Book Reviews General Non-Fiction

general non-fiction
reviews
by Dr. Charles Middleburgh

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Reviews 2003
An Anatomy of Terror
First World War Poems
Martyrs – Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East
The Kaiser’s last Kiss by Alan Judd
Ultimate Punishment
What I Saw

Reviews 2004
A Devil’s Chaplain and Other Selected Essays by Richard Dawkins, edited by Latha Menon
After the Ice – A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC by Steven Mithen
Andalus – Unlocking the Secrets of Moorish Spain by Jason Webster
Bloody Foreigners – the Story of Immigration to Britain by Robert Winder
Bread and Ashes – A Walk Through the Mountains of Georgia by Tony Anderson
Death as a Way of Life – Dispatches from Jerusalem by David Grossman
Here is New York
Intelligence in War – Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda by John Keegan
Lost for Words – The Mangling and Manipulating of the English Language by John Humphrys
Madness Visible – A Memoir of War by Janine di Giovanni
Nature via nurture – Genes, Experience and What makes us Human by Matt Ridley
Our Final Century – Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-First Century By Martin Rees
Peace Kills – America’s Fun New Imperialism by P J ORourke
Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward
Rifles – Six Years with Wellington’s Legendary Sharpshooters by Mark Urban
Roger McGough Collected Poems
Second World War Poems chosen by Hugh Haughton
Step Across This Line by Salman Rushdie
The Book of My Enemy, Collected verse 1958-2003 by Clive James
The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Magister’s Pox
The Lesser Evil – Political Ethics in an Age of Terror by Michael Ignatieff
The Miraculous Fever Tree - Malaria, Medicine and the Cure that Changed the World by Fiametta Rocco
The Moon – Myth and Image by Jules Cashford
The Mould in Dr Florey’s Coat – The Remarkable True Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax
The New Great Game – Blood and Oil in Central Asia. By Lutz Kleveman
The Travels of Ibn Battutah, edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Through Gates of Fire – A Journey into World Disorder by Martin Bell
Well-Remembered Friends – Eulogies on Celebrated Lives. Collected by Angela Huth
Who Runs This Place. The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century by Anthony Sampson
Words of Mercury and The Violins of St Jacques by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Reviews 2005
An Angel Directs the Storm – Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire by Michael Northcott
Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive by Jared Diamond
Generals - Ten British Commanders who shaped the world by mark Urban. Faber and Faber 2005
Gustav Mahler Letters to his Wife
Neoconservatism – edited with an introduction by Irwin Stelzer
Occidentalism – A Short History of Anti-Westernism by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit. Atlantic Books 2004
On the Natural History of Destruction by W.G Sebald. Hamish Hamilton, 2003
Reindeer People – Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia by Piers Vitebsky. Harper Collins 2005
Rules of Engagement – A Life in Conflict by Tim Collins. Headline Book Publishing 2005
The Moral State We’re In – A Manifesto For A 21st century Society by Julia Neuberger
The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant
The Rise of Political Lying by Peter Oborne. Free Press 2005
The Sacred Neuron – Extraordinary New Discoveries Linking Science and Religion by John Bowker
The Strange Death of Tory England by Geoffrey Wheatcroft-Penguin Allen lane 2005

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Reviews 2006
A Man About A Dog–Euphemisms and Other Examples of Verbal Squeamishness by Nigel Rees
After the NEOCONS – America at the Crossroads by Francis Fukuyama-Profile Books 2006
As they say in Zanzibar by David Crystal Collins 2006
Books That Shook the World
Celsius 7/7 by Michael Gove. Weindefeld and Nicolson 200
Cobra II by Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor
Freedom Next Time by John Pilger. Bantam Press 2006
House of Stone by Christina Lamb
Israel in the World by Helen Davis and Douglas Davis, Foreword by Rupert Murdoch
The Gibbon’s in Decline but the Horse is Stable from Maureen Lipman
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Bantam Press 2006
The Place at the End of the World by Janine Di Giovanni. Bloomsbury 2006
The story of god by Robert Winston. Bantam press 2005
Unspeak by Steven Poole.Little Brown 2006
Why Handel Waggled his Wig by Steven Isserlis. Faber & Faber 2006

Reviews 2007
A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya, with a Foreword by Jon Snow
Bad Men Guantanamo Bay and The Secret Prisons by Clive Stafford-Smith
Big Babies Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? by Michael Bywater
Chechnya The Case for Independence by Tony Wood
"Complicity with Evil"-The United Nations in the Age of Modern Genocide by Adam Lebor-Yale Uni.Press 2006
Coral - A Pessimist in Paradise by Steve Jones. Little, Brown 2007
Countering Terrorism - Can we meet the threat of Global Violence? Michael Chandler and Rohan Gunaratna
Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan. Jonathan Cape 2007.
Forgotten Voices of the Falklands
God is not Great-The Case against Religion by Christopher Hitchens. Atlantic Books 2007
God’s Own Country - Tales from the Bible Belt by Stephen Bates. Hodder and Stoughton 2007
In God We Doubt Confessions of a Failed Atheist by John Humphrys Hodder and Stoughton 2007.
It's Easier to reach Heaven than the End of the Street by Emma Williams
Michael Longley Collected Poems
On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman - Viking 2007
Other Colours - Essays and a Story by Ohran Pamuk.Translated by Maureen Freely.faber and faber 2007
P.J. O'Rourke on The Wealth of Nations. Atlantic Books 2007.
Sacred Causes Religion and Politics
Six Degrees - Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas
State of Denial Bush at War Part 3 by Bob Woodward
The Fall-out how a guilty liberal lost his innocence by Andrew Anthony. Jonathan Cape 2007.
The Occupation of Iraq - Winning the War, Losing the Peace by Ali A. Allawi
The Russian Lieutenants Woman A Tale of Love Betrayal and Vodka by Barbara Davies

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Reviews 2008
A Million Bullets – The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan by James Fergusson. Bantam Press 2008.
Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut.Jonathan Cape 2008.
Balti Britain – A Journey Through the British Asian experience by Ziauddin Sardar. Granta 2008.
Counterknowledge by Damian Thompson. Atlantic Books 2008
Deception-Pakistan,The United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark
Descent into Chaos – How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Ahmed Rashid. Allen Lane 2008.
Fuck: The Human Odyssey by Martin Rowson. Jonathan Cape 2008
In Search of Kazakhstan – The Land that Disappeared by Christopher Robbins. Profile Books 2008
McMafia - Crime Without Frontiers by Misha Glenny. Bodley Head 2008
Nobility of Spirit – A Forgotten Ideal by Rob Riemen. Yale University Press 2008.
The Atlantic Ocean – Essays on Britain and America by Andrew O’Hagan. faber and faber 2008.
The Bush Tragedy-The Unmaking of a President by Jacob Weisberg. Bloomsbury 2008.
The Second Plane by Martin Amis. Jonathan Cape 2007.
The Three Trillion Dollar War - The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes. Allen Lane 2008.
Torture Team by Philippe Sands. Allen Lane 2008.
War PLC – The Rise of the New Corporate Mercenary by Stephen Armstrong. faber and faber 2008.
Your Inner Fish – A journey into the 3.5 billion year history of the human body by Neil Shubin. Allen Lane 2008.

Reviews 2009
Bring on the Apocalypse – 6 Arguments for Global Justice by George Monbiot. Atlantic Books 2009
Butcher & Bolt– Two Hundred Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan by David Loyn. Hutchinson 2008.
Desperate Glory – AT WAR IN HELMAND WITH BRITAIN’S 16 AIR ASSAULT BRIGADE by Sam Kiley. Bloomsbury 2009.
Inside Hamas – The Untold Story of Militants, Martyrs and Spies by Zaki Chehab. I B Tauris 2007.
Last Chance – The Middle East in the Balance by David Gardner. I.B. Tauris 2009.
Memories of the Blair Administration – Tony’s Ten Years by Adam Boulton. Simon and Schuster 2008
Reason, Faith, and Revolution – Reflections on the God Debate by Terry Eagleton. Yale University Press 2009.
The Case for God – What Religion Really Means by Karen Armstrong. Bodley Head 2009.
The Duel – Pakistan on the flight path of American power by Tariq Ali. Simon and Schuster 2008.
The Gamble–General Petraeus and the untold story of the American Surge in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas E. Ricks. Allen Lane 2009.
The War Within – A Secret White House History 2006-2008 by Bob Woodward. Simon and Schuster 2008.
The Way of the World – A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism by Ron Suskind. Simon and Schuster 2008.
Voodoo Histories – The role of the conspiracy theory in shaping modern history by David Aaronovitch. Jonathan Cape 2009.
Ways of Life – On Places, Painters and Poets by Andrew Motion. faber and faber 2008.

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Reviews 2010
50 ideas you really need to know about religion by Peter Stanford. Quercus 2010.
Conceiving God – The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion by David Lewis-Williams. Thames and Hudson 2010.
Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer.Harper Press 2010.
Draw Water and Other Things by Linda Nissen Samuels with illustrations by Irene Malvezi. Sigel Press 2010.
Freedom for Sale – How we made money and lost our liberty by John Kampfner. Simon and Schuster 2009.
Inside the Kingdom – Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists ands the Struggle for Saudi Arabia by Robert Lacey. Hutchinson 2009.
Is God still an Englishman? - How we lost our faith (but found new soul) by Cole Moreton. Little,Brown 2010
Israel and Palestine by Avi Shlaim. Verso 2009
On evil by Terry Eagleton. Yale University Press 2010.
Ship of Fools – How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger by Fintan O’Toole. faber and faber 2009
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. Atlantic Books 2010.
The Making of Modern Britain – From Queen Victoria to V.E. Day by Andrew Marr. Macmillan 2009.
The Punishment of Gaza by Gideon Levy.Verso 2010.
Turned Out Nice - faber and faber 2010. & Facing Catastrophe - Harvard University Press 2010.
Unreliable Sources – How the 20th century was reported - by John Simpson. Macmillan 2010.
Worse Than War – Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. Little, Brown 2010.

Reviews 2011
Black Hearts–One platoon’s descent into madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Deathby Jim Frederick.Macmillan 2010
Egypt on the Brink:From the Rise of Nasser to the Fall of Mubarak by Tarek Osman.Yale University Press 2011(Revised Edition)
Enough is Enough – How to Build a New Republic by Fintan O’Toole. faber and faber 2010
Extreme Rambling – Walking Israel’s Barrier. For Fun. By Mark Thomas. Ebury Press 2011.
Hitch-22 – A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens. Atlantic Books 2011.
Talking to the Enemy – Violent Extremism, Sacred Values and What it Means to be Human by Scott Atran. Allen Lane 2011.
The Good Book – A Secular Bible made by A.C. Grayling. Bloomsbury 2011.
The Longest War – The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda by Peter L. Bergen.Free Press 2011.
The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt. William Heinemann 2010.
The Ultimate Quotable Einstein,collected and edited by Alice Calaprice.Foreword by Freeman Dyson.Princeton University Press.
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong.Bodley Head 2011
Walking Home – A Journey in the Alaskan Wilderness by Lynn Schooler.Bloomsbury Publishing plc., 2011.
When I am playing with my cat, how do I know she is not playing with me? Montaigne and Being in Touch with Life by Saul Frampton. faber and faber 2011.

Reviews 2012
A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran by Trita Parsi. Yale University Press, 2012.
All The Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunalby David Scheffer.Princeton University Press, 2012.
Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia by Dilip Hiro. Yale University Press, 2012.
Cairo: My City, Our Revolution by Ahdaf Soueif.Bloomsbury 2012
How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of terrorist Campaigns by Audrey Kurth Cronin.Princeton University Press, 2012.
Manhunt: From 9/11 to Abottabad – The Ten Year Search for Osama Bin Laden by Peter Bergen.Bodley Head 2012.
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens.Atlantic Books, 2012.
Pakistan On The Brink: The future of Pakistan,Afghanistan and the West by Ahmed Rashid.Allen Lane 2012.
Sin: The Early History of an Idea by Paula Fredriksen. Princeton University Press 2012.
The 9/11 Wars by Jason Burke. Allen Lane 2011
The Eleventh Day: The Ultimate Account of 9/11 by Anthony Summers and Robyn Swan. Doubleday, 2011.
The Mara Crossing by Ruth Padel. Chatto and Windus 2012
The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age by Martha C. Nussbaum. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012.
War Against The Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong In Afghanistan bySandy Gall. Bloomsbury 2012.

Reviews 2013
And Man Created God:Kings,Cults and Conquests at the time of Jesus bySelina O’Grady. Atlantic Books, 2012.
Hezbollah: A History of the “Party of God” by Dominique Avon and Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian.Harvard University Press 2012.
Israel Has Moved by Diana Pinto. Harvard University Press 2013.
Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy by Mark P. Whitton.Princeton University Press 2013.
Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad by David W.Lesch. Yale University Press, 2012.
Voyager:101 Wonders between Heaven and Earth and the edge of the Cosmos by Stuart Clark.Atlantic Books 2012.

Reviews 2014
Gaddafi’s Harem: The Story of a young woman and the abuses of power in Libya by Annick Cojean. Grove Press UK 2013.
Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State by David Patrikarakos - I. B. Tauris 2012
The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler by Ben Urwand - The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013

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