Goodies

[stoutfellow]

The nice man from the USPS just came by bearing packages. I ran outside and met him halfway - which would not be remarkable, except that it's about 30F out there, and I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt and am barefoot.

In the packages, the following:

• We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History by John Lewis Gaddis


• The Accusers, one of Lindsey Davis' "Falco" mysteries


• All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer, an account of the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mossadegh


• Rhapsody: Child of Blood, a fantasy novel by Elizabeth Haydon


• One Hundred Philosophers by Peter J. King


• Analytic Theory of Polynomials by Q. I. Rahman and G. Schmeisser

That last one deserves a bit more of a comment. Last year, I proved a certain theorem, by brute force. I don't understand why it's true, but it definitely is. It's outside my usual haunts, and I'd really like to get a better grasp on it; the book by Rahman and Schmeisser seems likely to help me get that grasp.

It cost $246.

Advanced works in mathematics have such a small market that fixed costs make up an unusually high fraction of the price. There are other factors at work as well, all tending to push price up.

I'm almost sure that it'll be worth it. Almost.

Comments

[oilhistorian.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, We Now Know is a great book. But I'd have bought Gaddis' more recent book -- The Cold War: A New History -- instead. More complete. I almost attended Ohio U for my PhD back when Gaddis was there.

I'm curious to hear what you think about Kinzer's book.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Hm. I wish I had made a note of where I got the recommendation of We Now Know. I would have assumed it was the Economist - most of my historical purchases are prompted by their reviews - but a publication date of 1997 makes that unlikely. When was the more recent book published?

I'll move Kinzer to the front of the to-read pile. The nonfiction slot just opened up.

[oilhistorian.livejournal.com]

The new book is really new -- it was published in December. It's a more comprehensive and refined look at the same issues he visited in We Now Know. But you can't go wrong with any book by Gaddis. He really is the leading US historian of the Cold War.

[kd5mdk.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I greatly enjoyed his "Surprise, Security and the American Experience".