Cyril J. Wood (2005)

A detailed history of the Manchester Ship Canal, lavishly illustrated from across the years.

I grew up alongside the canal, and there’s plenty here I didn’t know. It would have been better to have more depth in a lot of places, especially in terms of construction techniques and the history of some of the areas such as Old Quay docks in Runcorn and Dock Office in Manchester. (The latter had a mainframe computer for running the payroll, I remember.) It’s a great reminder of the ways in which these huge industrial projects shaped the North-West, and I share the author’s happiness that the canal system is gradually being restored and put back to work.

4/5. Finished Sunday 28 April, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Matthew Walker (2017)

An enthusiastic paean to sleep and all it can do for us, from the perspective of a sleep scientist. If there was ever any doubt of the benefits of sleep – and the damage done by denying oneself or others of it – then this is it.

It’s a refreshingly un-preachy book, presenting both the latest science and some prescriptions for those who find sleep difficult. Along the way there are some side-swipes at those to claim to do well on only four hours a night (the science clearly says otherwise), as well as at the educational system for forcing early hours onto teenage brains working to a different rhythm. While I suspect the situation is better in the UK and Europe than in the US, there still seems to be a good argument for changes in timetabling even at university level to accommodate the physiological limitations of younger students,

4/5. Finished Thursday 25 April, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

James Hawes (2017)

Does exactly what the title suggests. As one might imagine it’s a rapid race through a lot of history, but the key currents are clear to see: the nature of Germany changes from east to west, to the extent that the two areas remain religiously, politically, and intellectually distinct even to this day.

The effects of geography on history are made clear by the persistence of certain demarcations even when one might not imagine them. The Roman limes, the line of forts on the western edge, define a boundary based on the ease of campaigning in the countryside; there’s then another Roman boundary at the Elbe, with the area between the two being the extent of Roman punitive expeditions. But these lines essentially track the borders of the future West Germany, as the Russian, American, and British armies met at the Elbe at the end of the Second World War, freezing what was a Roman boundary into 20th century geopolitics.

4/5. Finished Wednesday 10 April, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

George R. Stewart (1949)

One of the earliest examples of post-apocalyptic science fiction. It’s awash with ideas and thoughtful analysis of the challenges that might face a remnant of humanity living in the wreckage of a disaster – even one that, in this case, didn’t involve a war.

It’s not a book that’s aged well, though. Stewart isn’t a natural fiction writer, and his characters never become anything more than two-dimensional stereotypes both in terms of their reactions and their relationships. In that sense it’s inferior to, for example, A Canticle for Leibowitz or Damnation Alley, but enjoyable nonetheless.

2/5. Finished Friday 5 April, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Ray Mears (1990)

A great narrative history of a minor military exploit that was nonetheless of enormous historical importance: the on-going operation to prevent the Nazis acquiring a stock of heavy water that could be used in making an atomic bomb. But the efforts and hazards dared by the men who took part in the operations are equal to those of any polar explorers, as well as any special forces.

Mears is clearly a lot more comfortable explaining the backwoodsmanship of the participants than he is with the detailed military or scientific history, but that just makes this a unique take on a theatre of war that’s been under-studied.

3/5. Finished Saturday 23 March, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)