Robert D. Kaplan’s outstanding new book is about reflection, introspection, geopolitics, geography, culture, history, religion, civilization and travel in “the globe in miniature.”
In this insightful travelogue, Kaplan, geopolitical expert and bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts and The Revenge of Geography, turns his perceptive eye to a region that for centuries has been a meeting point of cultures, trade, and ideas.
He undertakes a journey around the Adriatic Sea, through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, to reveal that far more is happening in the region than most news stories let on.
Often overlooked, the Adriatic is in fact at the center of the most significant challenges of our time, including the rise of populist politics, the refugee crisis, and battles over the control of energy resources.
Kaplan explores how the region has changed over his three decades of observing it as a journalist.
Kaplan “is a gem of a writer and his descriptions are vivid, original and lovely,” said a review on goodreads.com.
“Kaplan’s writing is comprehensive yet accessible, bursting at the seams with information.”
What We Are Reading Today: Adriatic
https://arab.news/geujh
What We Are Reading Today: Adriatic
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Expectation Effect’
- “The Expectation Effect” is an interesting take on mindsets and how they impact us, but it should not be treated as a definitive guide to life and its problems
Published in 2022, “The Expectation Effect,” by award-winning science writer David Robson, explores the consequences of people’s beliefs and expectations on their health, performance, well-being, and perception of reality.
Robson argues that even seemingly insignificant thoughts can significantly influence our physiological and psychological responses. He introduces research that supports his claims, including that on the placebo effect.
One interesting angle explored by Robson is the relationship between stress and performance; he suggests that stress can sometimes be used as a tool to enhance performance under pressure.
He also claims that a person’s perception of aging plays a role in shaping their health later in life.
Although Robson does a good job of explaining how he reaches his conclusions, I found it hard to agree completely with some of his broader opinions.
“The Expectation Effect” is an interesting take on mindsets and how they impact us, but it should not be treated as a definitive guide to life and its problems.
What We Are Reading Today: Hegel’s World Revolutions
- Bourke shows that central to Hegel’s thought was his anatomy of the modern world
Author: Richard Bourke
G.W.F. Hegel was widely seen as the greatest philosopher of his age. Ever since, his work has shaped debates about issues as varied as religion, aesthetics and metaphysics. His most lasting contribution was his vision of history and politics.
In “Hegel’s World Revolutions,” Richard Bourke returns to Hegel’s original arguments, clarifying their true import and illuminating their relevance to contemporary society.
Bourke shows that central to Hegel’s thought was his anatomy of the modern world. On the one hand he claimed that modernity was a deliverance from subjection, but on the other he saw it as having unleashed the spirit of critical reflection. Bourke explores this predicament in terms of a series of world revolutions that Hegel believed had ushered in the rise of civil society and the emergence of the constitutional state.
Bourke interprets Hegel’s thought, with particular reference to his philosophy of history, placing it in the context of his own time. en historical ideas and present circumstances.
What We Are Reading Today: A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Borneo
Author: Indraneil Das
Borneo is home to a marvelous array of crocodiles, turtles, lizards and snakes. This comprehensive field guide covers them all, with detailed species accounts and informative discussions of Borneo’s geology, climate and vegetation.
Stunningly illustrated with photos by Indraneil Das and other leading nature photographers, “A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Borneo” is an essential travel companion for visitors to the island and a must for anyone interested in reptiles.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Data Economy’
- In this book, Isaac Baley and Laura Veldkamp draw on a range of theoretical frameworks at the research frontier in macroeconomics and finance to model and measure data economies
Authors: ISAAC BALEY AND LAURA L. VELDKAMP
The most valuable firms in the global economy are valued largely for their data. Amazon, Apple, Google, and others have proven the competitive advantage of a good data set.
And yet despite the growing importance of data as a strategic asset, modern economic theory neglects its role.
In this book, Isaac Baley and Laura Veldkamp draw on a range of theoretical frameworks at the research frontier in macroeconomics and finance to model and measure data economies.
What We Are Reading Today: The History of Money
- In this book, McWilliams takes the readers across the world, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the Silk Road
Author: David McWilliams
In this eye-opening global history, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money — from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to cryptocurrency in Silicon Valley.
McWilliams shows that money is central to every aspect of our civilization, and from the political to the artistic. According to this book, money defines the relationship between worker and employer, buyer and seller, merchant and producer. It also defines the bond between the governed and the governor, and the state and the citizen.
In this book, McWilliams takes the readers across the world, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the Silk Road.
