 Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe
By John Julius Norwich Published in April 2017 304 Pages Thibault’s Score: 3/5 During the Middle Ages, Europe was divided into a cacophony of small feudal land holdings and city states. As gunpowder technology made the destruction of castles easier, large territorial states began emerging in Western Europe for the first time since the collapse of the Frankish empire. These large states were characterized by a new class of posh, style-obsessed, arrogant elites. Four prices who are emblematic of their era - Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Sultan Suleiman all coexisted and interacted. All of them come off as horrible power-obsessed human beings, who care little for either their own people or morality. None were looking out for the good of their people; all were instead focused on their own careers and families. Out of these four, the only exception being Charles V, who was a genuinely pious monarch. This book isn’t extremely interesting, but it gives some insight into a time of scheming and political trickery. What is interesting to me is that during the Middle Ages, these schemes took place but didn’t affect nearly as many people. Average, everyday people could safely ignore the plots and delusions of their rulers. The power of the state was so weak, governments were so localized, and wars were so small-scale that normal people could ignore politics. However, the early modern era was a very different time. This was the time of totalitarianism and state-control of society. As a result, ordinary people suddenly found themselves at the whims of their elites. I don’t recommend this book. It is very similar to a similar book that I recently read called Defenders of the Faith which is much better.
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 Great Siege: Malta 1565
By Ernle Bradford Published in January 1961 256 Pages Thibault’s Score: 4/5 This book is an early 1960s pop history account of the siege of Malta. The book was written by WW2 British veteran Ernle Bradford. Later, he spent 30 years sailing across the Mediterranean, and studying the history of naval warfare and maritime trade. As a result, this book is way more interesting than if it had been written by some historian who never accomplished anything in the real world. The book is a fast-paced hour by hour account of the mind-blowingly epic siege of Malta. This battle constitutes Christianity’s most epic stand against Islam. A small group of Catholic knights defeated an Ottoman army roughly twenty times larger than their garrison, stopping the Turkish advance. Had the knights lost the siege of Malta, the Ottomans would have likely been able to invade Spain and Sicily. Instead, it marked the second major Ottoman defeat after the earlier failed attempted siege of Vienna. The knights were a group of old crusaders who had been forced to abandon their last Eastern outpost on the island of Rhodes several decades earlier after the Ottomans successfully captured it. They came from a variety of backgrounds - French, German, Spanish, English, etc… Assisting them was a group of ragtag Maltese Catholic peasants who hated the knights. The Maltese, although Catholic, spoke a dialect of Arabic and prayed to a God they called “Allah” (albeit in Catholic masses). The crusaders were able to win the siege thanks to the charismatic leadership of 70 year old Hospitaler grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette. He was able to unite the fragmented Catholic forces, and crush the Ottoman attack - despite getting almost no outside assistance. This is one of the most epic battles in history, and this book does it justice. If you want to read a fast-paced historical account of a battle, this is the book for you.  UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Coverup 1941 - 1973 (Vol 1)
By Richard M. Dolan Published in June 2002 478 Pages (Volume 1) Thibault’s Score: 5/5 Note - I only read volume 1 of 2. I cannot find an audiobook for volume 2, and only have a physical copy. I currently have no plans to read volume 2, and am saving it for a rainy day. This is, by far, the best book that I have read about UFOs / extraterrestrials visiting earth. The UFO / UAP phenomenon is very hard to document. However, the US government’s coverup of UFOs is as clear as day. This book isn’t about UFOs per say but rather about the US government’s response to UFOs. I liked many aspects of this book. First, it doesn’t make any outlandish claims. Instead, it sticks to events that can be well documented. Many of the UFOs described in this book were filmed, caught on radar, detected via sonar, and were otherwise documented on instrumentation. This book doesn’t also jump to the conclusion that UFOs are aliens. Instead, it explores many other possibilities such as weather phenomenon or secret aerial craft developed by the US government. It is also incredibly well researched. The physical copy contains about 100 pages of citations and footnotes about the history and authenticity of each citation. In the 1950s and 1960s, many scientists, army officers, and other credible investigators who looked into UFOs / UAPs found that their careers fell apart. Later, many high level intelligence and army officers testified that they had been assigned to destroy the lives of government officials investigating these phenomena. Outsiders can only speculate about why the army and US intelligence agencies were so interested in stifling investigation of UFOs. This book avoids speculating too much, instead sticking to the facts. Here are five key takeaways: -Many UFO / UAP sightings have significant non-witness data (radar data, sonar, etc…) as well as an eyewitness component -Many encounters have resulted in airplane crashes, the death of military personnel, and other incidents -Western / NATO governments have systematically attempted to stifle the evidence of UFOs -More credible encounters tend to report lights in the sky and strange aircraft. Less credible encounters report little green men, abductions, etc… -Western intelligence agencies have directed the media to ignore credible encounters and promote sensational / crazy encounters If you want to seriously dive into UFOs / UAPs / aliens, this is the book where I would start.  The Day After Roswell
By Philip Corso Published in June 1998 384 Pages Thibault’s Score: 1/5 Philip J. Corso was a retired and decorated military officer who served in Roswell in the years after the crash. When I found out he had written an extremely detailed account of the Roswell incident, which he published posthumously, I was very excited. He seemed credible. This book is not a factual account of any real events. Instead, it is a mediocre science fiction novel with only the thinnest pretense of reality. It is an overly dramatic History-channel tier book that is written in the style of an action adventure novel. Instead of carefully explaining his sources, laying out his evidence, assessing the honesty of different witnesses, and making a strong case Corso immediately starts with these dramatic accounts of little green men. I stopped reading after the third chapter. This book is a complete waste of time for any serious readers. Only the most naive dupes can believe anything here. If you want to read good books about potential contact with extraterrestrials, they are out there - but this isn’t it. Likewise, if you want to read high quality sci-fi, this isn’t it either.  In Plain Sight: A fascinating investigation into UFOs and alien encounters
By Ross Coulthart Published in July 2021 430 Pages Thibault’s Score: 3/5 The information contained within this book is fascinating, but I am not a fan of the writing style. This is not a book that I would give to your average normie. After the release of the 2021 tic tac UFO video by the US Navy, and the 2023 release of the Customs and Border Patrol footage of UFOs, I was very confused. Prior to my discovery of some shocking official US government released footage, I have always been extremely skeptical about claims of extraterrestrial life. However, as someone who knows a lot about the organization of deep-states both present and historical, I am not surprised at all by cover-ups. When I saw the footage, I didn’t know what to believe anymore, so I picked up this book. This book documents many eyewitness testimonies, mainly by various former military officials, of encounters with literal “unidentified flying objects” as well as encounters with supposed recovered alien technology. All of the encounters described are fascinating, although I am not sure that all are credible. Some accounts seem extremely credible. For example, US pilot David Fravor who saw several UFOs in 2004 has a history of good behavior, and was able to film what he saw. At worst, he is honestly mistaken. Some of the people whose story he relates, such as former CIA agent Gordon Novel, were known compulsive liars. Others, such as retired rock star Tom DeLonge are plain weird. I wish that Coulthart had more carefully vetted which incidents he chose to cover. Instead of covering as many recent UFO incidents as possible, he should have sorted out all of the ones which are possible scams. His style of writing was a little bit annoying. He doesn’t come off as someone who is trying his best to be clinical or objective. Instead, he is opinionated. He tries to be just objective enough to pass off as unbiased enough, while still clearly promoting the notion that various governments are hiding information about extra-terrestrials. The thing that struck me the most is how credible many of the encounters are. Many of these accounts involve data collection from radar and other devices, multiple credible witnesses, and sometimes even (blurry) footage. Although there is no fire; there is clearly smoke. Another thing that struck me is that the witnesses that seemed credible to me were very consistent. They detected via instrumentation or saw orbs of light moving in very strange ways, sometimes going to the atmosphere or into water. The less credible witnesses seemed less consistent, seeing black helicopters, flying saucers, and little green men. I am not convinced that there are aliens. But I am 100% convinced that there are currently unexplainable orbs of light moving around in unusual patterns that are getting filmed, detected on radar, and seen. To me, Ockham's razor suggests the simple explanation that they are aliens. But maybe there are less plausible but more naturalistic explanations, such as ball lightning or some other phenomenon. What is clear is that most of the events described in this book are not hoaxes. This book is too fringe for your average reader. It requires a lot of mental effort to toss out the crap, and keep the treasure. I am always disheartened to learn that even readers will read books that I recommend with the mindset that either all information within the books is good or all of the information is bad. If you do choose to read this book, then listen to it as an audiobook. The book is read by the author, which is always by far the best. This makes it very easy and pleasant to listen to.  Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century
By Thomas E. Woods Published in June 2010 309 Pages Thibault’s Score: 1/5 I like the author Tom Woods, and have met the author personally several times. I love his podcast, I’ve done many of his courses, his lectures are great, and (many years ago, in high school) I read some of his books. However, I was really disappointed by Nullification. Based on my various interactions with him over the years, I actually agree politically with Tom Woods on many political issues, especially concerning Nullification. Because of this, I did not feel that his book was a strong defense of the ideas which we share. Nullification is the idea that state governments can vote to refuse to enforce federal laws that they find unconstitutional. This book feels extremely dated for a number of reasons. First, it was written before marijuana was legalized, before states became sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, and before gun control nullification was routine. At the time this book was written, I guess that nullification was fringe. Now it is mainstream. As a result, this book feels like a try-hard defense of an idea that is fringe. So much has changed in the 13 years since this book was written, that it mostly addresses irrelevant items. I also didn’t like the writing style. The historical segments were good. However, Tom Woods is too argumentative. I always feel like he is arguing with imaginary voices in his head. Instead, when I read a book, I want to be told a story. The best arguments never feel like arguments; they feel like entertaining narratives. Finally, I disagree with a major thrust of his argument: legalism. American conservatives are obsessed with “the rule of law.” Many arguments were predicated on the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of laws. This obviously doesn’t matter in the real world. The only thing that matters is ultimately physical coercion - who has the soldiers, and who has the guns. North Korea and China guarantee freedom of speech in their constitutions; just as the US constitution does. Clearly, in these two countries, there is no practical freedom of speech. Likewise, the argument that I would make for nullification isn’t legalistic. It is purely force based. If laws can be ignored, they can be nullified. If police and government officials can be bribed, coerced, or convinced to stop enforcing a given law - that is almost as good as nullification. In 2010, Americans lived in a society where there was still a semblance of the rule of law. Back then, to understand what I was talking about, you had to go to places like Brazil. Now, in 2023, it is amply clear to almost everyone that the law is just a pretense for politicians and police to do whatever they please. If you say something that is politically unpopular, the government will find trumped up charges, and prosecute you. Likewise, if you want to do something illegal, then just do it and hope that you don’t get caught. When laws can be safely ignored, revolution becomes unnecessary. I do not recommend this book. I barely made it to the appendix. It is dated. At best, if you were writing a history of the libertarian movement, this would be a somewhat interesting historical record of what libertarians believed circa 2010. |
Thibault SerletMost of my articles are book reviews, but I also write about many other topics. Archives
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