The Inside Story of LEGO!

Konstanski, Daniel.  The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Story of a Design Icon.  n.p.: Unbound, 

          2024.   ISBN:  9781464234415  

Have you ever played with LEGO bricks?  Watched The LEGO Movie?  Bought a set just for yourself, not for some child in your life?  Then you are likely a LEGO fan and can appreciate the work Daniel Konstanski put into The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks!

 

In eleven chapters and 300+ pages, Konstanski takes the reader through the history of the LEGO company from its beginning as a wooden toy company to the concept of building with plastic bricks to the powerhouse company it is today.  Along the way the reader gets to see part of the patent for that first plastic brick, then follow the process on how sets are designed, storyboarded, prototyped, and manufactured.  The reader follows the evolution of the LEGO brand from sets being designed for kids to free build their imagination to sets to create familiar setting such as homes, fire stations, police stations to more exotic setting such as castles, pirates, and space travel.  Then along came Technic and Bionicle along with licensed sets such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avengers, and the like aimed for adults as well as children.  Along side that LEGO developed its own intellectual properties with Ninjago and its related TV series and stuffed toys which led to The LEGO Movie and its spin-offs.

 

So if you are interested from hearing from the people behind the LEGO products you love, read  The Secret Life of Lego Bricks!  You will not regret it!

What makes you curious?

Mahnke, Aaron, and Harry Marks.  Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, 

         the Unsettling, and the Bizarre.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2024.  ISBN: 9781250291202

 

Have you ever wandered through a person's personal library or living room and noticed a variety of strange objects that are displayed?  Those are often called conversation pieces in that they generate questions that lead to discussions.  Aaron Mahnke thinks of The Enlightenment Room at the British Museum as a wonder room or cabinet of curiosities   - in essence a collection of objects gathered by the British from around the globe that they saw and went "huh" about.  In Cabinet of Curiosities, Mahnke and Marks have gathered some 160 of the stories that have appeared on his podcast arranged by topic.

 

Mahnke and Marks have gathered an interesting collection of tales that makes the reader wonder, go "Huh," and/or say "What!" in this collection of short tales.  The first topic is Curious Americana with 10 tales (Time Traveler about a 124 old gentleman is one).  The second topic is Wild Coincidences with 15 tales - "Luck of the Irish about a Irish girl working on the Titanic and other ships makes the reader question the concept of luck.  The third topic is Fantastic Beasts with 12 tales - here you find tales of bears, horses,  whales, and a lock-picking orangutan.  Unbelievable Stunts is topic number four (9 tales).  Among these tales is that of Walter who seemed to attract lightening and Ernie who survived plan crashes and 9 major concussions!  Topic five is Bizarre Events with 11 tales that include the time South Carolina had an atomic bomb dropped on it and the time British Airways managed to loose a pilot mid-flight (well almost loose him)!  Strange Literature with 12 tales is topic six.  One such tale reads like a murder mystery while another dealt with a death prediction!  Topic seven is Remarkable Inventions with 9 tales that lead to the creation of Braille and a chess playing robot in 1770 among other things.  Eerie Mysteries is topic eight with 13 tales which include glider models found in Egyptian tombs and the locked-room murder of the King of Bridge.  Topic nine delves into the Baffling Origins of 10 items such at the croissant, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or Beauty and the Beast.  Uncanny People is topic ten with 16 tales of poisoners, Chinese ladies, or folks who make music with rocks!  Topic eleven takes the reader to Peculiar Places with 8 tales of the Crypt of Civilization, hidden chambers in France, and a very windy city in Iran.  More than Human is topic twelve with 8 tales of folks doing the seeming impossible such as Carl who played the violin with his feet or folks that can remember pretty much every moment of their lives.  Topic thirteen drops the reader int Puzzling Crimes with 11 tales of forged art, fake ghosts, and con artists.  Wartime Wonders is the fourteenth and final topic with 15 tales about a game that brought the FBI to the game company's headquarters, soldiers running away from a horde of hares, and a cursed plane.

Majnke and Mark's Cabinet of Curiosities is a book to keep around and delve into when you just want something to entertain yourself without having to think too hard.  Each tale is short, entertaining, and designed to make your wonder.  And the nice thing about having these tales in written form is that Mahnke and Marks provide their sources for each story so the reader can follow up those that really catch their interest! 

 

 

A Video Game and American History!

Olsson, Tore C.  Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past.  

        New York: St. Martin's Press, 2024.  ISBN: 9781250287700

Do you play video games?  Are you into American history?  What about a video game that is set in a particular time period in American history?  If so, Red Dead's History would be an enjoyable read as Tore C. Olsson explores 1899 America via Red Dead Redemption II.

Olsson opens with an preface that outlines the origin of the book (blame Covid since it drew him back to gaming) which developed out of a class he taught at the University of Tennessee in 2021.  Then, in the introduction, he provides a blueprint for how he approaches history in relation to the game.  He also lays out his views on the accuracy of historical events and settings found in the game.  The rest of the book covers The West, The Deep South, and Southern Appalachia and finishes with an epilogue.

In Part I: The West, Olsson has seven chapters that explore what do we mean by "The West,"  Indian Wars, trains, cowboys, gunslingers, the Pinkertons, and outlaw gangs.  In Part II: The Deep South, Olsson dives into the paradox of race relations, the transition from Old South to New South, the Ku Klux Klan, chain gangs, field work, Jim Crow, the myth of "the Lost Cause," New Orleans, and suffragists in 10 chapters.  Part III: Southern Appalachia has three chapters that explore the myth of Appalachia, the resource scrambles that have shaped Appalachia , and blood feuds in Appalachia. The epilogue has Olsson's personal reflections on the game, American history, and all the fun he had on the way.

If you have played Red Dead Redemption II, this is a book for you.  If you enjoy American history and pop culture, Olsson's analysis of the game and its juxtaposition between American history and American historical myth makes for an interesting read. 

Russia and the world!

 Giles, Keir.  Russia's War on Everybody: And What It Means for You.  London: Bloomsbury 

         Academic, 2023.  ISBN: 9781350255081

Everyone not living in a cave has become aware of Russia's actions on the world stage.  If you are interested in some of the details of particular cases and likely reasons why, then read Gile's Russia's War on Everybody!  

 

Keir Giles in eight short chapters provides a wealth of documented information on how Russia seeks to influence people and events around the world for their benefit.  He starts by providing context on what makes Russia so different and strange in comparison to other European countries.  The next chapter examines how the concept of politics as warfare by other means plays out in the Kremlin and Russia at large.  There is a chapter discussing Russia's role in Brexit and Trump's 2016 campaign among other issues.  Then the role of the Russian military in influencing global politics comes to the fore.  Chapter 5 does a deep dive into how Russia's actions affect individual people.  Chapter 6 discusses the role of bribery, wealth, and "willing accomplices" allow Russia access and leverage.  The next to last chapter show how Russia has intertwined business, statecraft, and crime for its own benefit.  Giles finishes the book with a warning on what might come next.  He also provides a list of selected readings and documentation for his arguments.

If you are interested in understanding current geopolitics, Russia's War on Everybody would be a good title to read..

Septuagint in Context

Gallagher, Edmon L.  Translation of the Seventy: History, Reception, and Contemporary Use of 

        the Septuagint (LXX).  n.p.: Abilene Christian University Press, 2021.  ISBN: 

        9781684269198

What do you know about the Septuagint (also call LXX)?  The Septuagint is often used to refer to a Greek language version of the Old Testament used by Jews and early Christians which is still used in some parts of the world today.  Edmon Gallagher provides a detailed examination of the origin, importance, and use made of this translation of the Bible.

 

Gallagher divides the book into three sections - Starting Points, Cannon and Text in Early Judaism and Earliest Christianity, and The Text of the Septuagint among the Fathers.  Each section has three or four chapters.

 

Section 1: Starting Points provides the history of the Septuagint and what ancient Jewish authorities and modern scholars think of the origins of LXX.  It is called the Septuagint because Ptolemy II of Egypt wanted a copy of the Jewish Law for his Alexandrian Library, but since he could not read Hebrew, he commissioned a translation team of seventy-two men. Early Christians by tradition refer to the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures as the Septuagint whereas the Jews use that only for the translation of the Pentateuch.  

Section 2: Canon and Text in Early Judaism and Earliest Christianity delves into the role the LXX played in shaping what books to include as canon in the Christian Bible.  A chapter looks at the LXX in relation to other Jewish texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Masoretic Text.  A third chapter looks at how the LXX is quoted in the New Testament.

Section 3: The Text of the Septuagint among the Fathers looks at how early Christian authors used and viewed the LXX.  There are two chapters dealing with Greek Christian Fathers including Justin Martyr, Origen, and Irenaeus among others.  Then there are two chapters for  Latin Christian Fathers - specifically one for Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin and one for Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo.

If you have an interest in Biblical scholarship or the history of Biblical translations, you ought to take the time to read this title.  Edmon Gallagher has take great care to make this title readable and interesting for all readers.

Eywitness from Kyiv

Ponomarenko, Illia.  I Will Show You How it Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv.  New York: 

         Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024.  ISBN: 9781639733873

The war in Ukraine was unavoidable for anyone paying attention back in 2022.  But the snippets that made it on national and local news were just that snippets, not the broader picture.  Illia Ponomarenko, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, offers the reader a much fuller and richer experience of what was happening in Ukraine and especially Kyiv during the first months of the Russian invasion.

Illia Ponomarenko opens the book with being embedded with the 72nd Mechanized Brigade on a patrol outside Kyiv in March 2022.  His remembrance of earlier times spent with this unit in the Donbas area duing 2017 and other years sets the context for the most recent Russian invasion.  Ponomarenko then takes you back to December 2021 and sets the stage letting you in on how life in Kyiv was before the war and what people were ding and thinking.  He guides the reader through the time before the invasion and then the opening days in February and March when all was confusion and chaos.  Ponomarenko, his mother, and his roommate fled to western Ukraine and stayed with Illia;s girlfriend's parents.  But after a couple of days, Ponomarenko and his roommate Ivan return to Kyiv.  Ponomarenko continues reporting for the Kyiv Independent media service visiting the front-lines when possible, but also providing background information and home-front stories as well.  He brings the book to a close in May 2022 after Kyiv has been saved.

In I Will Show You How It Was, Illia Ponomarenko provides a first-person account of the opening days of the most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.  This title will be of interest to anyone interested in Ukraine, recent European events, or life in a war zone.  A story that everyone should read!

Scouts, Rangers, and Secret Services in the American Civil War

 O'Donnell, Patrick K.  The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln's Special Forces, the 

          Manhunt for Mosby's Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America's Special 

         Operations.  New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024.  ISBN: 9780802162861

 

How up are you on American Civil War History?  If you have read any histories, you have likely encountered Mosby, the Gray Ghost of Northern Virginia.  But what do you know of the Jesse Scouts?  The Blazer Scouts?  The various plots ran by the Confederate Secret Service out of Canada to burn down New York City, raise up an insurrection in the Midwest, and blow up the White House?  You didn't know about these?  Well then pick up The Unvanquished and dive into the heart of these operations!

 

 Patrick O'Donnell opens The Unvanquished with a preface and prologue linking the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and their activities to the "shadow war" conducted by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War.  He then divides the book into three broad sections - Part I: The Jesse Scouts, Part II: The Confederate Secret Service, and Part III: Sheridan's Scouts and "Come Retribution."  While the headings provide some structure, the book basically starts in what is now West Virginia when Union General John Frémont brought the Jesse Scouts (named after his wife) from Missouri  in 1862 and turned them loose to scout ahead of his forces, conduct raids behind enemy lines, and deal with local guerrillas.  Under various names the Jesse Scouts played a role until the end of the war.  In northern Virginia, John Singleton Mosby formed his Independent Ranger Company to operate behind Union lines, raid supply trains, and disrupt anything and everything that he could.  In response to the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid that aimed to kill President Jefferson Davis and burn Richmond, the Confederate Secret Service tried to burn New York, raid Northern banks from Canada, promote dissent and rebellion in the Midwest, and sow discord.  They also worked on several schemes to blow up the White House, kidnap President Lincoln and other officials, and finally to decapitate the Federal government.  

 

While Patrick O'Donnell does a wonderful job of detailing the exploits of the various Jesse Scouts, Mosby's Rangers, and various members of the Confederate Secret Service, he doe not provide any sources that show a link between the ACW "shadow warriors" and the OSS or current special Forces.  Despite that caveat, if you want juicy stories of daring Civil War exploits, The Unvanquished is the book for you!