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Slightly late this week on account of having family in from out of town Wednesday - Friday.
Bismarck’s War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe by Rachel Chrastil
There’s a reason for the saying ‘amateurs talk tactics, pros talk logistics’, and this dustup was a demonstration of it. French logistics were a shambles that lost them the war before it even really got started; Prussian logistics meant that not only were they better prepared and quicker to move in the first place, even when things didn’t go as planned, recovery was quicker and easier. The book also considers the wider impact of the war – the effect on people beyond the battles. Despite being a short conflict, the war drags on longer than it needed to – France was beaten within two months, and the rest was just denial of reality and featured as much French infighting as fighting the Germans.
Mooncakes & Milk Bread by Kristina Cho
Cookbook! It all looks and sounds delicious – I think I should get it from the library again in the winter, when it’s better weather for baking.
The Poirot kick is nearly over...
Labors of Hercules
Meh. Collection of shorts. I like the theme idea, but Christie didn’t quite stick the landing.
Taken At The Flood
Agatha’s penchant for abusive relationships and idea that girls want to be treated badly and knocked about is rather off-putting. I understand that the English of her time and class had decidedly odd notions about human relationships, but really.
Lynn Marchmont deserved a better ending. (No surprise that the Suchet adaptation did its best to give her one.)
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead
Much more the thing. Aside from not having known the rhyme Christie took the title from, I have no complaints about this one. A pleasing plethora of suspects, all sorts of viable explanations. I did not hit on the right one, but I was right about Maud.
Bismarck’s War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe by Rachel Chrastil
There’s a reason for the saying ‘amateurs talk tactics, pros talk logistics’, and this dustup was a demonstration of it. French logistics were a shambles that lost them the war before it even really got started; Prussian logistics meant that not only were they better prepared and quicker to move in the first place, even when things didn’t go as planned, recovery was quicker and easier. The book also considers the wider impact of the war – the effect on people beyond the battles. Despite being a short conflict, the war drags on longer than it needed to – France was beaten within two months, and the rest was just denial of reality and featured as much French infighting as fighting the Germans.
Mooncakes & Milk Bread by Kristina Cho
Cookbook! It all looks and sounds delicious – I think I should get it from the library again in the winter, when it’s better weather for baking.
The Poirot kick is nearly over...
Labors of Hercules
Meh. Collection of shorts. I like the theme idea, but Christie didn’t quite stick the landing.
Taken At The Flood
Agatha’s penchant for abusive relationships and idea that girls want to be treated badly and knocked about is rather off-putting. I understand that the English of her time and class had decidedly odd notions about human relationships, but really.
Lynn Marchmont deserved a better ending. (No surprise that the Suchet adaptation did its best to give her one.)
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead
Much more the thing. Aside from not having known the rhyme Christie took the title from, I have no complaints about this one. A pleasing plethora of suspects, all sorts of viable explanations. I did not hit on the right one, but I was right about Maud.
