Misexplaining Business

O'Rourke, P. J.  None of My Business: P.J. Explains Money, Banking, Debt, Equity, Assets, 
         Liabilities, and Why He's Not Rich and Neither Are You.  New York: Atlantic Monthly Press,
        2018.  ISBN: 978-0-8021-2848-5

P. J. O'Rourke is known for "humorous" writings on a wide variety of topics.  In None of My Business, P. J.tries to provide a off-kilter look at money, economy, mutant capitalism, the digital economy, and consumption.

 P. J. O'Rourke opens the book with the admission that he does not know how get wealth.  But he tries to have fun with discussing economics as a blood sport that he enjoys as a spectator.  He then proceeds to have three chapters under the heading "How I Learned Economics by Watching People Try to Kill Each Other"; four chapters under "Money and Banking"; three chapters under "Mutant Capitalism"; twelve chapters under "The Transition"; six chapters under the heading "Consumption"; and finishing with seven chapters under "Random Walk".

Basically P. J. O'Rourke has taken everything including the kitchen sink that he thinks he knows about money, economics, consumers and the like, stirs it together, and hung it out to dry.  So the reader's enjoyment will depend upon their interest.  But the chapter comparing the cost of a middle class lifestyle from the 1950's with today is worth the price of the book.  So, if you like P. J. O'Rourke or humorous examination of economics, you may like this book.

Ian Fleming, Why a Gold Typewriter?

Fleming, Fergus.  The Man With The Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters.
          London: Bloomsbury, 2015.  ISBN: 978-1-4088-6547-7

"My name is Bond, James Bond." That iconic phrase has been heard in every James Bond movie and spoken in most of the books when James Bond introduces himself..  And in a way, The Man With The Golden Typewriter is an introduction to Ian Fleming's voice as he was writing James Bond.

Fergus Fleming has done the James Bond aficionado a huge favor by collecting the letters written by Ian Fleming or to Ian Fleming that relate to the James Bond books and the other books he wrote from 1952 to 1964.  The book is arranged with 17 chapters (one for each book Fleming wrote plus chapters regarding guns, correspondence with Raymond Chandler, and notes on Americanism in Bond tales) that discusses the book, major events that happened during the time of correspondence, and them the letters themselves.  At the end of the book is a listing of titles Fleming wrote and a list of James Bond movies current as of the time the book was published.

The book title comes from the fact that Ian Fleming acquired a gold-plated typewriter after he sold Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel (pp. 14, 16).  It is the little nuggets of knowledge found in the letters that make the book fun to read!  So reader does not need to be a James Bond or Ian Fleming scholar to appreciate the information found in this book.  If you enjoy James Bond, you are likely to enjoy The Man With The Golden Typewriter.

  

The Battle of Poitiers, 1356 A.D.

Witzel, Morgen, and Marilyn Livingstone.  The Black Prince and the Capture of a King, Poitiers
           1356.  Oxford: Casemate Publishers, 2018.  ISBN: 978-1-61200-451-8

During the One Hundred Years War between England and France, three battles stand out - Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt - as great English victories over larger French forces.  When Edward, the Prince of Wales was 16, he stood in the front lines at Crecy.   Ten years later, now known as the Black Prince, Edward led English and Gascony forces on a series of extended raids in southern and central France.   The battle of Poitiers resulted in the capture of the French king and temporary ascendance for England.

Witzel and Livingstone provide an excellent sense of context and importance to the campaigns that lead to the battle of Poitiers.  They carefully set the stage for the battle with a look at opposing forces, the terrain, the fighting the preceded the battle, and then a look at the result of the English victory. 

Witzel and Livingstone provide as much detail as is available in regard to the battle itself..  They look at the layout of the terrain, the position of forces, the way that French attacks developed and the counterattacks of the English. They discuss and speculate where details are sparse, but are careful to cite what sources are available while examining the validity of those sources. 

If the reader is looking for a readable yet scholarly examination of the Battle of Poitiers in context, The Black Prince and the Capture of a King is the book to read.