But history makes fools of us all. We make deals with dictators, and reap the whirlwind of terrorism. We promote democracy, and watch Islamists gain power from Iraq to Palestine. We leap into humanitarian interventions, and get bloodied in Somalia. We stay out, and watch genocide engulf Rwanda. We intervene in Afghanistan and then depart, and watch the Taliban take over. We intervene in Afghanistan and stay, and end up trapped there, with no end in sight. — Ross Douthat of New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/opinion/31douthat.html

More books worth listening too… maybe…

Posted on 30 January 2008 by Erwin

The first two of these were written by Ben Mezrich – who did an interesting job on the “Ugly Americans” story about some traders in Japan. All 6 of these are a little outside the scope of what I would normally read, which I suppose is all the more reason to give them a shot ;-)

  • In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg: 4 x 6]
  • Bringing Down the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg 4 x 366]
  • Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg 2.5 x 39]
  • Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg: 4.5 x 208]
  • Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg: 4.0 x 97]
  • Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace (Audible) (Amazon) [Avg: 4.5 x 31]

Ever being the contrarian, the premise of “Rigged” sounds interesting and the score is so low, I’m going to give it a shot. Most of Amazon wrote that they hated it… Will I? We’ll give Ben a chance… ;-)

UPDATE: Completed reading all of the above that I’m interested in. I’ve stricken ”Chasing Cool” from the list as it no longer seems so interesting and I’m fortunate enough to have a very wise and experienced “Marketing Mentor” ;-)

Of the books above, “In the Ruins of Empire” is an absolute must read. Bringing Down the House, Rigged and Liar’s Poker are each interesting stories, Liar’s Poker probably being the most educational of the group. Each was entertaining.

I’m trying to decide if I should read “Legacy of Ashes”…

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