The Best Books of 2007



I reviewed 52 books here in 2007. These are my Top 5 from that year – in chronological reading order:


Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams
Blood of Victory by Alan Furst
Conventions of War by Walter Jon Williams
Way of the Wolf by E E Knight
The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice



The Best Books of 2008


I also reviewed 52 books here in 2008. These are my Top 5 from that year – in chronological reading order:


Permutation City by Greg Egan
The Algebraist by Iain M Banks
The World without Us by Alan Weisman
Black Mass – Apocalyptic Religion and the death of Utopia by John Gray
The Gunpowder Plot – Terror and Faith in 1605 by Antonia Fraser

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Humans 'left Africa much earlier'



By Paul Rincon for BBC News


27 January 2011


Modern humans may have emerged from Africa up to 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, a study suggests. Researchers have uncovered stone tools in the Arabian peninsula that they say were made by modern humans about 125,000 years ago. The tools were unearthed at the site of Jebel Faya in the United Arab Emirates, a team reports in the journal Science. The results are controversial: genetic data strongly points to an exodus from Africa 60,000-70,000 years ago. Simon Armitage, from Royal Holloway, University of London, Hans-Peter Uerpmann, from the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and colleagues, uncovered 125,000-year-old stone tools at Jebel Faya which resemble those found in East Africa at roughly the same time period. The authors of the study say the people who made the tools were newcomers in the area with origins on the other side of the Red Sea. The researchers were able to date the tools using a light-based technique, which tells scientists when the stone artefacts were buried.


So-called anatomically modern humans are thought to have emerged somewhere in Africa some 200,000 years ago. They later spread out, migrating to other continents where they displaced the indigenous human groups such as the Neanderthals in Europe and the Denisovans in Asia. DNA from the cell's powerhouses - or mitochondria - can be used as a "clock" for reconstructing the timing of human migrations. This is because mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) accumulates mutations, or changes, at a known rate. Researchers used a dating technique that relies on when the tools were buried Studies of mtDNA had suggested a timing for the "Out of Africa" exodus of 60-70,000 years ago. But scientists behind the latest study argue that the people who made tools at Jebel Faya 125,000 years ago are ancestral to humans living outside Africa today. Professor Uerpmann said the estimates of time using genetic data were "very rough". "The domestic dog was said to be 120,000 years old, and now it is 20,000. You can imagine how variable the genetic dating is," he explained.


Commenting on the findings, Professor Chris Stringer, a palaeoanthropologist at London's Natural History Museum, said: "This archaeological work by Armitage and colleagues provides important clues that early modern humans might have dispersed from Africa across Arabia, as far as the Straits of Hormuz, by 120,000 years ago. "This research augments the controversial idea that such populations could have migrated even further across southern Asia, despite conflicting genetic data that such movements only occurred after 60,000 years." The researchers say the toolmakers at Jebel Faya may have reached the Arabian Peninsula at a time when changes in the climate were transforming it from arid desert into a grassland habitat with lakes and rivers. These human groups could later have moved on towards the Persian Gulf, trekking around the Iranian coast and on to South Asia. Indeed, Dr Mike Petraglia at the University of Oxford has uncovered tools in India that he says could have been made by modern humans before 60,000 years ago. Some tools were sandwiched in ash from the eruption of the Toba super-volcano in Indonesia that geologists can date very accurately to 74,000 years ago. However, other researchers suggest that the people living in India at this time could have died out and been replaced by a later wave of humans. Anthropologists already knew of an early foray out of Africa by modern humans. Remains found at Skhul and Qafzeh in Israel date to between 119,000 and 81,000 years ago. But the Skhul and Qafzeh people are generally thought to have died out or retreated south, perhaps because of climatic fluctuations. They subsequently disappear, and their sites are re-occupied by Neanderthals. Professor Stringer said the fact that the tools found at Jebel Faya did not resemble those associated with modern humans at Qafzeh and Skhul hinted at "yet more complexity in the exodus of modern humans from Africa". He posed the question: "Could there have been separate dispersals, one from East Africa into Arabia, and another from North Africa into the Levant?"


[The very early history of our species is still largely unknown to us and, therefore, any potential breakthrough such as this has huge implications. It will be interesting to see what other evidence for the earlier migration of humanity emerges in the next few years. Always fascinating stuff….]

Just Finished Reading: Feminism – A Very Short Introduction by Margaret Walters



The title was a bit of a misnomer here. This interesting short volume was actually about the history of the rise of Feminism in England during the last 200 years or so. I suppose that a 140 page introduction to the whole gamut of Feminist history and writing would just be far too general to actually mean anything or far too fragmentary to make much sense.


I was rather surprised to see this book start with the religious roots of Feminism – believing that Christianity at least was deeply misogynistic. Reading the opening chapter actually failed to disabuse me of this idea despite, or maybe because of, the early attempts by religious females to become recognised as a valuable contributor – beyond the production of babies and the means to feed them. Apparently this cut little ice with the male dominated religion of the time. Only, it seems, with the increasingly secular 17th century – no doubt helped by the upheaval of the Civil Wars – did recognisably modern Feminism begin to emerge. The 18th century saw the increasing influence of women such as Mary Wollstonecraft with the publication of her Vindication of the Rights of Women [which is on my ‘to read’ list]. But it was the 19th century, with the rise of the Suffragists and the Suffragettes, that really saw true social progress for women. With the achievement of the Vote and greater penetration into the workplace it seemed like much had been achieved but as the 20th century progressed it became clear that there was still much to do – including the female regulation of reproduction and the fight against both conscious and unconscious male domination. These fights persist today.


Although much of this book was not exactly new to me it still, in conjunction with several other books I have been reading lately, concentrated the mind onto the plight of women who suffered, from a modern perspective, to an intolerable degree until comparatively recently. The advantages that many take for granted today – and sometimes openly disparage – have a long and contested history which should be appreciated in the same vein as the fight against slavery and other abuses of basic humanity. I fail to understand why, throughout most of our history, women have been treated as second class citizens at best and far too often as chattels to be disposed of as men see fit. Books such as this remind those who need reminding that today’s more enlightened view – at least in the West – is a fairly recent phenomenon and should not be taken too lightly or for granted. Women still have things to gain and much to lose. Recommended.

Cartoon Time.

Just Finished Reading: Leviathan’s Deep by Jayge Carr



In their ever expanding need to seek out new markets the Terrene have begun to exploit the world of Delyafam. On the face of things it will be a push-over. The Delyene are a primitive Bronze Age civilisation based around a warrior culture and steeped in the ideas of honour and duty. But they pose no direct threat to the humans. They are outgunned and out-‘scienced’ at every turn. It seems that assimilation is inevitable and that any form of resistance to a much stronger invading culture is dangerously pointless. The Lady Kimassu thinks otherwise. A virtual outcast in her own society because of the paleness of her skin, she is captured and held hostage by the captain of the human star ship because of her perceived beauty. When he fails to indoctrinate her to human ways and human values she becomes the Terrene’s most implacable enemy. So begins a fight for the world of Delyafam and for the soul of the Delyene.


I couldn’t help wondering if James Cameron had read this novel since its publication in 1979. Throughout the novel I couldn’t help thinking of scenes from Avatar or, maybe, the author was simply channelling the story of Pocahontas which they could share as a common originating idea? In either case it was a little off-putting to say the least. But even saying that, this was an interesting, well told and dramatic tale of the clash of cultures and technologies we have seen throughout world history and something that will, no doubt, be seen on other worlds if we even get there and meet other ‘people’ already occupying them. If we’re lucky (in one sense at least) it will be us doing the assimilating. If not we will be on the receiving end of a very dirty stick.


It is books like this, I believe, that laid the seed that grew into my fascination with other cultures. The description of the alien Delyene is fascinating: A Matriarchal Bronze Age warrior culture whose evolutionary ancestors were fish (not that long ago) who had lived much the way they had been found for thousands of years. The society itself intrigued me a great deal and would be an Anthropologists dream to study. It is this that made the book so readable for me. The clash between human and alien cultures – whilst interesting enough – was very much of secondary appeal. All in all, especially considering that this was it was Ms Carr’s first novel, this was an enjoyable read and is recommended to anyone with an interest in ‘alien’ cultures.

Cartoon Time.

Risks of cyber war 'over-hyped' says OECD study



From the BBC


The vast majority of hi-tech attacks described as acts of cyber war do not deserve the name, says a report. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development study is part of a series considering incidents that could cause global disruption. While pandemics and financial instability could cause problems, cyber attacks are unlikely to, it says. Instead, trouble caused by cyber attacks is likely to be localised and short-lived. However, it warns that governments need to plan for how it could mitigate the effects of both accidental and deliberate events.


Attempts to quantify the potential damage that hi-tech attacks could cause and develop appropriate responses are not helped by the hyperbolic language used to describe these incidents, said the OECD report. "We don't help ourselves using 'cyberwar' to describe espionage or hacktivist blockading or defacing of websites, as recently seen in reaction to WikiLeaks," said Professor Peter Sommer, visiting professor at LSE who co-wrote the report with Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute. "Nor is it helpful to group trivially avoidable incidents like routine viruses and frauds with determined attempts to disrupt critical national infrastructure," added Prof Sommer. The report acknowledged the risk of a catastrophic cyber incident, such as a solar flare that could knock out satellites, base stations and net hardware, but said that the vast majority of incidents seen today were almost trivial in comparison as they did not last long and only hit a few people or organisations. Attempts to decide how to deal with the wide variety of potential attacks and attackers were being hampered because words used to describe incidents meant different things to different groups. For instance, it said, an "attack" could mean phishing e-mails trying to steal passwords, a virus outbreak or a concerted stealthy attempt to break into a computer system. "Rolling all these activities into a single statistic leads to grossly misleading conclusions," said the report. "There is even greater confusion in the ways in which losses are estimated."


The report also played down the risk of a conflict between nation states being played out over the net. "It is unlikely that there will ever be a true cyberwar," said the report, most likely because no aggressor would stick to one class of weaponry. Also, it said, existing defences and the unpredictable effects of such an attack could limit its effectiveness. However, it noted, that even if a cyberwar is unlikely to ever happen, there was no doubt that the weapons used in such a theatre of war were becoming ubiquitous and would likely be used in the future alongside conventional weapons as "force multipliers". Under the heading of cyber weapons the report included viruses, worms, trojans, distributed-denial-of-service using botnets and unauthorised access to computers ie hacking. Finally, it said, while the net may be a vector for attack it might also help in the event of a large-scale event. "If appropriate contingency plans are in place, information systems can support the management of other systemic risks," it said. "They can provide alternate means of delivering essential services and disseminate the latest news and advice on catastrophic events, reassuring citizens and hence dampening the potential for social discontent and unrest."


[It would appear that we’ve had a breakout of common sense, reason and proportionality. It would also appear that (shocked look) a fear has been over-hyped. Well, I never……….]

Like Mandy, I am not a morning person.....

Just Finished Reading: An Attack on an Enemy of Freedom by Cicero



Shortly after the assassination of Julius Caesar the great orator and lawyer Cicero gave a series of speeches in the Roman Senate attacking the political ambitions of Marc Antony. In the two polemics contained in this slim volume Cicero, with surgical precision, eviscerates Antony’s character and undermines his crude attempts to take power in Caesar’s place.


Easy to read and very powerful, these speeches are delightfully acerbic. Dripping with poisoned sarcasm they show just how dangerous a talented public speaker can be to the naked ambition of a lesser man. I probably missed some of the nuanced effect due to my relative ignorance of the events following the demise of Caesar. However, it was hard to miss the unrelenting assault on Antony and I for one would not have liked being on the receiving end of Cicero’s tongue lashing. Not surprisingly after the polemics failed to have the desired effect of denying Marc Antony a position of power, Antony had Cicero assassinated.


This was one of the series of Penguin Great Ideas books which are, generally, very good indeed (if sometimes extracts from much larger works). This is no exception and gives an insight into events taking place at the very beginnings of the Roman Empire. Interesting both from an historical and political point of view.

Cartoon Time.