Darren McGarvey

2017

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3/5. Finished 17 November 2018.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Reni Eddo-Lodge

2017

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2/5. Finished 17 November 2018.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

David Graeber

2011

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2/5. Finished 17 November 2018.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

David McCullough

1977

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The long, twisted history of the Panama canal told with a wonderful eye for detail,. both personal and political. It's hard to imagine that that a work of construction was considered so vital that it survived the changes of engineering direction, political about-turns, and financial upheavals that bedevilled Panama. It left me wanting to transit the cabal for myself, just to see it and imagine its tortuous construction.

4/5. Finished 17 November 2018.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Rob Manning

2014

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A boy's-own adventure in space travel. Howe do you design, build, fly, and debug a rover the size of a bus that'll have to endure a landing more fraught than any other vehicle ever constructed – and then operate completely remotely, without repair, for years? That this happened at all is a tribute to NASA's planning and management skills; that Curiosity has lasted years longer than ever anticipated is nothing short of spectacular. The book gives as much technical low-down as any space-obsessive could want, with pointers to more.

5/5. Finished 17 November 2018.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)