My Book Reviews

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...

ISBN : 978-1-47711-7421-6  Verdict :  👍   👎 Having finished reading the "Patient Assassin" I was very very patient to find out about more about this individual! Fact based evidence relating to the  assassin  was missing. More about the British Raj. Maybe it was my asian bias ? but I found this book seriously annoying in parts, with its ‘ Colonial’ bias  and glorification of the "Good Son" - Rex Dwyer ,the Mass Murderer, who during his term murdered & tortured thousands of innocent Indians.  Part 1 of the Book is not about the Assassin its all over the place - with irrelevant snippets e.g. p64 Gandhi devoted the rest of his time to weaving his way around India " -P81 Civilised men met at ten o'clock , P107 Ishward das was still deep in the bazar - this has no relevance to Udam (the Assassin) on P112 she tries to discredit the assassin " a man bourn with so little who wanted to be so much more " I appreciate the aut...

ISBN : 978-1-473-63746-7 Verdict :  👍👍👍 Great b ook with some really useful insights into Global Human trends - very positive fact based outlook. The following quote " Its not the numbers that are interesting. It’s what they tell us about the lives behind the numbers ” p20 sums up my takeaway from the book. I have never heard the saying “ give a child a hammer and everything looks like a nai l” before, however it made me smile   Chapter 10 starts with a quote  How “now or never” can block our roads and our minds.. which is reinforced on a few pages later with the brilliant quote “ When we are afraid and under time pressure and thinking of worst-case scenarios, we tend to make really stupid decisions. Our ability to think analytically can be overwhelmed by an urge to make quick decisions and take immediate actions . (p226) I will not spoil the read - but it’s one of those books you must read from beginning to end to derive the full bene...

ISBN : 978-1-473-66121-9  Verdict :  👍👍👍 What a fantastic read and I appreciate why it was on the Sunday Times Best Seller. Not only does it tell his story but comes through with some great historical facts e.g. the aid Cuba provided the Africans for freedom from apartheid (P277+) and the global medical aid it provides (more than the West). The book is very well written and has some snippets of his life growing up in Britain and the shock of many afro Caribbean’s " coming to Britain and discovering most white Britons were actually poor "(p7). He refers to some classic quotes from others e.g. James Baldwin who famously observed “ segregation has allowed white people to create only the Negro they wish to see ” He informs us why Samuel L Jackson is not a big fan of British Black Actors – because " they come to America and take their jobs "  – really Samuel? The quote on page 228 resonates well with me as I remember saying a similar thing to ...

ISBN : 978-1-63369-382-1 Verdict :  👍👍 Having read so many business books in the past decades I tend to avoid them now days, however this was suggested a good read by a close friend and it was. Enjoyed reading this  book and found myself not agreeing  with some recommendations but loved some of the quotes e.g. “ It’s good optics. But it’s not necessarily good business ” ( p11) My personal observation of many of the large consulting firms, is one of ‘Land and Expand’ ,however Freek makes a great observation “ Consultants basically have three roles: conducting client projects; acquiring new clients and projects; and helping run the firm ” (p85)  I disagreed with Freek where he states “ companies should pick one very simple structure and then regularly change it over time"  (p135) I would want to see evidence where this adds continuing value – my view is why not recalibrate and optimize structures if they work? I did liked “ n...

ISBN : 978-0-141-02453-0 Verdict :  👍👍👍 👍   This is one of my  favourite  reads of 2019, 466+ pages The book seeks to shed light on cause and effect in terms of  disaster  and  benefits  i.e. why  for some of the catastrophes , big business have benefited  💵 in the past e.g. The Iraq War and US Hurricane  🌪 Katrina and it does a great job ! Some great quotes, with my  favourite  one being one that describes the UK/Argentinian Falkland’s war as a  “ fight between two bald men over a comb” The book  diuscusses  the advantages Economist Milton  Friedman  promoted a man she refers to as the ‘Grand Guru’ of a movement which went across the globe post disaster to "assist' yet benefit the US. Friedman  observed that “ Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around ”( p6...

ISBN : 978-0-141-03557-0 Verdict :  👍👍👍 This international best seller from a Nobel Prize winner is definitely worth a read , but you need to put some time aside to read it slowly  because  it will changes the way you think and view events.   The book starts with a great few realities e.g.  “We can be blind to the obvious and we are also blind to our blindness”  (p24) and just continues with my favourite quote “ Not all illusions are visual. There are illusions of thought”( p27)    I really don’t wish to spoil this read – but it is worth investing the time, which should be seen as investing in your self improvement, but I will give you my best extracts; You think with your body, not only your brain.      (p51) A reliable way to make people believe in falsehood is frequent repetition          (p62) The bad ending “ruined the whole experience”. But the experience was not actu...

ISBN: 978-0-141-98714-9 Verdict :  👍👍👍 W hat an amazing story from an amazing woman who survived the Holocaust. Edith starts the book with a great passage,  which sets the tome for the rest of the book. – “What happened can never be forgotten and can never be changed.  But over time I learned that I can choose how to respond to the past. I can be miserable or I can choose how to respond to the past. I can be miserable, or I can be hopeful – I can be depressed, or I can be happy. ”(p7)  "Suffering is universal. But victimhood is optional" (p90) The quote on page 277 – when Edith visits the Eagles Nest, Hitler’s old residence and states “here I am, forever giving a dead person the power to cut off my on discovery” – Wow ! This and reading the book the Tattooist of Auschwitz made me want to visit Auschwitz , which I did earlier this year leaving a powerful impression in my mind one in which really made me question how could humans do...

ISBN: 978-0-141-98714-9 Verdict :  👍👍 👍 W hat could be better than a ‘fact based’ book on Indian History written by an Indian politician / author. Some great snippets to be found in this book e.g. “ There is a statue of limitation on colonial wrongdoings, but none on human memory, especially living memory – History belongs in the past: but understanding it is the duty of the present – (p235) The East Indian Trading Company was abhorrent, using mafia tactics to achieve its com mercial goals allowing it to move from a trading partner to rulers and eventually handing over for British rule who promoted opium use e.g. “ In 1930, Durant found 7000 opium shops in India, every single one of them British Government Owned, and conducting their business over the protests of every Indian nationalist organization and social service group.” This book gives facts, dates, references and examples - for me the passage on p51 is worth noting  “ The British ruled ni...

ISBN : 978-0-141-44225-9 Verdict :  👍👍👍👍 This is truly a classic and probably the most enjoyable book I have read to date as it struck a chord with me as it had Politics, Strategy and Life’s truths all in the mix. Some classic quotes listed below; Its easy to convince people of something, but hard to keep them convinced (p23) A man will sooner forget the death of his father than the loss of his inheritance (p66-7) There are actually three kinds of mind: one kind grasps things unaided, the second seesa what another has grasped, the third grasps nothing and sees nothing (p91) Fortune is female and if you want to stay on top of her you have to slap and thrust (p101) My personal favourite: Like anything that appears suddenly and grows fast, regimes that come out of nothing inevitably have shallow roots and will tend to crash in the firestorm. (p25) This book has stood the test of time, it is truly a classic – the ruthles...

ISBN : 978-1-78689-670-0                        Verdict :   👍👍 This book was winner of the Russian Business Book of the year and is very well written with some excellent quotes - worth a read ! There are some great snippets from Igor’s past negotiations with former clients and from his lectures / workshops.  I especially liked the last section (p344-353) in which he presents his personal impression of negotiating with International Partners;  🇫🇷 French “heightened sense of superiority” 🇩🇪 Germans “pedantic, dry nature” 🇮🇹 Italians “development of partnerships and friendship” and you should not call them between 12.00 and 14:00 lol  🇨🇳 Chinese “Negotiations will generally begin shortly before their opponents are schedule to leave” 🇺🇸 USA “overly pushy, or even aggressive or plain rude “and do “Absolutely nothing for free” Arabs “sensitive to issues of national independence” There ar...