under his command, I've read a few, if you have an interest in the modern world & warfare & Islam & so on its pretty good. Hence his nickname "The Warrior Monk"
No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam – Reza Aslan
Imperial Grunts – Robert Kaplan
The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror – Bernard Lewis
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer – Nathaniel Fick
All the Shah’s Men – Stephen Kinzer
The Utility of Force – General Rupert SmithAre all pretty good, but there's a stack on there
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@gollum Good list and while erudite officers are better than dolts, I'm reminded that General Westmoreland kept beside his bed in Saigon "Mao Tse-tung’s little red book on theories of guerilla warfare" and bragged that he had "long [been] a student of the Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu". No evidence that he was interested in applying that knowledge to the theatre...
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So you've been publicly shamed by Jon Ronson.
I think this has been reviewed before here, really enjoyed it . Very thought provoking , most of the people shamed were decent people who were jumped on by the perennially outraged who lurk on twitter looking for someone to bully. He looks into how people deal with public shaming and how anonymity makes people behave so appallingly. There's a bit in there about the Stanford prison experiment too.
His other book men who stare at goats is very good too, nothing at all like the movie.
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I suppose this could go in the music thread also.... I've been pulling out my old hardcore records after reading it.
Harley Flanagan - Life of my Own
If you dont know.....Harley Flanagan pretty much invented the whole hardcore music scene in the states... was a child prodigy and family friend of Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg amongst others.
By age 10 he was playing regurlarly at Max's Kansas City and CBGB, drumming in his aunt's punk band The Stimulators, and socializing with Blondie's Debbie Harry and Cleveland's Dead Boys.
all befroe the age of 12 He became close to many stars of the early punk rock scene like Joe Strummer, Ian Dury, Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry the UK Subs etc etc etc. Was taught to play bass by members of Bad Brains. Hung out and caused havoc with the Beastie Boys before they turned into rappers. Madonna even gets a mention (something along the lines of - I knew her when she was just another club skank, before she became an international pop star/club skank) He then went on to start the notorious pioneering hardcore band Cro-Mags.
Basically Harley was brought up on the streets of the Lower East Side, pretty amazing that he even survived childhood immersed in a jungle of crime, drugs, abuse and poverty.
Such a good read.... Anthony Bourdain described it as folows: "Don't even pretend to talk about New York... if you don't read this." "This book is the punch in the face you want and need."
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Finished one, read one and started one while on holiday
Finished - Yeah, yeah, yeah! A complete history of pop - Bob Stanley
A pretty comprehensive and reasonably timelined history of who and what was making the charts in various eras with good background as to how it evolved. The writer picks up a thread and runs with it only to have to backtrack a bit to then pick up another. Even though I sped through a few chapters that held no interest to me most of it was good.Read - Soldier Spy - Tom Marcus
An inside account of the work of MI5s surveillance team by an ex operator and the personal toll on his life. A good read even if some of the technical stuff has been well explained before by the likes of Stella Rimington. Some great detail from inside a few operations although at times I got the feeling that some of what he was writing was guesswork on detail outside of his compartmental unit in order to flesh the stories out.Started - Stuart MacBride's latest (non Logan McRae) gruesome dsyfunctional police story, 'Dark so Deadly'
Love his warped and twisted world and can't wait for someone brave enough to start a TV series based on his work. -
@Rocky-Rockbottom said in TSF Book Club:
just reread Anton Olivers 2005 book, a real page turner.
What I'd like to find is a complete list of AB's biographies and work my way through the lot.
How about everyone else here do all the legwork and compile the list then I'll track 'em down and read them. Here let me start:
2005: Anton Oliver.
Can't be that many. How many come out a year, about 2 or 3?
Recall reading a few as a kid, Meads, etc.
ps, Jesus! Laurie Mains! What a cock!
Mitchell, Deans, more cock action.
Murray Mexteds is awful, he lost me when he started talking about spoofing. Jeff Wilsons is not that good either , nor is Cullens.
Norm Hewitts is pretty interesting, Jonahs is good too.The best one I've read is Dan Crowleys, unfortunately hes not a former ab.
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The old book club has been a bit slow recently.
Thought I would add in the 'Spy' series of books by Mick Herron. A bit hard to describe in many ways. Characters like a Stuart MacBride novel mixed with a bit of Le Carre.
The whole premise sets up some great possibilities. Basically a bunch of fuckups from MI5 that seem to attract the trouble they have been hidden away from.
Definitely start a the first book to get best effect.
Would make a great TV show. -
Peter F Hamilton has a new book out shortly - will be all over that!
I recently read Darien: Empire of Salt by Conn Iggulden. I really enjoyed his Caesar and Ghengis series, this isn't based on actual history (although it talks a bit about 'old earth').
A good read, keen to get the second book in the series now!
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Seveneves
Neal Stephenson loves him a technical discussion, as anyone who had read Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle would know. Here, it is no different.
Its modern day, at a point where something fucks the moon up into a few big chunks. People are initially curious, then slightly terrified, as various scientists project that the moon will break into more and more pieces, eventually fucking the Earth up. So they need an escape plan.
Its a concerning read to start with, when you understand that we're pretty vulnerable as a 1-planet species. Companies like SpaceX give me hope that we can at least get off the planet, but jeez there are a shitload of challenges to face once that is done.
I won't spoil it but eventually there is light at the end of the tunnel. You'll no doubt discover this upon reading, when you realise the present-day aspects of the book finish about two-thirds in, and therefore provide far more in terms of story.
4 out of 5 extremely long technical explanations.
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Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45: Hastings, Max: 9780007219810: Amazon.com: Books
