In 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American, holding them hostage for 444 days. Six Americans escaped and hid in the home of the Canadian ambassador. A top-level CIA officer named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them before they were detected. You…
Category: Book reviews
Weekend Reading: Book de Tour
Do you like cycling? Do you like watercolors? Then Book de Tour is the perfect book for you. For the past few years, Greig Leach has been painting watercolors of key events from the Tour de France. This year he decided to compile all of the artwork with a narrative description into a single book….
Weekend Reading: Boys in the Boat
Do you hate Hitler? Do you like sports? Then Boys in the Boat is a book to add to your “To Read” list. In the middle of the Great Depression, Joe Rantz is a farmboy from the Pacific Northwest who was literally abandoned as a child and rarely had two pennies to rub together. He…
Weekend Reading: War of the Whales
Dozens of beaked whales beach themselves in the Bahamas. This leads to a legal battle against the U.S. Navy. Joshua Horwitz details the story, scientists, the legal battle, and the science in War of the Whales. It’s an uphill battle when the other side is the most powerful fighting machine on the seas. It’s an…
Weekend Reading: Trapped Under the Sea
If you’ve ever flown into Boston’s Logan Airport or stared out over the harbor, you likely noticed the dozen egg-shaped structures sitting out on Deer Island. Those are key components of the second largest sewage treatment facility in the United States. The construction of the outflow pipes from that facility is the key point in…
Weekend Reading: The Map Thief
The classic business edict is to buy low and sell high. E. Forbes Smiley took that edict to heart in his business as an antique map dealer. Unfortunately, he discovered he could get his cost close to $0 if he stole his inventory. Michael Blanding captures the story of Mr. Smiley and the world of…
Weekend Reading: Countdown to Zero Day
We were in a cyber war with Iran. Kim Zetter unravels the story of Stuxnet, the US computer attack on Iran’s nuclear program in Countdown to Zero Day. A few months ago, I read A Time to Attack urging a US military attack on Iran. That book highlighted how Iran had been building a nuclear program…
Weekend Reading: The Skies Belong To Us
It’s hard to imagine in these days of TSA security, but over a five-year period starting in 1968, hijackers seized commercial jets nearly once a week. Brendan I. Koerner captures this piece of history in The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking. Mr. Koerner uses the hijacking of…
Weekend Reading: Attachments
For those compliance officers who do email surveillance, you should enjoy the premise of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. Lincoln, the protagonist is responsible for email surveillance. He falls for one employee who is a repeat offender whose emails routinely get flagged for his review. He falls in love, but has no idea what she looks…
Weekend Reading: Predator
Predator covers the story of the birth of the Predator drone and its effect on military and covert operations. Richard Whittle manages to weave through the military and aeronautic bureaucracy of the Predator as it is destined to become the most successful military unmanned aircraft. I was surprised to see the level of detail about…