My Book Reviews

ISBN 978-0-7858-3052-8  Verdict :   👍👍 👍 Originally this book was written in 1900 (revised in 1905 ) by the amazing Japanese Scholar / Public officer who had a deep appreciation of Western Civilisation through the times and had appreciation for the Classics allowing him to analyse and compare the teachings of the Japanese Bushido (Samurai) in a Feudal System with that of the European counterparts through history A nice short read ! I found this amazing book on my travels earlier this year – Originally I was attracted to this Hardback book  by its use of the Traditional Chinese Book Binding techniques – Just holding / reading this book gives one great pleasure ~ especially If like me you are interested in Physical Books that present  Lessons of Value – Then maybe you would want to buy a copy. When Nitobe talks of the Influence of Bushido he states “ What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the flower of the nation but its...

ISBN:  978-1-4711-8955-5 Verdict :   👍👍 You have to respect Scharwazman for what he has achieved in his long life, reinforcing to some extent the old saying that ‘ money makes money ’.This book is worth reading if you are working in finance and is quite a nice read. The book takes you down Stephen's memory lane and his life time of investing. It’s a short book and does lack clarity on the analysis, rules and logic applied on the business decisions. The book is about Stephen and the people he knows and boy does he ‘name drop’, throughout the book, to the extent it was getting boring reading another name popping up towards the end.  There are snippets on Blackstone’s Business Drivers/Methodology e.g.  Blackstone’s three tests  “It must have potential to be hugely rewarding for investors . It must add to Blackstone intellectual capital. And it must have a 10 in charge of it.”          p281  Be...

ISBN:  978-1-78504-218-8 Verdict :👍👍 I enjoyed reading this book with its elaboration of the concepts that centre around the D ominance, I nducement, S ubmission and A nalytics ability (DISA) system for  human  communication which the Author breaks into 4 Color Types ( Red , Yellow , Blue & Green ) and says that " behaviour.Its like a  recipe  - we need to understand all the ingredients before we bake the cake " p13 The book discusses the various  behavioural  traits of individuals which the author centers around a 4 square color model, with each color representing a specific trait and some behavioral patterns associated with the colors - here are some snippets; The Quote "Only Dead Fish Go with the Flow" to describe Reds is classical where Reds are quick thinkers and one on long before everyone else. Yellows can be amusing, creative and elevate the mood regardless of who they are with         p64 " ...

ISBN :  9781508524359 Verdict :    👍👍   👍   👍   This is one of those rare books I wish I had read a few decades ago, especialy as its only 99 pages long, I strongly recommend it be one you read if you haven't allready - it is both short and provides great wisdom ! Arkad the Chancellor and richest man in Babylon is asked by the King to teach his subjects about growing wealth and he sets out to teach them his  ‘The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse’, which are  Start Thy Purse to Fattening  Control Thy expenditures  Make Thy Gold Multiply Guard Thy Treasures from Loss Make Thy Dwelling a Profitable Investment  Insure a Future Income  Increase Thy Ability to Earn It would be wrong for me to spoil this classic s hort book for you by replaying some of the great quotes ands fundamental principles the most notable being “ A part of all you earn is yours to keep ”

ISBN : 978-1-5011-2402-0 Verdict :  👍👍   👍   👍   Seldom a business book comes along that one both enjoys and learns from, here we have one of those books.  Don’t be mislead by the title, it is more than just a cluster of great principles, it’s the foundations for an approach Ray adopted to build his amazing multi billion-dollar business with great  insights into how he grew it. The principles are summariesed in the middle of the book ( p272)  for the both Life and Work principles discussed in the book – my favorite two principles are ; Life: Principle 5.1 –  Learn How to Make Decisions Effectively –  Recognize  that 1)  The biggest threat to good decision making is harmful emotions, and 2) decision making is a two-step process (first learning then deciding).   p276      Work: Principle 4.4 –  Get and Stay in Sync – If its your meeting to run, manage the conversation.   p282...

ISBN :  978-0312611736 Verdict :  👍👍   👍   👍   What a great book, with some great tips and advice on spotting deception both personally and professionally. Suggesting to  synthesize clusters for clues then  contrast your instinct side by side against your subjects story etc etc... The book starts with a great opener i.e. “ deception is a cooperative act ” i.e. No one can lie to you without your approval p22 I have taken some snippets and listed below to give you a feel for the wisdom to be found in this book. A lie requires a context of truth.                                                                                 p 42   The first rule in deception detection is to watch the face         ...

ISBN : 978-1848315921 Verdict :  👍👍   👍   👍   I have bought several copies of this book and have shared with some of my close friends- So would not hesitate in recommending it. Its one of those books that everyone should read, as it teaches you how to detect deception , a skill we all need to have in our back pocket. The deception-detection methodology they have built up as they state has its roots in their polygraph-examination experience the gained as CIA Operatives. The book goes through a lot of their experiences to make a point e.g Ronald and the trunk of Bibles p45 where they state – “ a deceptive person may respond to an allegation with a truthful statement, often one that casts himself in a highly favorable light. Its what we call a “Convince” vs "convey" situation. Each Chapter begins with some classic quotes – My favorite is found in chapter 11 –  “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do i...

ISBN : 978-1529104776 Verdict :  👍👍   👍   Whilst visiting Auschwitz earlier this  year   - I spent the last A few hours finishing this book – It was an  an amazing read and finishing the book in Krakow was an  experience  so relevant after the visit  My  favourite  quote from the book is Books are Extremely Dangerous. They make people think A full review with page number quotes would spoil it for you – my verdict is that this is a must read and  I recommend it !

ISBN : 978-1-78576-364-9  Verdict :  👍👍     I enjoyed the story and it ws one of three books which prompted me to visit Krakow. When I finished this book – I tweeted “Just finished yet another Sunday Times bestseller on my quest to avoid reading IT/Business books in 2018. At times sad & shocking (as it’s true) - I would recommend reading it” Then immediately the Auschwitz Memorial replied with the following and a screen shot of the fact check. Irrespective if the book may not be factually correct and I fully understand why the memorial – which I visited earlier this year would want to correct any facts – but I found the book to give a powerful message which should be shared and promoted.

ISBN : 978-0-7535-5312-1    Verdict :  👍👍   👍   I’m no longer a fan of the UK’s LBC Radio Station. however, I do try and listen to James O'Brien – one of the good ones! with his journalistic talent to dissect arguments and look at what is behind them and is reflected in his excellent book.  This book covers briefly his views on Islam & Islamism, Brexit, LBGT, Political Correctness, Feminism, Trump etc etc. and he uses snippets from his LBC Radio Show to make and validate his view point.. I find myself agreeing with most of his sentiments in the book  e.g. anger should be reserved for people "Selling the snake oil, as opposed to the punters who had guzzled it". Its quite funny in parts e.g.   Schrodinger’s immigrant – the one who simultaneously steals ‘our’ jobs and claims unemployment benefit while leading a life of state-subsidized indolence.” (p77) I like that he "Strips their arguments right down to the b...

ISBN : 978-0-241-35164-2   Verdict :  👍   I’m probably one of the very few people who didn’t really enjoy this read – don’t get me wrong, it’s  well written with great reviews elsewhere, probably just my taste.   On this occasion maybe skip my review , skim before investing your time in it ? The books delves into Jordan’s 12 rules , some great rules which he expands on – so I have listed them on the flow on the right ; I did struggle to finish this and I did skip pages 185-192 - which he would probably say was similar to “ The leaf, when perceived, might blind the observer to the tree. The Tree can blind him to the forest. And some things that are most real (such as the ever-present dominance hierarchy) cannot be “seen” at all .” (p13) Beauty shames the ugly. Strength shames the weak. Death shames the living – and the Ideal shames us all p50 The one thing this book gave me and for that I am thankful to Mr Peterson – w...

ISBN : 978-1-78733-087-0 Verdict :  👍👍👍👍   One of those books best read when you have some free leisure time   and  maybe over a glass of red wine 🍷? I loved this book with some great insights and Yuval’s thoughts on a multitude of subjects, AI, Politics, Immigration employment in 2050 etc. etc. and is structured into 5 parts;  The Technological Challenge  The Political Challenge  Despair and Hope  Truth Resilience Bits of the book especially caught my attention e.g. ;  " many capitalist keep repeating the mantra of free markets and economic growth, irrespective of realities on the ground " (p210) In the section -  Once a lie, always the truth I found myself underlying the following , so I thought I would share. “ Joseph Goebbels, The Nazi propaganda maestro and perhaps the most accomplished media-wizard of the modern age. allegedly explained his method succinctly by stating that ‘A lie tol...

ISBN : 978-0-316-35254-3    Verdict :  👍👍👍 👍 Coming from an IT background, I found this book a great read with some brilliant insight into the 'back office' efforts by the Americans during the 2nd World War. The book is full of some great nuggets of gold e.g.  “ Successful code breaking often comes down to diagnostics – the ability to see the whole rather than just the parts, to discern the underlying system the enemy has devised to disguise communications “                                 Page 80 “ Like medicine, code breaking often makes advances during times of violent conflict, when life-and-death necessity becomes the mother of invention, technology drives innovation and government funds are freed up”                   Page 57 This book is very well written and tells the story of the code br...