Crisply narrates the events of the Stuart restoration and Hanoverian succession, focusing on the prudential resolution of unprecedented constitutional questions. Though open to charges of Whiggish history, Trevelyan usefully shows the subsequent sociopolitical consequences of the Glorious Revolution through the long 18th century (i.e., to the Victorian era). But the work exceeds such prescriptive intent: it is masterfully synthesized, the chapter on the settlement’s consequences in Scotland and Ireland also serving to negate the charge of triumphalism. While it is what I had come to understand from derivative works, it remains very good, standing the test of time in argument and writing.
Month: December 2022
8. Lambert, Financial Literacy for Managers (15 Aug 2014)
Surveys core tools of financial management – income (P/L) statement, balance sheet, cashflow statement – showing how they are meant to work and identifying common intricacies which can distort a clear picture. The book then turns to evaluating costs, how the balance sheet (assets and debt) can be put to use, and assessing investment opportunities. A clear, concise reference that summarizes the Wharton exec ed course.
9. Burckhardt, Greeks and Greek Civilization (14 Sep 2014)
A social history of Ancient Greece which sternly judges the Hellenic character as well as its democratic excesses, but ultimately holds up Hellenistic society as the pinnacle of pre-Roman development. Most reliant on literary artifacts – legend as well as artistic works – the 19th-century German identifies four primary phases (heroic, agonal/polis, declining, and Hellenistic) through which state power gives way to tyranny of the masses as well as incipient individualism. Much in the latter that resembles 21st-century America.
10. Shell, Springboard (10 Oct 2014)
A thoughtful approach to identifying individualized definitions of success and creating a career path to that end. Based on the author’s Wharton course, the first part explores the tensions among personal needs, family, cultural standards, and meaningful work. The second is a more conventional tour of capabilities, motivation, self-confidence, etc. The framework for identifying a vocation is ‘passion, imagination, intuition, reason’. Generally free of cloying tropes of the success industry.
11. Thiel, Zero to One (15 Oct 2014)
A highly stylized theory of entrepreneurialism which contends startups aiming to solve clear, ‘big’ problems are most likely to transform the future. The author posits the ideology of competition is a false objective for businesses, which should instead seek to become monopolies. In Silicon Valley, this usually requires proprietary technology, network effects, economies of scale, and distinct branding. Along the way, the founder of Paypal-turned-financier outlines some practical advice (e.g., equity for employees) and also libertarian political thought: faith in indefinite progress leads to pursuit of rent, whereas faith in definite progress leads to inventions that transform the future – careers in law or finance versus going to the moon. The jumping off point, the question of singularity (i.e., exponential advance), is worth further pursuit. Interesting but lacking in the economic grounding that appears early in the book, and may grow dated.
12. Levin, Great Debate (28 Oct 2014)
Modern American politics was presaged by the ideological division between Tom Paine’s Enlightenment rationalism and Edmund Burke’s liberalism. Their opposition is primarily evident in competing notions of man’s nature, the sociopolitical role of history, the ideal of justice and social order, generational independence (‘choice’) and obligations, reason, and ultimately the pace of reform. Richly demonstrated by original quotes, particularly from Burke, such that the work is a useful blueprint for the Anglo-Irishman’s thought. (Relatedly, Burke’s thoughts on the sublime and the beautiful are outlined on p57). Levin raises the question whether Burke is more concerned with organic development of social order and decision making, or natural law. Finds its stylistic footing in later chapters.
13. Bailyn, Origin of American Politics (2 Nov 2014)
The political climate of pre-revolutionary America was based on the worldview of anti-Walpole politicians in Britain. Simultaneously, although formal colonial executive power was in fact stronger than in the British system, the absence of monarchical-aristocratic features (patronage or ‘influence’) reduced the government’s power. Thus the government paradoxically was notionally stronger but actually weaker; royalists meanwhile worried of the democratic (populist) elements threatening the crown and ‘mixed’ constitution. Therefore the situation was latently revolutionary. Overlong sentences but clearly organized and persuasive.
14. Krauze, Redeemers (30 Nov 2014)
A short biography of the leftist Mexican poet Octavio Paz mixed in with still shorter sketches of comparable neo-Marxist intellectuals and heroes of the late 19th and 20th century. While ranging from Marti to Chavez, the author focuses on Mexico and returns often to the topics of the Catholic Church, postcolonial society, the place of indigenous Indians, the sociopolitics of revolution, and finally the relative value of democracy vs political messianism (i.e., progressivism or ‘redemptive leadership’), from which the work draws its title. Ultimately Krauze comes down on the side of democracy. A quick and useful primer on a collection of failed ideologues.
1. Scruton, Meaning of Conservatism (2 Jan 2015)
Sketches core concepts of British paleoconservatism, concluding the virtuous individual – not individual freedom or the social contract – is the objective of community, government, and politics. There is no universal politics of conservatism: it varies depending on the social order, and each society exists through its unique structure. Community and tradition store (institutionalize) social wisdom. Therefore it’s up to progressive philosophies to demonstrate why their wisdom is superior, not to the conservative to show his should persist. The progressive threat to society is authority which does not map to social order or historical identity. Law, which is the will of the state, should also be the will of society: individual freedom and the absence of harm are insufficient objectives. Thus, if the state is the protector, it must support property rights. Institutions, however, must be self-directed with the state playing the role of guardian. ‘Establishment’ is how the state embeds these social institutions within the overall order. Originally written in the late 1970s, the book is concerned not only to address socialism but also liberalism including a free-market worldview the author sees as represented by Hayek, Friedman, and even Thatcher. As ever, Scruton is broadly provocative, draws attention to paradox, and makes frequent reference to Kant. Worth rereading.
2. Keegan, The First World War (8 Jan 2015)
Narrates the warfare of 1914-18, focusing on the strategic failures of each side in the initial going and then in accommodating trench warfare and incipient mechanization. Technically excellent, Keegan’s major extension is to dramatize the senseless waste of millions of enlisted men. Though touching on diplomatic events and social currents, Keegan offers no significant insight in the broader realm of political history. The author fails his self-appointed task of describing why the world’s most advanced region succumbed to self destruction.