jsburbidge (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jsburbidge) wrote2008-06-27 10:48 pm
jsburbidge) wrote2008-06-27 10:48 pm
What I've Been Reading
Quick post; several are way overdue.
In any case, in the last few months, among other books:
The Horse, The Wheel, and Language:A fairly good study in the area where linguistics meets archaeology, with a bias towards archaeology. It puts forward the hypothesis that the PIE speakers were Pontic-Caspian nomads whose success depends in part on the successful domestication of the horse for a nomadic lifestyle.
The Making of the English Working Class: A classic, and worth thinking about as we seem to be headed into a time period with higher GINI indices and rather more in the way of emerging class issues that were there a few decades ago.
Napoleon: For and Against: A fascinating look at different French biographers' responses to Napoleon. Written in the direct shadow of the Second World War and its concerns were shaped by those conditions.
I also have Sarah Monette's (truepenny) Melusine to read, but haven't started it. I've been an admirer of the author since I ran across her DLS annottaions on LJ.
In any case, in the last few months, among other books:
The Horse, The Wheel, and Language:A fairly good study in the area where linguistics meets archaeology, with a bias towards archaeology. It puts forward the hypothesis that the PIE speakers were Pontic-Caspian nomads whose success depends in part on the successful domestication of the horse for a nomadic lifestyle.
The Making of the English Working Class: A classic, and worth thinking about as we seem to be headed into a time period with higher GINI indices and rather more in the way of emerging class issues that were there a few decades ago.
Napoleon: For and Against: A fascinating look at different French biographers' responses to Napoleon. Written in the direct shadow of the Second World War and its concerns were shaped by those conditions.
I also have Sarah Monette's (
truepenny) Melusine to read, but haven't started it. I've been an admirer of the author since I ran across her DLS annottaions on LJ.