Nosemonkey > Recent Status Updates

This is rather decently done, I'd say. Just made the Thirty Years War seem almost comprehensible...

I can't pretend I'm following all of this, but the language is at times glorious.

Now up to 1350, and realising how little of that medieval period I remember much about, despite studying it - the rise of Islam through to the Crusades - for A-levels. A crucial foundational period for many aspects of modern European identity and life, and part of the book to come back to.

I was unconvinced by the first chapter going back to pretty much the foundation of the Habsburg Empire, but then I started to understand the necessity more and more. Interested to see if this finally helps me actually *understand* Gödel - especially considering I'm someone who uses their fingers to count...

This is rather good so far. Digressive, meandering, detached a little from time or place. Escapist nostalgia, whimsical, but pleasing.

Reading about Ted Heath being incompetent and useless amid the country going to shit feels strangely familiar with all the Starmer headlines.

This is excellent so far. Extremely clear on all the chaos in the Greek world following Alexander's death - a period that's a bit of a gap in my knowledge, at least beyond Egypt.

I dunno why, but while I know this is actively good I'm just not really enjoying it...

This is gloriously meandering. No idea what the pitch would have been other than "just let me write about whatever I want". The connecting threads of landscape (water/rivers in this section) are definitely there, but often extremely light.

This is very good. Helpful across a broad range of areas, nearly arranged by topic - mostly reading for understanding some of my dog's friends' behaviours, which are rather different to his.

Excellent opening chapter (so dense with exposition it's hard to keep up) has drifted into more standard historical fiction fare, but good stuff so far.

So far nothing new to me (origins of life, Ancient Egypt), and no real delivery on the promise to focus more on African sources / historians, but future chapters look more promising.

This is rather good, but I'm reading it on Kindle, so keep forgetting I'm reading it - hence limited progress.

Finally past the American Revolution, which I continue to find boring. TBH, this book is a bit of a slog - everyone in it except George himself is presented as a bit of an arsehole.

This is very much my kind of thing...