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Tag Archives: Imperium
Recommended Books: Non-Fiction
I have been meaning to do a Part 2 to my Recommended Books: Fiction list – put together years ago. I wanted to recommend non-fiction, from history books to biographies to essays to whatever. Here is the Non-Fiction list. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Founding Fathers, Theatre
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Afghanistan, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Hamilton, Austria, Balkan Ghosts, Balkans, baseball, Belfast, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Catherine Drinker-Bowen, Central Asia, China, Crowds and Power, cults, culture, Dava Sobel, David McCullough, Edmund Burke, Elias Canetti, Elvis Presley, England, Federalist Papers, Founding Brothers, France, Germany, Group Theatre, Gulag Archipelago, history, Hitler, Hunter S. Thompson, Imperium, Ireland, Iris Chang, Isaac Newton, James Madison, Janet Malcolm, Japan, John Jay, Joseph Ellis, Mark Bowden, Michael Schmidt, Miracle at Philadelphia, Olivia Laing, Philip Gourevitch, poetry, Primo Levi, psychopaths, Rasputin, Rebecca West, Red Sox, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Roman empire, Russia, Rwanda, Ryszard Kapuściński, science, Serbia, Shakespeare, Somalia, Stalin, The Great Terror, The Soccer War, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Ukraine, Vincent Bugliosi, WWI, WWII, Yugoslavia
19 Comments
The Boat Cemetery in Central Asia
Ryszard Kapucinski in his book Imperium writes: Central Asia is deserts and more deserts, fields of brown weathered stones, the heat from the sun above, sandstorms. But the world of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya is different. Arable … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellania
Tagged Central Asia, Imperium, Ryszard Kapuściński, Stalin, Uzbekistan
35 Comments
The Books: “Imperium” (Ryszard Kapuscinski)
My history bookshelf. Onward. Next book on this shelf is the last Ryszard Kapuscinski book I have – actually, I think that’s it for Ryzsard – at least in English translation – To anyone who is interested in Communism (the … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Imperium, nonfiction, politics, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Stalin, war
1 Comment
“Moscow! Moscow!, our soldiers shouted and started to applaud”
On this day in history, Napoleon and his army entered the city of Moscow: Sept. 14, 1812. Only to find that the Russian people had set their own city on fire. From Ryszard Kapuscinski’s Imperium: The sight of Moscow enraptured … Continue reading
Kapuscinski
Ryszard Kapuscinski, one of my own personal idols, has spent his entire life reporting on revolutions across the world. His books include: Another Day of LIfe – the story of the civil war in Angola. Kapuscinski was there. The Emperor … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Imperium, Ryszard Kapuściński, Shah of Shahs, The Emperor, The Shadow of the Sun, The Soccer War
3 Comments
Uzbekistan – Part V – The Aral Sea
There are a couple of other things I want to talk about. I want to talk about what the Soviet Imperium did (ecologically) to the region. And I also want to talk about the Uzbek people now … how they … Continue reading
On Samarkand
The history of Uzbekistan in the 20th century is quite interesting. A Muslim state, a mish-mash of people, under the thumb of Stalin, holding out, holding on, and then … in one shot … before they were ready, independence. They … Continue reading
Uzbek People
Uzbekistan is the most ancient and the most populous country in Central Asia. Samarqand and Bukhara, two storied cities made famous by their importance to the Silk Road (they were the jewels to be captured by the hordes which continuously … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellania
Tagged Central Asia, Imperium, Ryszard Kapuściński, Uzbekistan
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Turkmenistan
Desert nomads I’m going to talk about “Turkestan” again today, the larger area of Central Asia, divided up by Stalin, of which Turkmenistan is a big part. The whole nomad existence is something I would like to know more about. … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellania
Tagged Central Asia, Imperium, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Turkmenistan, war
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Azerbaijan
Hatred and suspicion The following passage is from the book I keep mentioning: Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski. Briefly, it has to do with the hatred and suspicion that exists between Armenia and Azerbaijan. With a couple of choice observations, Kapuscinski … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellania
Tagged Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Imperium, Ryszard Kapuściński, war
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