Reviews coming up shortly
[ by Charles Cameron — so many really good books, eh? ]
.
Two very important books:
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross brings us up to speed on Al Qaeda by understanding what they say and do. Richard Landes gives a breathtakingly wide-angle view of the critical importance of apocalyptic — secular versions included.
August 3rd, 2011 at 1:34 am
Hi Charles, I’m so far behind…don’t get me started. Both of these titles look very good. I’ve six books in progress…plus blogs, papers, and other stuff. Thanks for making me aware of these—they’ll make the stack…
August 3rd, 2011 at 1:47 am
Look FWD to your reviews!
August 4th, 2011 at 9:43 am
Hi Charles,I recommend David Grays ‘Black Mass’ similar subject matter, cracking read.
August 4th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Hi Joey, Gray’s Black Mass is a good book, however he had the pesky habit of imputing motive on this evidence. For instance, he suggested that the us of Universal Adversary had roots in theology, when in fact it was probably a bureaucrat or contractor attempting at any cost not to offend any group. Gray does a fine job of describing the migration of utopian theory from Christianity to Marxism and then co-opted by the neocons, however, his broad brush approach assumed too much. I recommend it, but don’t agree with some of his conclusions (particularly the parts that read like a political hit job).
August 4th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I’m not sure what you mean by the reference to the Universal Adversary?He’s a unique character, and through his life has journeyed from the Thatcher right to somewhere that doesn’t exist on the standard political spectrum, a place where political fig leaves don’t exist, he is brilliant when talking about Tony Blair, it is less a political hit job than a spiritual one!
August 4th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Joey, There was a reference to a Homeland Security memo (he provided a link) where he linked the use of Universal Adversary to a Christian theological motive. Agree on Blair.
August 4th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
ah ok