Tag: history

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#BookReview: Frostbite by Nicola Twilley

Utterly Fascinating Parallels Between History Of Cold Food Tech And AI. This is the book I was reading on my walks in May 2026, and it was truly utterly fascinating to see the parallels between the history of cold food storage and transportation technology – a history of basically the past 150 yrs in particular, though Twilley does indeed also cover how food was cooled and stored before that period as well – and that of the current history-in-the-making of AI technology. One thing that stood out in particular was just how much more power is used for cold food storage and transportation than AI uses – a fact that actually checks out upon an independent deep dive. Another was the rapidity of societal change from “this new tech is harmful” to “this new tech is essential” – Twilley speaking directly of refrigeration of food, yet seemingly *also* speaking to the near future history of AI.

But the history and its parallels aren’t the only details that were fascinating to learn. Twilley covers seemingly everything about the topic, including how foods are kept fresh in grocery stores – and bleeding edge research to extend this in a variety of ways for a variety of foods – but also how the entire concept of cold food storage and transportation is being developed in rising areas such as China and Africa, and the challenges of bringing both regions to the levels that Americans and Western Europeans have now taken for granted for generations.

Overall a truly astounding text full of information that will illuminate several areas of your life that you hadn’t previously considered – likely even if you work in HVAC or (as in my case) have family and friends that do. One that has direct bearing on so many conversations in the zeitgeist of late, including not just AI but also GMO foods, power generation tech, and even cooling technology more generally. Indeed, in questioning whether cooling is an actual net positive for humanity (it is, but Twilley points out some areas where it is genuinely changing us and explores ways these changes may be mitigated), Twilley actually actively adds to even the very conversations she is covering within this text.

Absolutely one book that so very many should read, particularly those that pontificate about certain issues without having any clue about how very small those ant hills are in relation to the hills and indeed mountains of food chilled and refrigerated and the technology – and its power and resource consumption – that enables said mountains to exist at all.

Oh, and one note: As I read the Audible form of this book and this was not an Advance Review Copy, I do not have access to depth of bibliography information. This text would absolutely have the Sagan Standard applied though, so I do hope that the text forms of this book have at *least* 20% bibliography – I just don’t have access to that information as I write this review, and because of the format I consumed the book in, it did not bear on my actual experience with the text.

Very much recommended.

This review of Frostbite by Nicola Twilley was originally written on June 1, 2026.

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#BookReview: The First All-Star Game by Randall Sullivan

Whole Lot Of History. Very Little Baseball. The biggest thing I can tell you about this book in a review is that if you’re expecting a baseball tale – ie, a tale of the game itself… well, technically that is here… but it is less than 10% of the overall text, with another 10% being the bibliography. Meaning 80% of the volume of this book is anything *other than* the titular game.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. Sullivan does a *phenomenal* job tracing the history of virtually everyone who had anything to do with the game… at least anyone in any “official capacity”. So not the hot dog vendors walking the aisles, but damn near anyone remotely connected to anyone who set up the game or was on the field for any part of it.

As a history of America in the 1920s and 1930s, this works well. As a history of baseball up to and slightly beyond this point, it works well. Even as a biography of Babe Ruth, this book works well. Hell, to a slightly lesser extent, as a history of Lou Gehrig, this book works reasonably well.

The one thing this book does not do that well at all is, well, focus on the titular First All-Star Game itself, instead focusing on everything *around* said titular game. To the point that the game itself is damn near anticlimactic or even an actual after thought.

If you’re coming to this book to read in detail about the game itself, I cannot stress enough how very disappointed you will be. But if you’re coming to this book to learn about how the game came to be and, to a degree, what happened to everyone after… yes, this is absolutely that book, and Sullivan does this quite well indeed.

To the level that the only reason for the star deduction? The aforementioned 10% bibliography, when it needed to be at least 50% larger to meet my 15% minimum standard – and yes, in a book like this, it absolutely needs the extra documentation. Particularly as it actively refutes at least a few claims that have been circulating for nearly, if not more than, a century now.

Very much recommended.

This review of The First All-Star Game by Randall Sullivan was originally written on May 30, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Magical Game by Addy Baird

Baseball As Background Yet Overall Enjoyable Enough. This is one of those books that has several flaws – some easily fixed, others not so easily fixed – such that none of them individually are really *that* big of a problem, but in any combination amount to enough of a problem to give many readers at least some pause. Thus, while there isn’t a single issue to hang any particular star deduction on, each of these issues are significant enough to me to be something like a 0.6 star deduction individually… which adds up to 1.8 star deduction across all three, necessitating the rounding up to a 2 star deduction.

First, the one that gets so many nonfiction books: The bibliography clocks in at just 14%, which is *just* shy of the 15% I normally expect (itself a loosened form of my former 20% expectation). Still, I think I’ve allowed even 12-13% to skate by before… except that in this case (and this next bit may well be corrected in the final published version rather than the Advance Review Copy version I’ve had for roughly 4.5 months prior to publication), Baird gets a rather well known fact – a fact so well known it is literally enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York – *completely wrong* in claiming that Hall of Fame *third* baseman Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves was a “first” baseman. Maybe that was a slip. Maybe it was an editor that missed the slip. Maybe it was in fact shoddy scholarship – Jones had retired before Baird says in this text that she became a fan of baseball, though he was elected as a first ballot Hall of Famer during the era Baird claims to have been following the sport. Still, the *just* short bibliography combined with this slip… like I said up front, not necessarily a reason to deduct a star in and of itself, but then we get to…

The perception that Baird may have allowed her own world view to impact her objectivity in reporting basic facts. In this case, I point specifically to the section of the text where Baird is discussing different religious beliefs on the origins of humanity and calling even religions practiced today by literally billions of people (particularly when combined) “myths”. But not only this, but Baird also specifically names Hindu and various Native American religions, among others… while classifying the Abramic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) creation story as “one popular, basic creation myth” before citing the opening lines of the text the Christians call the Book of Genesis. Again, not necessarily something that on its own would have warranted a full star deduction (simply a discussion in the review, as here), but in combination with the bibliography and biography issues above… there’s at least one star gone, with a little extra “oomph”.

Thirdly, we finally get to the title of this review. The way this book ultimately reads, at least to me – and please read the book yourself and leave a review wherever you see this one, and feel free to claim I’m a moron here if you feel the need – is that Baird wanted to write a book about superstitions, rituals, and curses… but needed some kind of narrative structure to enable that discussion in a cohesive and approachable manner. Given that baseball really is filled with all of the above, it makes sense that this sport would be a very conducive narrative structure for such a discussion. But don’t then market this book as a *baseball* book when baseball really is the secondary feature of the book. This is not *really* a book *about* baseball – it is a book *about* Baird’s views on superstitions, rituals, and curses… that uses baseball as a way to explain them.

Still, ultimately, for what it is and indeed for how it is written, this is in fact an engaging and interesting read. It simply isn’t the read that readers would be led to expect they’re getting from the cover and description the weekend before the book’s publication (though these can also be updated at some later time, even, perhaps, before publication even now).

Read this book though. Truly. It really is full of all kinds of fun stories, even if your team isn’t the New York teams Baird prefers herself. You, like me, are probably going to hear stories here that you had never previously known, even if baseball is your complete life. And make sure, again, to leave a review wherever you see this one. My thoughts here could very well be unique to me, and I could in fact be more wrong that right in all that I’ve said here. But this review is true to my own experience with this text, and I will stand by it for that reason alone, even if literally every other reviewer disagrees with me.

Recommended.

This review of The Magical Game by Addy Baird was originally written on May 30, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Beasts Of The East by Andrew Moore

Interesting History Marred By Substandard Bibliography. This text essentially takes Cat Tale by Craig Pittman and does for elk, buffalo, and red wolves what Pittman did for the Florida panther – explain the historic ecology of the animal, how humans nearly wiped it out, and what humans are doing to try to restore it. And yes, even without directly naming Pittman in the text, the story of the Florida panther is at least briefly mentioned here, specifically as it relates to similar issues and interventions with the red wolves.

Along the way, we’re going to meet a *lot* of humans and see their roles in the fall and rise of these species, and we’re going to get a *lot* of discussion of both plant and animal ecology… and how the two different types of scientists and activists are often at odds, or at bare minimum rarely talk in the same “languages”. We’re going to see historic figures both known and not, including some in both areas who have had significant impacts on these creatures in various ways.

All of this is done in a professional journalist tone, but with a clear (if relatively mild) bent to a particular worldview common among professional journalists and scientists. Which will be annoying to some readers, but should only rise to the level of seeking the nearest window for defenestration purposes among the most extremely against this view. Point being, this isn’t a book where the author is going to inject humor or levity really at all – this simply doesn’t appear to be this author’s style, and the style he chooses to use here ultimately works to be informative without being sleep inducing, which can be a very fine line to toe at times.

Really the only actual fault here was the dearth of a bibliography, listing a “selected” bibliography of just 10% of the Advance Review Copy version of the book I read a week before publication (despite having it for several weeks before that), when a bare minimum of 15% – and more typically, particularly for books of this type, 20-30% – documentation is more standard.

Ultimately, the fate of this book will actually have a lot in common with the animals it details: Getting people to actually care about these animals will ultimately determine both their fate and the fate of this book, and indeed one would expect that both sides would help each other in common marketing here. But as a general guide from someone outside of that particular group, I would say that if you’re interested in the history of ecology and the natural North American biome, both in what it was and in how humans have been shaping it these last few hundred years in particular, this is absolutely going to be a book you’ll find interesting. If you’re looking to learn about these issues at all, this will be a solid overview of everything that has transpired through late 2024 or so. And if you’re just looking for a decent doorstop, well, at 400+ pages, eh, this could work in a pinch there too. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of The Beasts Of The East by Andrew Moore was originally written on May 27, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Hardest Longest Race by Eric Moskowitz

Detailed Yet Approachable History of Historic And Even Monumental Event That Is Virtually Unknown. This is exactly the kind of detailed history relying on personal investigation using archived newspapers and similar materials you would expect from an investigative journalist of prior eras. Filled with exactingly precise details and dispelling many myths that arose from both culture and corporate propaganda, this is the kind of history that needs to be written about far more subjects, particularly unknown topics such as this that really did come to shape so much of American culture.

Specifically, a rising yet nowhere near as prominent as he would become Henry Ford and the lengths he went to in order to claim victory in the very first true intercontinental automobile race from New York to Seattle, in an era when most highways were proto-asphalt (macadam) at best and just as likely to be true dirt roads – decades before the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways that moves literally tens of millions of Americans daily, particularly on holiday weekends such as the beginning of Memorial Day weekend as I write this review.

Told in a style reminiscent of both historian and race announcer, this tale is an engaging look at an event that even I had never heard of before, and I’ve literally won an award (long ago) for my knowledge of American history. (No, not just trivia night at a bar. An actual academic award.) Moskowitz does a truly great job of detailing the event and brief yet relevant biographies of the key people within it, and the almost “Return Of The King” epilogue (nowhere *near* that long) does a great job ala a Fallout game of coming back to each of the key players and detailing what happened in their lives after this race.

Oh, and it has a decent bibliography, clocking in at 17% or so – and it is made crystal clear that a more detailed bibliography, citing every individual article found and referenced, would be much, much longer.

Anyone interested in American history of the 2oth century at all, particularly those looking for the lesser known tales outside of the various wars, should absolutely look to this very well done tale.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Hardest Longest Race by Eric Moskowitz was originally written on May 22, 2026.

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#BookReview: American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald

Solid Travelogue/Memoir Needs Documentation To Be Solid As History. This is one of those books where read as a travelogue/ memoir from a 40 ish yr old dude who has lived a life few of us can really imagine (though far too many can imagine quite well, at least in some experiences discussed herein), it really works quite well. Fitzgerald found an esoteric thing connected (ish) to his home area and childhood and uses that in midlife as a way to both connect with people he otherwise would never have met and to examine his own life, and in these aspects the tale here really is a solid slice of Americana as it exists in this post-COVID world.

But approaching this as anything remotely resembling a history of Johnny Appleseed – even though this history is discussed – would be a mistake. Because even though Fitzgerald frequently mentions various actual biographies of Appleseed, he never once actually cites them – at least not in this Advance Review Copy text I’ve had for a little over four months prior to publication day. Indeed, that is actually the star deduction here – there is not one shred of any bibliography at all in this text, when similar nonfiction books – even similar memoir based books! – average out around the 15% or so documentation point.

But there again, Fitzgerald isn’t an academic. At all. As this story will tell you. Repeatedly.

Those interested in seeing the actual lived lives of their fellow humans will enjoy this book. It has an interesting structure and due to the particular event chosen for that structure has an interesting cadence to the tale that is atypical and indeed refreshing to a point, and it reads as particularly raw and honest at pretty well all points herein. Specifically including at least some stories here where Fitzgerald doesn’t exactly come out looking as perfect as those memes say we generally try to show ourselves on Instagram or LinkedIn. And yes, there are even points where the room gets a touch dusty.

Overall an interesting tale that will absolutely appeal to at least some readers, and one that helps bring out the commonalities in so many of us even as so much of our lives tries to tear us apart by our differences, and for that reason alone it should get more attention than it likely will.

Very much recommended.

This review of American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald was originally written on May 9, 2026.

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#BookReview: Paul For The World by Nijay K. Gupta

Deja Vu / Rinse And Repeat. Either Works. I do believe this is the first time in over 1,800 reviews over the last decade where I can truly say that literally everything I said about the author’s previous book – in this case, 2024’s Strange Religion – still applies to this one. Simply swap out any references to the “early church” to the “Pauline epistles” instead, and truly literally that entire review could be here with just those changes.

And so, the rest of the review is a version of exactly that:

“Fascinating History Marred By Prooftexting And Dearth Of Bibliography. This was an utterly fascinating look at the Pauline Epistles and the world they were written in and for. I genuinely learned quite a bit from reading this book, and Gupta kept the overall tone scholarly enough to be sufficiently serious without going into pretentiousness. Indeed, the *only* problems I had here, that are automatic star deductions when I encounter them, are the rampant prooftexting – the practice of citing Bible verses out of context in order to “prove” a particular point – and the dearth of a bibliography, clocking in at just 12% or so of the overall text when 20-30% is more normal in my experience across hundreds of nonfiction titles over the last several years. Even with being more willing to at least *slightly* lower that given more recent experiences, 12% is still simply too low.

But for anyone interested in the history of the Pauline Epistles and how that history could well change how exactly you interpret them, for any reason: read this book. Christians, no matter your bent, read this book and consider its words in relation to your relationship with the Pauline Epistles.

Very much recommended.”

PS Special To The Review of Paul For The World: After you consider this text and write your review of it, you should also read Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity. He too has a very illuminating look at these very books of the Bible.

This review of Paul For The World by Nijay K. Gupta was originally written on May 6, 2026.

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#BookReview: Blue Power by Stuart Schrader

Rise Of The Political Cop. Nearly 15 yrs ago now, when Michael Brown still had almost exactly a year left in his life, Radley Balko released a seminal history of the rise of the militarized police force in the United States he titled Rise Of The Warrior Cop. In it, he traced the history of policing in the American tradition all the way from its origins as the ‘Shire Reef’ in feudal England to its then most modern incarnations. (He has also released an updated version of this book in the last couple of years.)

Here, Schrader does for police unions what Balko did for police militarization, though Shrader’s historical focus is more explicitly limited to the last century or so with only brief mentions of prior periods – including the aforementioned ‘Shire Reef’.

Detailed and decently documented, with its bibliography clocking in at a reasonable 22%, this is yet another book that anyone concerned with the amount of power police wield in modern America will want to read. Schrader does a great job of showing how we got to this point via both intentional machinations… and some sheer dumb luck for those pushing for more unionization of police. Yet despite being a Johns Hopkins professor, this doesn’t really read as an academic tome. Dense, yes, with a *lot* of facts and names and dates, but also decently readable even for those less academically inclined.

Overall a truly solid look at a facet of policing in America that some talk about yet virtually no one understands the history of, this will absolutely fill in that gap for any who care to read it. It also happens to be reasonably balanced, so while there may be annoyances here or there depending on one’s own politics, there isn’t really anything here that seemingly anyone will be looking for the highest possible window to use for defenestration purposes.

Very much recommended.

This review of Blue Power by Stuart Schrader was originally written on April 28, 2026.

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#BookReview: This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage

Pessimist Gen X Yale Professor Takes A Selective Road Trip Through America And American History. Understood through this lens, this book isn’t as terrible as it could have been. It is still quite politically oriented in the expected directions from a Yale professor, and its treatment of history is quite surface level and routine, but it is also at least somewhat more balanced than many books from similarly situated authors – so it does have that going for it.

The bibliography clocks in at 15%, which isn’t great, but does meet my bare minimum threshold and there isn’t really much here that would demand a Sagan Standard application – again, this is primarily surface level typical Ivy League Elitist type history.

Indeed, in the areas that Gage travels and covers that I’m most familiar with – specifically, Atlanta – Gage really barely covers anything at all, yet what she does choose to cover is both very surface level yet also, again, reasonably balanced given her current position. She covers Stone Mountain, including both how difficult it is to find in modern Atlanta and how while it remains a hotbed for KKK rallies, these are also seen as a free speech issue where the kooks have to be allowed to speak… but are also largely ignored. She covers MLK and his roots in Atlanta… while missing an interesting deeper dive connection to women’s suffrage and indeed the fight for racial equality that was *right there* at the time and location she was discussing. (Look to when and where Rebecca Latimer Felton, first female US Senator and last formerly slave owning one, died… 😉 )

Overall this is as much travelogue as history, and while it is reasonable as both it also isn’t a particularly deep dive or novel tale in either. Pessimistic and clearly slanted in the expected political direction given her day job and employer, it isn’t *so* heavy handed as to be unreadable… yet those with differing political views also won’t find much use here, as most of the history covered here is fairly standard and well known. Yes, some tidbits here and there are a bit deeper, but really not enough to perhaps justify the read for those with particularly strong political viewpoints that diverge from Gage’s own.

Recommended.

This review of This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage was originally written on April 28, 2026.

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#BookReview: Open Space by David Ariosto

Well Documented Examination Of Space Tech Beyond Musk and Bezos. At least in the US (where both Ariosto and I are based), if you’re talking space these days you’re generally talking NASA, Elon Musk (SpaceX), or Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin). This book goes into the details of where space science and tech are *beyond* just those three entities, traveling all over the world showing how different people in different areas are contributing to pushing humanity beyond our home world – and why. While there are a lot of details here, including how nativist US policies ultimately both created China’s space program decades ago and pushed it to new heights (both literally and figuratively) more recently, this is also more of a complete overview of the entire field than a deep dive on any particular tech or event. Even as some significant ones – including the race to have the first commercial lunar lander – are more heavily detailed than other aspects. (For example, while space craft of various forms are discussed heavily, I don’t remember any mention whatsoever of space suit tech and only the barest mention of space food tech.)

Still, for all that it *does* cover, this book will actually better inform you of a lot of things that perhaps even some within the space exploration field may not be fully aware of (as I’m all too familiar with the idea even in my own field that a practitioner isn’t always fully aware of newer developments even in their own field). At 22% documentation, it is also fairly well sourced and because it is primarily reporting on current and near future tech and the histories thereof, Sagan doesn’t really apply here – making the 22% more than sufficient for this particular narrative.

Overall, this is an exploration of space exploration in its current forms that is clearly designed for mass appeal, and I do think this is one that most anyone even remotely interested in space tech and how we got where we currently are (beyond NASA, Musk, and Bezos) will find quite informative indeed.

Very much recommended.

This review of Open Space by David Ariosto was originally written on March 24, 2026.