The analysis of the 2011 ‘Blackberry’ riots in England reveals conflicting perspectives on the role of inequalities. Conservatives view the riots as lawlessness driven by moral decline, while radicals highlight socio-economic disenfranchisement as a key cause. This essay urges addressing underlying inequalities to prevent future unrest rather than merely punishing the rioters.
This is just another one of the many books I’ve read on the security services / spies / intelligence agencies in general. I guess I have a morbid fascination. Non-fiction throws up some pretty weird stuff – Life itself is a lot stranger than fiction. This tale from a turncoat…
View More Review: Defending The Realm – MI5 and The Shayler Affair – by Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding
This book is quite old, first published in 1951, it dates from a period when the totalitarian reality of Hitler and Stalin were very much fresh in the mind. Hannah Arendt was a German Jew and this work is both philosophical, enlightening and gives a valuable educated insight into the…
View More Review: The Origins of Totalitariansm – by Hannah Arendt
What’s a grown 45 year old male doing reading a little Bosnian girl’s diary you might ask yourself. Well, it cropped up as a recommendation in a documentary on the war in the former Yugoslavia, a subject to which I have passionately researched from its genesis. The Balkans conflict is…
View More Review: Zlata’s Diary – A Child’s Life in Sarajevo – by Zlata Filipović
In “Forty Nights,” Chris shares his journey through addiction and struggles on the margins of society, contrasting the glamorous perceptions of drug culture. The book paints a raw picture of his life in Devon, exploring themes of mental health and societal oppression. Despite challenges, it offers a hopeful narrative of recovery and transformation.
View More Review: Forty Nights – by Chris Thrall
I was just chatting away to Ionutz a security nurse in the local mental hospital and he’s Romanian. I passed through Bucharest a few years ago en route to Istanbul on a train journey traversing Eastern Europe. Romania seemed quite rural, poor and quite different to the Europe with which…
View More Review: Red Horizons – The True Story of Nicolae & Elena Ceausescus’ Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption – by Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa
The book narrates Wayne Anthony’s experience as a promoter in the groundbreaking Acid House music scene of late 1980s Britain. It chronicles his battles against authorities and the evolving culture marked by ecstasy use, while candidly acknowledging the mental health risks associated with drug use. The narrative reflects both hedonism and a cautionary message for future generations.
View More Review: Class of 88 – Find the Warehouse. Lose the Hitmen. Pump the Beats – by Wayne Anthony
I am just about to embark in an online professional cybersecurity course with Masterschool in Tel Aviv, Israel. I am a relative novice in this field and in order to be as prepared as possible for the new academic venture I bought this introductory text to bring me up to…
View More Review: Cybersecurity: The Beginner’s Guide – by Dr Erdal Ozkaya
There is irony in this tale as Bill Browder was following in his grandfather’s footsteps in some ways but was also radically poles apart. Browder’s grandfather had stood for Presidential election in the USA on a Communist ticket. Bill Browder was drawn to business possibilities behind the Iron Curtain and…
View More Review: Red Notice – How I Became Putin’s No.1 Enemy – by Bill Browder
The author of this, the best study of Vladimir Putin that I have read to date, is Catherine Belton, a Financial Times journalist that was based in Moscow. It is a comprehensive study of the rise of Putin and how he has cemented a Tsar-like power as head of the…
View More Review: Putin’s People – How the KGB took back Russia and then took on The West – by Catherine Belton
Roberto Saviano is the Italian Salman Rushdie. After writing his exposé on the Neapolitan mafia that is the subject of this book, Gomorrah, Saviano had serious death threats from organised crime and had to go into hiding and lives under security protection to this day. He is only a young…
View More Review: Gommorah – Italy’s Other Mafia – by Roberto Saviano
Darren Campbell is one of the fastest men in the world and has won Olympic Gold. I’m probably one of the slowest men in the world and know next to nothing about athletics. The Olympics though are unmissable, especially the mens’ sprints. Campbell achieved the zenith of his success in…
View More Review: Track Record by Darren Campbell with Trystan Bevan
I was a DJ myself back in the 1990s and although I never played alongside Brandon Block, I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times. Once, on his father’s birthday in a London bar/club, I had just got out of one of my early mental health hospital…
View More Review: The Life and Lines of Brandon Block by Matt Trollope
The notoriety of the Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie, is present in their legacy. These were the most infamous London gangsters to emerge during the 1960s. Their older brother, Charlie, used to try and keep his distance from Firm activities, yet he had a lot of insider knowledge of operations.…
View More Review: Doing The Business – The Final Confession of the Senior Kray brother by Colin Fry and Charlie Kray
Author, Norman Parker served a 24 year jail sentence for murder. On his release, wanting to experience life to the fullest, he took advantage of his writing skills to become a journalist for lads mags and the Daily Express and set about tackling the niche market of visiting dangerous places…
View More Review: Dangerous People, Dangerous Places – by Norman Parker