| Imperial by William T. Vollmann It is an almost stream-of-consciousness dissection of the social, cultural, geographic, and hydrologic history of an area that most would write-off as desert wasteland. It gave me a portal into the complexity of an ordinary place and how it is viewed through the lens of a genius. The Places In Between - Rory Stewart An introduction to how radically different and complex societies outside-the-fold of the Western world can be, and how ancient many of their traditions and way of life are. It also reminded me that real adventure necessitates risk. The Great War for Civilisation - Robert Fisk Taught me that whatever I know about foreign conflict, I know nothing about foreign conflict. The Best and the Brightest - David Halberstam Provides a template for how the US government embarks upon adventures abroad. Taught me how stupid tremendously smart people can be when you get them all together in one room. |