Friday Five: Books Read in March

1. Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (Elliott and Thompson Ltd) - To see how nations and cultures behave they way we do, we often look to history. In this fascinating work, Tim Marshall posits that past actions may have more to do with geography; natural rivers and mountains as boundaries (France was a successful nation because it has the most kilometres of navigable rivers of any country in the world, thus facilitating movement of goods and ease of trade), and artificial partitions (the arbitrary division of East and West Pakistan has caused unrest and volatility in the subcontinent for the past eighty years). For example, the USA and Russia had communication and unification issues purely due to their physical magnitude; Egypt didn't become a colonialist power because it had no trees with which to build ships; and China seeks expansion to secure warm water seaports. Control of ports, seas, exclaves, canals and straits are of crucial geopolitical importance. Marshall wrote this book in 2015, and this is a revised version published in 2025. With recent global conflicts, including the war to control the Strait of Hormuz, he has plenty to include in his next update. 
2. Cunning Women by Elizabeth Lee (Windmill Books) - Of course I was going to read this book set in 1620 Lanacshire, at the height of the persecution of women condemened as wiches. In a small hamlet abandoned since the plague, the only people who live there are the Haworth family: Sarah, her little sister Annie (who is practically feral), her brother John and their mother, who is losing her wits (increasingly conversing with her familiar, Dew Springer) potentially due to lack of contact with the local community. It's sort of a love story as Daniel falls for Sarah but cannot explain why, so naturally others say it's because she has bewitched him, particularly the pretty May Queen who wants him for herself. It is also an exposé of hypocrisy as the villagers like the family and use their knowledge when it suits them, but blame and condemn them when that is more convenient.
3. The Dark Side of Camelot by Seymour Hersch (Harper Collins) - There is a romantic view of JFK, enhanced in part by his assassination. If that's the way you'd like to preserve your idealisation, I would recommend steering clear of this book. From his serial womanising (he had people to procure him prostitutes and warn him when Jackie was returning to the White House so he could get them out of the pool), to his evident connections with the Mafia and organised crime, via his complete and callous incompetency over the Bay of Pigs incident and the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was something very rotten in the state of D.C. As part of his personal feud with Fidel Castro, Kennedy authorised to the CIA to lace Castro's cigars with toxins, poison his milkshakes, prepare contaminated diving suits and rig brightly-coloured explosive seashells in the areas where he commonly went skin diving, not to mention bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. He made deals with Russian politicians, which have only come to light since the declassification of documents and personal correspondence in the late 1990s, escalated the Vietnam War and approved the use of chemical weapons. He was also on multiple drugs (including opioids, anaesthetics, steroids, tranquilizers and stimulants) to manage his back pain - naturally this toxic cocktail would have affected his judgement as much as the corset he wore to straighten his posture prevented him from slouching in the seat on that fatal day in Dallas. The tone of the book is very serious and wordy, so don't expect light relief, but then again, you might consider that the hagiography of an arrogant, misguided misogynist to be no laughing matter.
4. The Shortest History of Australia by Mark McKenna (Black Inc.) - The 'Shortest History of' series began with Europe in 2012. It has since expanded to include titles on Japan, Greece, Ancient Rome, India, Democracy, The Crown, War, Economics and Innovation. The premise is that they offer 'clear and concise accounts of broad-ranging topics from the world's leading subject matter experts [that] can be read in an afternoon and will transform your perspective for a lifetime.' At over 250 pages and packed with facts and information, I dispute the idea that this could be read in an afternoon, but I do agree that it is fascinating and illuminating. Perhaps the main theory behind this treatsie is that the history of Australia is neither linear nor consequential but that many strands can co-exist consecutively. Indigenous Australia, the penal colony, the gold rush, Federation, WWI and the formation of the Anzac legend (Australia being "the only modern nation-state to create an origin myth not located on its own soil"), WWII, the Cold War, and waves of non-British migration are all necessary to the shaping of the country, and all are essential to understand Australia as it is now.  
5. Strange Houses by Uketsu (Pushkin Vertigo) - In this Japanese horror/ mystery, housing floor plans and family trees take up half the book. Much of the text is written as play dialogue, which contains all the exposition, so there is very little description. The tale deals with dismembered bodies, family curses, murderous children, blackmail, and the importance of succession. Despite being pretty far-fetched and exhuming some standard tropes, the creepy thriller is certainly different in style. There is an element of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories, which can be read in a day or two, but leaves a lasting impression.