Just Finished Reading: The Humans by Matt Haig (FP: 2013) [293pp] 

It was a punishment assignment, that was obvious from the start. His briefing was practically non-existent, he didn’t even know the language though, luckily, he was a quick learner. When they arrested him later – for not wearing cloths, how ridiculous! - he managed to cover his many mistakes with a simple phrased he’d picked up from Cosmopolitan: Nervous Breakdown. It was (almost) literally a get out of jail free card, well that and a bit of technologically enhanced hypnotism. It took a while longer to realise that they’d also lied to him. He’d just assumed that everything he ‘knew’ (or it turned out thought he’d known) was true, indeed obvious. It wasn’t. Sure, humans were indeed violent creatures who were wholly ignorant of how the Universe really worked but there was more to them than that. They had music, the poetry of Emily Dickenson and a wonderful food called ‘crunchy peanut butter’. They also, rather bizarrely, cared for their children and even knew who their parents were. Probably because of that oddness they also had something called ‘love’ but all of that was distracting from the mission.  

The real Dr Andrew Martin, who he had replaced soon after he was taken, had achieved a mathematical breakthrough. If allowed to be known it would propel humanity beyond its wildest dreams, into their Solar system and beyond into the greater Galaxy beyond. Such a thing could simply not be allowed to happen. The new ‘Andrew Martin’ would need to find out who knew about the breakthrough and eliminate them. Then, to make sure another breakthrough didn’t occur he needed to destroy all and any evidence. To be particular, he had been ordered to eliminate Andrew Martin’s wife and teenage son – just in case. That’s where the problems started and Newton the dog wasn’t exactly helping either... 

Sandwiched between a pair of serious books (the second of which is reviewed on Monday) I thought I’d drop in something silly, something different. This was definitely ‘it’. This is my 3rd book by this author and again I was not disappointed. He has the kind of off-beat quirky mind that I like – a lot. It would be easy to compare the author to Douglas Adams and this book to ‘Hitchhiker's Guide’ but that would be a disservice all around. Both are ‘light’ SciFi, both are commentaries on the absurdity of human existence, and both are ironically funny – and there the comparison falls apart. Essentially this is a novel about human relationships seen from a very ‘outside’ PoV. It's about just how HARD it is to communicate with others, even if you live with them, even if you gave birth to them, even if you love them – most of the time anyway. It’s about owning your mistakes; it's about admitting failure and doubt and it’s about knowing how inadequate the word "sorry" is. It is, in fact, all about being human. Funny, sad, profound at times and endlessly thought provoking I really liked it. Highly recommended – but you might need a few tissues ready for the sad bits.              

Just Finished Reading: National Populism – The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy by Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin (FP: 2018) [315pp] 

When the Soviet Union fell, and History ‘ended’ (or at least it seemed to according to some observers) it was assumed – by many this time – that Liberal Democracy had ‘won’ and that was it. For a while this rather simplistic view of things seemed to hold true. Democracy did indeed spread, and, for a while at least, it looked like Democracies would dominate the planet. But even the most optimist thought that Authoritarian regimes wouldn’t just vanish overnight. North Korea, China and other places would resist democratisation for years, decades, to come, right? What few saw is that the tide of democracy stopped and then turned back. Slowly at first, the numbers of clearly democratic counties actually REDUCED. What was going on? 

The problem, it would seem, was with Liberal Democracy itself. Much had been promised but little seemed to have been delivered except to the vanishingly few at the top of the tree. What little trickle down that actually existed (rather than simply being talked about and talked up) wasn’t anywhere near enough to satisfy those who felt ‘left behind’ by the pro-globalist forces. Something needed to change. As the so-called ‘peace-dividend’ failed to materialise, the housing bubble burst, the rich and shameless received their bailouts and a Pandemic spread across the globe people simply had had enough. It was time for something different, something new or actually something old – strong leaders who could ‘sought things out’ once and for all. With these reactions – against the ‘liberal elites’ - parties that had traditional stayed in the margins or even the shadows began winning seats in parliaments across the globe, from the UK, Europe, Asia and even the bastion of democracy, the USA itself. 

I did have some problems getting ‘into’ this book because, at least at first, I thought the authors were simply apologists for Authoritarianism. But I persevered and actually found the later part of the work much more interesting and even incisive. It’s clear that the present iteration of western Democracy has a problem – actually a number of problems. Sure, some of them have been exaggerated for effect by the Far Right, but there are the real foundations to their criticisms. The present political systems across the west do not accurately represent everyone they’re supposed to. That’s clear enough. The so-called ‘political classes’ have been for too long receding into the distance away from ‘ordinary people’ (a phrase I personally hate) and their concerns and instead of actually listening to their constituents (rather than merely going through the motions) are giving people what they should want, rather than what they actually want – or at very least taking actual desires into account.  

It shouldn’t have but the reaction against democracy has come as quite a shock both to politicians and political commentators in the media. If both groups had been paying more attention to falling voter turnout, increasing numbers of votes cast for ‘fringe’ candidates, street protests, rising acts of violence and a host of other indicators they might not have been. The ‘solution’ for many centrist parties, or even for those already on the centre-right, has been to try to steal the thunder of the more extreme political forces by moving to the right and adopting some of their policies in watered down versions. This is the ‘easier’ of their options and seems to be working at least in the short term. A much tougher option, at least from their perspective, is to make democracy work for everyone – as it should already be working. If Democracy is broken, or at least in need of some level of TLC, then it needs to be fixed rather than abandoned. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of world history knows exactly where growing Authoritarianism leads and its not to a happy place. If Democracy needs saving, which arguably it does, then we need to improve it, to ask the hard questions and be prepared to fix what needs fixing, to ACTUALLY listen to people's concerns, to involve more people more often in previously ‘elitist’ policy. You know, to be more democratic. That, I think, is the way forward to a happier place.  

This was an interesting, if sometimes depressing or disturbing, read and shows us that authoritarianism is, at least in the short term, here to stay. What I can but hope is that, if the right steps are taken, it will move back to the fringes and the shadows where it belongs. But, for the present it's not going anywhere. To understand why you could do worse than start here. A sobering read. Recommended.  

Happy Birthday to ME. 64 today............................!!!!

Only 15.......? Really......? 

I don’t know if you’ve had this experience recently, but I’ve been bombarded with a ‘meme’ on TicTok about the fact that the ‘average’ American house has only 15 books in it. Funnily the TicTokers I’ve seen have responded with incredulity and have said that they have at least 50 and in a few cases as many as 100 in their homes. Naturally this made me chuckle a bit as I’ve probably got at least 1500 and likely to be more in the region of 3-4K. I am still *thinking* of actually counting them but the amount of effort involved is putting me off. If they were all on shelves I’d give it a shot, but at least half of them are stacked on the floor (and a futon in my ‘spare’ room). Anyway, I was intrigued by the whole 15 books thing and did maybe 20-30 seconds of ‘research’ to discover how accurate it was – and found this:    

How Many Books Does The Average Person Own? 

By Rakib Sarwar 

September 6, 2023 

How many books is a lot to own? How many books does the average person buy? How many books does an average person read every year? How many books does the average person read? How many books are in the average American household? 

So, how many books does the average person own? The answer may surprise you. According to the Pew Research Center, the average American household owns around 29 books. However, this number is slowly declining as people move towards digital reading options. Interestingly, though, Americans still buy more physical books than any other country in the world with an average of 12 books purchased per year. And although we’re reading less print material than ever before, we’re still averaging about 5-6 books a year. 

How many books does the average person buy? 

The average person buys or collects about 12 books a year. You may think that this number is too low, but it really isn’t. When you consider how little time we have to read, the average person only has a small window in which they can purchase books. And unless you’re a professional reader, chances are, you may only buy one or two books every six months. This is especially true if you’re a busy individual. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, it is estimated that millennials buy about 4 books per year while Gen Xers buy around 8. So, if you look at these numbers, it’s not surprising to learn that the average person only purchases 12 books per year. 

How many books does an average person read every year? 

Although the average number of books purchased is around 12, how many of those books do people actually read? According to a study by Pew Research Center, the average American reads just 4 books in a year. This is where things get interesting. If you look at this statistic over time, you can see that it has shifted. 

For example, in 2021 the average American read 24 books a year. Of course, this was during a time when ebooks were becoming wildly popular and contained an abundance of information. In the years leading up to 2021, though, the number of books read was much smaller. So clearly, something is happening in the world of publishing that is pushing the average person to read more. 

How many books does the average person read? 

The answer to this question depends largely on the individual. There are some people who have developed a love for reading, and as such, they want to read every day. If you’re someone who reads a lot, chances are that you probably average around 60 books a year. On the other hand, there are some people who only read a book or two every six months. This number is much smaller, but not everyone likes to read or needs to read. 

How many books are in the average American household? 

This number is changing from year to year, but it’s currently hovering around 30 books. This is an interesting number because most homes today are filled with more than one type of media. For example, many homes today have a TV in every room. This means that the average household may actually own around 100 books. 

However, the number of books in a home isn’t always reflective of its owner. If you have young children, you probably have a number of children’s books lying around. You may also have a few books that you plan on reading at some point in the future. Regardless of how many books you have, it’s likely that you’re buying an average number of books each year. 

Although the number of books in an average American household has decreased, there is still a demand for books and book ownership. Owning fewer books doesn’t mean that people are reading less, it could just mean that they are reading different types of books. With more ways to access information, such as the internet and e-readers, owning physical copies of books may not be as important as it once was.  

[Despite being a pretty poorly written ‘article’ it does show that I, and no doubt many people who regularly read/contribute to this Blog, am an outlier in this regard (plus not being American so the reported stats don’t really apply!). I’ve always been surprised by how LOW such ‘averages’ are and the fact that this must mean that a significant number of people must be reading VERY few books per year, if any at all. Unless people like me are SO out there that we’re practically a different class of human. Thoughts?] 

Happy Birthday: James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".

Just Finished Reading: Blood on the Tracks – Railway Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (FP: 2018) [383pp] 

I thought that I’d end my set of railway themed reading with this moderately chunky BLCC shorts collection, and I was far from disappointed. Over the 15 stories contained within its covers I was pleased that hardly one left me wanting, indeed most of them left me wanting more. A case [pun unintended!] in point was The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway by Baroness Orczy. I knew her of Scarlett Pimpernel fame but didn’t realise she also wrote short crime mysteries. On further investigation I discovered, to my delight, that this mystery was part of a collection spanning 3 whole volumes of the ‘Teahouse Detective’. Much more to follow, I assure you! 

An early intriguing tale, which I greatly enjoyed, was The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel by L T Meade and Robert Eustace. Without giving TOO much away this hinged on a bit of scientific knowledge and I managed to guess the cause without ruining the subsequent discovery. Interestingly there was both a non-Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle called The Man with the Watches penned in the interim between Holme’s ‘death’ and his return as well as a Sherlock Holmes tale penned by Ronald Knox called The Adventure of the First-Class Carriage!  

Having enjoyed a superbly plotted novel by Freeman Wills Crofts I was pleased to discover that he was also the master of the short story with The Level Crossing as an apparently perfect murder of a blackmailer begins to unravel almost from the first moment. Of course, a classic crime stories can’t avoid the odd, and sometimes very odd, Gothic or supernatural tale and I really enjoyed the slightly creepy (in a good way) tale of a hangman on his way home in The Railway Carriage by F Tennyson Jesse. 

Without going into each and every tale, this was a cracking set of short crime/mystery stories either set on trains or associated with them. If you have an interest in either trains or classic mysteries this is most definitely the book for you. With authors as varied and exalted as Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, and Sapper you won’t be disappointed. Most definitely recommended. 

[Highest page count of the year so far: 383pp][+35pp]

Fascinating......!

Just Finished Reading: The Spitfire Story – Told by Those Who Designed, Maintained and Flew the Iconic Plane by Jacky Hyams (FP: 2017) [243pp] 

It is understandable that the RAF pilots who flew the iconic Spitfire in the Battle of Britain and beyond get the lion's share of the attention. But they could never have achieved their deserved reputation without so many others. In this slim but interesting book the author addresses that oversight by including the stories of those who designed, built, delivered, maintained, armed and repaired the fighter to ensure it flew when it needed to and kept on flying when it had to. 

From the original test pilots who were most impressed with the original design to the armourers who struggled to fit early cannon ‘upgrades’ that failed to operate as advertised because of lack of testing and an accelerated development schedule, there are many voices here to give the reader a more rounded picture of the aircraft and its operations. The fighter itself, even in action over the English countryside, was only the tip of a very long and complex spear. A significant number of cogs in this machine were, as seen in previous books, were women including transport pilots, factory workers, radar operators, anti-aircraft gunners, plotters at Sector stations, nurses, and much else besides. No doubt, if such a thing had ever been allowed or required, a goodly few would have made excellent combat fighter pilots too. 

The Spitfire airframe experienced major changes throughout the war adding armament, upgraded engines, and various design improvements. All of this had to be designed, manufactured, tested and evaluated in combat – then changed, approved or discarded as required. All of this required a whole host of experts in their particular fields – again given voice here. 

Overall, this was an interesting if a rather shallow ‘broad brush’ affair. It did cover a wide canvas, rather inevitably, but it suffered by being a bit too diffused at times. Still, it’s certainly worth a read to fill in gaps in the aircrafts story that are too often overlooked by other writers. Reasonable. 

This is the last of my ‘deep’ dives for now. I have some more scheduled for later in the year. I hope you enjoyed these first attempts and I’ll see if I can go deeper with other topics whenever possible.          

Welcome to April..... Welcome to Book Month here @ SaLT. Expect a *few* more book related posts for the next 4 weeks.... [grin]

Happy Easter......!

Dancing Pet People? 

I had an e-mail a few days ago from Ancestry.Com regarding a new ‘personality trait’ they’d just released. Intrigued I logged on to have a look and ‘discovered’ that they had previously published a few more. Intrigued further I read on.... 

Now I’m not that impressed about linking too much personality to genetic drivers. I’m a fan of Free Will and, personally, don’t like the idea that my behaviour or personhood is significantly determined by the luck of the genetic lottery. Of course, I don’t think that I’m a completely Free Agent because of my life history and growing up in a particular culture but I think humanity in general is ‘plastic’ enough to modify itself – both collectively and individually – when required or desired. So, what do my genes apparently show? 

The first thing is that I’m unlikely to have a pet. Whilst this is technically true and has been for some time now since my cat died, I did have her for 16 years. Added to that is the fact that I grew up in a house overflowing with pets, from a German shepherd that I only just remember to hamsters, fish, budgies & minor birds, rabbits (LOTS of rabbits), jerboas and so on. So, on balance I’d have to say it's probably dead wrong to say that I’m not a pet person – although the website does say that having a pet is at least 2% genetic and at most 98% environmental. That’s not a lot to go on really! 

Next up is dancing. I doubt if many people have seen me dance – at least not sober! One of my ‘special powers’ is to increase my bodily density whenever anyone tries to get me onto a dancefloor. That very quickly give up before they pull a muscle or dislocate something. Interestingly, Ancestry scientists found more than 1,730 DNA markers connected to enjoying dancing and that enjoying dancing is at least 7% genetic. It would seem that I have few of those genes in my DNA! 

As before Ancestry has me down as an Extrovert – which I’m most definitely not. Sometimes I appear to be one, but this very much depends on who I’m with and where I am. I actually think that the whole extrovert/introvert dynamic is complete bullshit, so I’m not particularly surprised that they got me so wrong. It doesn’t help that only around 1% of our genes are apparently link to this behaviour characteristic – despite that being 8,000 genes! 

The website has me down as a Night person which I most definitely am. I don’t usually start feeling tired until around 11.30pm and can fairly easily stay up past midnight and still function reasonably well. Try me at 6am and you’ll see a very different person! At that time in the morning I might appear to be awake, but my brain is still in the early stages of a slow reboot. It’s interesting to see that being a morning or night person is at least 17% genetic and I can certainly accept that it has a significant genetic component that you can’t really mess with too much! 

One other thing I think was spot on was the ‘hint’ that I’m a picky eater. I am in fact a VERY picky eater. If I’m presented with something unannounced and are expected to simply eat it, then you have another thing coming. Even before becoming a veggie, I would ask, politely at first, exactly what it was. If such facts were not forthcoming whatever it is definitely goes nowhere near my mouth or my stomach. Plus, once I find a food I like I’m likely to eat/drink it for the rest of my life (ditto with things I don’t like & don’t eat). However, I can and have simply drop a particular food item from my ingestible list sometimes for reasons even I can’t understand... 

Finally, the trait that got me laughing the most – risk taking. Now no one who knows me would ever describe me as a risk-taker, indeed I am notoriously risk averse – so much so that I’ve been called boring, a wimp and much besides for not joining in with some idiocy my risk-blind friends are doing. I look at something, quickly assess any risks and if I see that it's too high (and it doesn’t need to be all that high) I become a completely immovable object on the subject. However, according to my genes I’m more likely to take risks than 60% of the population. Really? I think not! But if taking risks is at least 9% genetic I’m guessing that it's been overlayed by the other 91% of environmental factors. 

Happy Birthday: Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still life's, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterized by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was beginning to gain critical attention before he died at age 37, by what was suspected at the time to be a suicide. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.

Just Finished Reading: The Blackpool Highflyer by Andrew Martin (FP: 2004) [336pp] 

Halifax, Yorkshire 1905. After his adventures in London, young Jim Stringer is back on his home turf. Well on his way to achieving his aim of becoming an engine driver and with a new wife to support, life is at last moving in the right direction. He is soon reminded however of the duties and responsibilities of his coveted position when his engine narrowly avoids being derailed due to an object left deliberately on the track. Feeling responsible for the passenger's safety he starts a private investigation into who was responsible. The list, however, is far from a short one. Did the wreckers target his train specifically because of a passenger on it? Was it at attack on the Mill who organised the excursion or an attack on excursions themselves? Was it personal, political or financial? It was enough to make anyone’s head spin with the possibilities. In the hot summer of 1905 with Special trains running to the resorts and beyond Jim had his work cut out for him to figure out exactly where the danger was coming from. What made things worse, and more urgent if such a thing was possible, was that his wife, recently confirmed to be pregnant, was scheduled to be aboard the Blackpool Highflyer – so recently attacked – and Jim himself was due to man the footplate... 

This is my 2nd Jim Stringer ‘Steam Detective’ novel and although I enjoyed it, I did also find it rather frustrating. The issue I had, unlike with the other rail detective series, is that Jim doesn’t have an official (or actually unofficial) position on the railways so is essentially reduced to asking people questions and musing on the results. Jim is also both young and still quite naive so doesn’t yet possess the skill set he needs to progress his enquiries in anything like a logical manner. The fumbles and struggles his way to something like a conclusion – and sometimes not. It took me a while – actually a few days or so after finishing this novel – to realise what my problem was. It’s that I was expecting an historical detective novel, and this isn’t it. What we have here is an historical novel based on the Edwardian railways. Within that novel, mostly about the time and place in which it takes place, is a scattering of crimes (often petty) and mysteries (sometimes unresolved). These are actually secondary to the story itself rather than driving the narrative. Looked at in this fashion I’m going to be a lot less frustrated in future outings with Jim and his trains. 

Overall, I can say I enjoyed this although I did honestly find a quite long diversion into Edwardian vaudeville shows somewhat tedious. This was made up for by insights into the sometimes fractious political situation in England and across Europe at the time as well as an insight into the lives of the Northern working class. Reasonable. 

From Wiki:

Pistol dueling was a sport at the 1906 Intercalated Games and 1908 Olympics.

In the 1906 Intercalated Games, competitors fired duelling pistols at plaster dummies from 20m and 30m.

In 1908, pistol dueling was demonstrated as part of the concurrent Franco-British Exhibition, using the Olympic fencing arena and in front of invited guests. There were no official demonstration sports until 1912. The competition involved two competitors firing at each other with dueling pistols loaded with wax bullets and wearing protective equipment for the torso, face, and hands. Teams were sent by countries including France, the UK, and the USA. The 20-meter competition was won by the French team of Major Ferrus, J Marais and J Rouvcanachi.

Ooooops.......

Just Finished Reading: Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell (FP: 2007) [280pp] 

It was a fight even before the fighting had started. From the very beginning of the conflict the Air Ministry knew that the supply of aircraft of all types in a timely manner was vital to the war effort. But the idea that these aircraft could be delivered, flown, by women was unthinkable. Fortunately for the female pilots themselves desperate times call for apparently desperate measures. Naturally it was never going to be quite that simple. For starters the women pilots would need to have flying hours under their belts far in excess of their male counterparts – at least to begin with. Naturally they would need to fly with a perfect record – the fear of a single crash landing causing the cancelation of the whole effort was a real one – and naturally they would be restricted to the most basic trainer aircraft. Oh, and a few other things: the women would be required to wear skirts, no matter how impractical and, naturally, they would receive 70-80% of their male counterpart's wages. 

This was what the original female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) were up against. But at least they got to fly and to assist with the war effort in an immediately useful and practical way – plus it was, once some of the stranger restrictions were lifted or modified, fun. Starting with the most basic of basic trainers, it wasn’t long before operational needs required that they fly larger, faster and eventually, multi-engine aircraft. More than a few lusted after piloting the latest fighters – Hurricanes and especially Spitfires – but it took quite a long time and much persuading before that happened. Once fast fighters were at last on the cards it wasn’t long that logic and need (again) led to the women being authorised to deliver two engine and then four engine bombers to front line commands. But it was the fighters and, most especially, the spitfire in particular that many of the women loved. It was, they said, designed for them. Many would remember those experiences their entire lives. 

Covering much the same ground as my previous read on the ATA (Hurricane Girls – The Inspirational True Story of the Women who Dared to Fly by Jo Wheeler) I thought this was a better look at both the organisation itself and the women who served there. Overall, this had more heft, more gravitas and more depth than my previous read so (naturally) I enjoyed this rather more. The author gave a more solid background to the women involved – from all classes (eventually!) and from across the Empire, Occupied Europe and the US, plus a few other notables. The author also extended the narrative into the early jet age which was interesting in itself. Definitely worth a read for a host of reasons – not least the struggle of more than competent women to be taken seriously be the authorities – and therefore recommended as an example of an all too often overlooked aspect of the Battle of Britain. 

Where In the World? - 2023/2024 edition. 

A few years ago now I wondered about the fictional geographical distribution of my reading – yes, I ponder such things from time to time – so did a quick survey and wasn’t TOO surprised that most of my novels were based either in the UK or US with only a smattering of examples elsewhere. So, I decided to at least try to do something about that disparity and, as I suspected, its proving to be harder than expected to change my reading habits. As mentioned last time, these are fictional locations rather than the nationality of the author. I’m only counting books that take place mostly in a single country (with the odd exception) and am not counting Fantasy or SF. As always Changes and additions since last year are in BOLD. 

Afghanistan – 2
Australia - 1
Canada – 2 (+1)
China – 1
Crete - 1
Cuba – 2
England – 73 ½ (+17)
Estonia - 1
France – 13 (+2)
Germany – 5 ½
Greece – 2
Holland - 1
India – 2
Ireland – 1
Italy – 4
Jamaica - 1
Japan – 2 (+1)
Norway – 2 (+1)
Malaya - 1
Portugal – 3
Russia – 4

Scotland - 2  
South Africa – 1
Spain – 3 (+1)
Sweden - 3
Turkey - 2
Ukraine – 1
USA – 54 ½ (+9 ½)
Vietnam – 1 (NEW)

A rather disappointing show, I think! Only a single new country added as well as the VAST majority of additions going, as expected unfortunately, to England and the USA. But there is better news on the horizon. I should be adding several new countries by this time next year and should, I DO hope, be adding more reads outside the UK/USA axis. I guess we’ll see in 12 months!  

Happy Birthday: Akira Kurosawa (March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed 30 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production.