Michael Bond > Recent Status Updates

The essay, In Praise of Idleness, is superb.

The essays about communism and fascism are reflective of the author's times being the 1930s just before the war.

The Case for Socialism is heavy handed, tending toward what many might consider communism.

In Western Civilization, he points out how the Romans invented the virtue of devotion to the impersonal state, whereas the Greeks were corrupt. We're becoming Greek.

I can't stand the distracting writing style. "Churchill was a prima donna" and General Montgomery's "insufferable ego." Even if it were true, the choice of language violates any sense of an author's impartiality. I am not sure I will be able to trust the analysis of things I don't already know.

I am abandoning this one.

Atrocious

Some inaccuracies. The authors refer to German use of missiles against B-17 bombers, suggesting guided weapons, but they meant unguided rockets.

They say after the Battle of Britain, the British had driven the Germans from their shores, implying that the Germans were thwarted while landing, when no such attempt was made.

There is overly flowery prose, with too much cheerleading. Amateurish for a history book.