My Book Reviews

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...

ISBN : 978-0-00-823928-2 Verdict  : 👍👍 In summary:  an enjoyable but very long read - it was prudent of David Cameron to publish "For the Record" , if only to justify his actions which resulted in the mess that is Brexit  and will have long term consequences to everyone in the UK In all honesty, I enjoyed reading it, despite it being so long and I mean long(703 Pages !!)  . It provides some great snippets on why he and his government made specific choices and more importantly the logic behind these choices. Obviously, as one would suspect, he uses this book to have a dig at certain events and people e.g..Qatar being aware the 2020 World cup where (P161) he states "T he fish had been bought and sold before we'd even got to the marketplace ". My favourite bit in the book (P508) is where he shares a text he sent to Michael Gove when he had offered him to head up the Whips office , in which he said “ You must realise that I divide the world into...