Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Niall Ferguson "Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World" (Penguin)





Ferguson writes as a pro-Empire historian, and thus a non-Marxist, but one who is not blind to the awful aspects of the process. I learned much from this book. For example, the Indian "mutiny" of 1857 can be directly linked to the impact of missionary activity, which had been barred by the East India Company, but which had been allowed to intrude in the years leading up to the mutiny. Second, who knew that India sent more troops to WW1 than Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa combined? And third, that Roosevelt and the rest of the American leadership in the lead up to their involvement in WW2 were explicitly anti-Empire - that their support for the UK was conditional on it not being support for the British Empire as it stood. (As it turned out, Britain was broke after the war, so the empire collapsed of its own accord. The fact that the US was the creditor now makes it seem that the cause and consequence may have happily linked in the Americans' minds.) This is a good book, well written.

Jonathan Scott "Into The Groove: The Story of Sound From Tin Foil to Vinyl" (Bloomsbury)




Into the Groove by Jonathan Scott is a detailed history of recorded sound, from discoveries and experiments to popularisation and improvement of playback material.

This probably would have been more history than I would have wanted if it wasn't for the fact that Scott made it all so interesting. I learned far more than I expected, especially the time before records. Before the advent of CDs and all that has come after, most people of age will remember their early experiences with records. Probably their parent's or sibling's albums. The first I bought with my own money was Deep Purple In Rock in 1970. I never stopped buying them.

This book will fill in any gaps you have (I had a lot) in the history of recording and playing back sound and make you recall just how special it is to put an album on. He is right when he highlights how playing an album is different, and for many better, than just digitally pulling up a file.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in audio, from listening to the technical aspects. This is indeed a history, but one that is told in an engaging manner that keeps your interest piqued.

Simon Winder "Germania: A Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern" (Picador)




Writing “German” history prior to 1871 presents a daunting task because before that date there was no country known as “Germany.” The land we think of as Germany was composed of numerous principalities, dukedoms, bishoprics, and independent city-states that popped in and out of existence owing to the vagaries of hereditary suzerainty and noble marriages. Winder notes that successive historical maps of the country resemble nothing so much as "an explosion in a jigsaw factory." He does not undertake to present a chronological narrative; rather, he travels around the countryside and regales the reader with stories relevant to the place he is visiting, although the history still manages to be presented in roughly chronological order.

Winder is not one to make heroes of long-gone historical characters. Of Charlemagne he writes:

"As usual with such leaders, historians – who are generally rather introverted and mild individuals – tend to wish Charlemagne to be at heart keen on jewels, saints’ relics and spreading literacy, whereas an argument might be made for his core competence being the efficient piling-up of immense numbers of dead Saxons.”

Rather, the “heroes” of Winder’s story are the Free Imperial Cities such as Strasburg , Nuremberg, and the Hanseatic League that endured the middle ages as independent entities fostering trade and cosmopolitan values.

Winder breaks off his history in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis, avoiding not only the nastiest period in German history, but also its remarkable economic recovery after World War II. But he does manage to get in a few jabs at modern Germany, as with his exploration of what it means to “be” German, spoofing the Nazi’s efforts to create a pure Aryan race. After a short summary of the shifts of various unrelated tribes over the territory for about a thousand years, he says, “In practice Germany is a chaotic ethnic lost-property office, and the last place to be looking for ‘pure blood.’” Indeed, he sees German reverence for their deep past as having a corrosive and disastrous effect:

"There can be few stronger arguments for the damage that can be done by paying too much attention to history than how Germany has understood and taught its ancient past, however aesthetically pleasurable it can be in operas."

Winder livens up his sweep of German history with a tourist’s eye for the unique and noteworthy in his travels, describing the Christmas markets, the Ratskellers (with their massive glasses for serving beer), the ubiquitous castles, dense forests, flower-bedecked windows on half-timbered houses, marzipan in a variety of shapes (including, in one Lübeck shop, models of the Brandenburg Gate, the Eiffel Tower, and the Houses of Parliament) and “endless sausages.” He quips, “There is always a pig and a potato just around the next corner…..”

Germania is a quirky book that could hardly be classified as serious history, although it contains a lot of factual information on an important topic. ("Germany," the author writes, "is a place without which European culture makes no sense.”) Perhaps “travelogue with historical background” might be a more apt description. The writing is sprightly and entertaining, and the book presents an often delightful and decidedly unique guide to the region.

David Aaronovitch "Voodoo Histories: How Conspiracy Theory Has Shaped Modern History"  (Vintage)





An intelligent, well-researched book about conspiracies, their origins, what they mean, and why they matter. Aaranovich covers both the biggies (JFK, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion) and a few I'd never even heard of (the strange death of Marilyn Monroe, and the murder of Hilda Murrell). He knows his material well, having a firm grasp on the various rhetorical gambits and logical fallacies that seem to reappear in almost every conspiracy theory. Presenting himself as a sincere advocate for rational, independent thought, he manages to keep his head about himself as he patiently reviews the available evidence about him without getting upset at these rather ridiculous theories' very existence. And some of these theories are truly ridiculous; there's plenty here for anyone who's spent an afternoon surfing bizarre conspiracy Web sites just to laugh at them. The author's research also takes him to some genuinely interesting and unexpected places, a shadowy world of ideologically motivated fraudsters and kooks that might as well be respectable history's seedy underbelly.

If I've got a complaint about "Voodoo Histories," it's about its sequencing. While Aaranovich writes elegantly and includes bits of cogent analysis throughout this book, it isn't until its conclusion that he begins to elucidate why so many people find conspiracy theories so attractive. While much of his analysis is spot-on, it probably should have come earlier. Without this context, some readers might mistake "Voodoo Histories" for a useful but insufficiently incisive recounting of and rebuttal to some annoying persistent popular historical myths. It isn't until the final chapter of this book that Aaranovich goes in for the kill: those who treat conspiracies as quirky "counternarratives" to official histories ignore the harm they do. The myths of the Third Reich, to use the most famous example, drew heavily from conspiracy theories and conspiracist logic. Although Aaranovich concedes that it's sometimes difficult to see the world with clear, reasonable eyes, he argues that the price of refusing to do so, of succumbing to sloppy, emotionally reassuring popular narratives, is just too high. I tend to think that after finishing "Voodoo Histories," many of his readers will be inclined to agree with him.

Eric Hobsbawm "Uncommon People: Resistance, Rebellion and Jazz" (Abacus)




Uncommon People is a collection of Eric Hobsbawm’s essays spanning the majority of his long career, from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. It brings together a wide range of topics, collected under four headings: The Radical Tradition, Country People, Contemporary History and Jazz.

Under “The Radical Tradition”, essays address Thomas Paine, the Luddites, the radicalism of shoemakers, the difference between labour traditions in France and Britain, the development of a distinctive working-class culture, the skilled manual wage worker in Victorian moral frameworks, the iconography of male and female representations in labour movements, the origins and history of May Day as a working-class celebration, the relationship between socialism and the avant-garde, and Labour Party stalwart Harold Laski.

“Country People” includes two longer essays, one providing a general overview of peasant politics, and a second study of land occupations, as well as an essay on the Sicilian Mafia.

The rubric “Contemporary History” features pieces Hobsbawm wrote while the embers were still hot, with pieces on Vietnam and guerilla warfare, May 1968, and sexual liberation. As a result, they tend to feel dated, though as contemporary reports are still of interest for this very reason.

Finally, the “Jazz” section contains half a dozen reviews and short writings on Sidney Bechet, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, jazz in Europe, jazz after 1960, and jazz’s relationship with blues and rock. A final essay, slotted under this Jazz heading, was written on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in America, and highlights the oft-forgotten benefits and advances this event brought about, from the notion of a Utopia to the development of a theory of evolution, and the spread of staple foodstuffs like potatoes and maize.

The problem with this collection is that being of such a broad spectrum, only a handful of the essays are likely to appeal to the reader. Some of the pieces, particularly the shorter jazz reviews and essays, are written in an easy, affable manner, whilst many of the essays on peasant and working-class movements are far more technical and heavily footnoted, and really require a background understanding to get anything from them. Nevertheless, there are plenty of gems here: the essay on the Luddites amongst other machine-breaking groups highlights how the word inherited has little to do with the motivations of those people; his coverage of the development of a distinctive working-class culture highlights the symbolism of something as mundane as the flat cap; whilst the essay on the Vietnam war and guerilla warfare has interesting implications for modern day conflicts such as in Palestine and Israel.

Sarah Bradford "Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy" (Penguin Books)




I think the main thing I came away with after reading this is that Lucrezia Borgia, whose rampant rumours of poisoning, incest, and other sins, was not nearly as interesting as historians have generally made her out to be! That’s a compliment to the author, in a way, thanks to her deconstruction of the Borgia mythos. The legend around Lucrezia is that she went through three husbands, had incestuous relations with both her father, Pope Alexander VI, and her brother Cesare, and engaged in enough sexual exploits to earn her the tag of Rome’s ‘greatest whore’, but this has been mostly exaggerated dramatics typical of Renaissance Italy’s colourful and competitive historians.

Exaggerations are always tipped with truth, of course, which is what makes them so believable. Lucrezia did go through three husbands in a scandalously fast-paced fashion, but it was due more to her father’s and brother’s ambitions than her own. Her first husband was forced to falsely claim impotence to have their marriage annulled when Alexander felt he was no longer politically useful. The second husband, also once favoured and then deemed to be a hindrance, was rather spectacularly murdered at the behest of Lucrezia's brother Cesare. Her third husband, Alfonso d’Este, lasted the longest, knocked her up quite a bit, and even managed to outlive her. As for the incest speculations that have long swirled around the Borgias, most legitimate Renaissance scholars put no stock in them whatsoever. While it’s true that Alexander was close to his daughter and very carefully orchestrated her personal life, he did so purely out of personal ambition. Unpleasant, perhaps, but certainly the norm of that period. Daughters were little more than political tools and pawns. Turns out that accusing someone of incest in those days was one of the worst insults one could deliver about another, so Alexander’s and Cesare’s many enemies enjoyed flinging that one out there, much like a modern “yo momma!” epithet.

Bradford is meticulous in her description of this time of enormous upheaval in the region, with Venetians fighting Florentines and the French taking sides, and nobles and politicians rubbing each other out regularly (hey, there’s a reason Italy is the birthplace of the Mafia!). Lucrezia’s life story is told primarily through her correspondence – to family, children, friends, and lovers – and while it’s a valuable and fascinating firsthand glimpse into her life, it tends to come off a little dry and dull. Still, for any collector of Renaissance history, it’s a solid addition and I would recommend it for that reason.

William Doyle "The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford Universsity Press)




Doyle provides a very compact and dense summary of the French Revolution. He summarizes the causes which started the revolution, the events which happened during the revolution, and the effects it caused, some of which have reverberated down to the modern day. The short chapters make the book easy to read in a few sittings, and the chapter titles give the reader the direction for the chapter (Why it happened, how it happened, what it ended, what it started). Doyle mentions all the key players, political parties, and the international incidents the revolution impacted.

Also included is a very detailed timeline, a note on the Revolutionary calendar, and a nice selection of suggestions for further reading. As always the Very Short Introductions pack a heavy punch in spite of their small size (this one is just 100 pages)

M.I. Finley "The World Of Odysseus" (Penguin)






Ah, for the golden age of academic writing. Is it beautiful? No. But it is clear, concise, and argumentative. No 'pointing out a problem' stuff here; Finley just gives you the answers as he sees them. You'll be in no doubt as to what he thinks at any stage in your reading. For instance, "the historian of ideas and values has no more Satanic seducer to guard against than the man on the Clapham omnibus."
But this isn't popular history by any means, for good or bad. There are no catchy anecdotes, no sex, and murder stories. It's just a solid suggestion of what a world looked like, in this case, the 'Dark Ages' in the eastern Mediterranean, after the Mycenaeans and before the time the Homeric poems were coming together. Basically, not very attractive.

From Wikipedia, I discovered that -
"He taught at Columbia University and City College of New York, where he was influenced by members of the Frankfurt School who were working in exile in America. In 1952, during the Red Scare, Finley was fired from his teaching job at Rutgers University; in 1954, he was summoned by the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and asked whether he had ever been a member of the Communist Party USA. He invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer."

He was fired at the end of the year and could never work in the U.S. again. A political martyr who ended up becoming a British citizen and getting knighted, after hanging out with the Frankfurters in New York? That's my kind of man.

Nancy Goldstone "Daughters of the Winter Queen"





Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I (and therefore granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots) was married to a lesser noble, Frederick, Elector of Palatine, with the promise that her father would support his efforts to win the crown of Bohemia. James--not exactly know for being fair and honest when it wasn't expedient--backed out of the promise, an act that sent Elizabeth and her family into exile and ultimately led to the devastating Thirty Years War. Despite the loss of his crown and the years of political turmoil, Elizabeth and Frederick got along well; in fact, they produced 13 children, eight sons (two died young) and five daughters (one died at age three). Goldstone's book focuses on the couple's three surviving daughters, the youngest of which, Sophia, ended up named heiress presumptive to the British throne and launches the Hanoverian dynasty, thus fulfilling her grandmother's legacy. The eldest, Elizabeth, was known for her scholarship in languages, mathematics, history, geography, and the arts. She corresponded with and even challenged Rene Descartes, and later, as a Protestant Abbess, befriended William Penn. Both men dedicated books to her. Her sister Louise Hollandine was a talented portrait painter. She shocked her staunchly Calvinist family by fleeing to France and converting to Catholicism at the age of 39; she later took holy orders and also became an abbess. Henriette Marie married a brother of the Prince of Transylvania; sadly, she died of unknown causes at the age of 25, and her husband died only a few months later. Sophia wed the Elector or Hanover. When it appeared that neither William III, now widowed nor the future queen Anne would produce heirs, Parliament enacted the Settlement of 1701, which required any ruler to be Protestant, making Sophia the heiress presumptive. It was her son Charles Louis who later took the throne of Great Britain as George I.

Goldstone provides many details of life at court and in exile, of the daughters' education and quests for suitable spouses, and of the upheaval caused by the religious wars. Her research is meticulous and exhaustive. Overall, an intriguing look into the lives of four 17th-century royal women who struggles to survive and find themselves.

Christian Wolmar "The Subterranean Railway" (Atlantic Book)





I was looking for a book about the London Underground, which would give me a broad overview of its history and development. This book fitted the bill.

Wolmar does a good job of describing the early years of the Underground, carefully charting how it developed and the history behind it. It succeeds in conjuring up a strong sense of what it would have been like in those days and the obstacles the developers had to overcome in order to get the system built.

Unfortunately, all of the last sixty years, the post-war period, is condensed into the last chapter. The author makes the point that not a huge amount happened in this period, but it definitely feels that the author had had enough and just wanted to get the book finished. There's a lot of history to fit in, in just over 300 pages, but I think a little bit more could have been spent on the more recent period.


If you're looking for a readable introduction to the history of the London Underground, then I'm sure you could do much worse than this book.