The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - August 2026 

It's been quite a busy month for my Wish List with additions from Booktube as well as a packed bibliography from a recent eye-opening read. It's quite a mix of old/new and near/far this month. As usual I have zero idea when (or if) I'll get around to them, but where's the fun in actually KNOWING what you're going to read next, right? 

How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict by Nina Jankowicz 

KLEPTOPIA: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World by Tom Burgis 

The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West by David Kilcullen 

The Art of War and Peace: The Changing Face of 21st Century Warfare by David Kilcullen and Greg Mills 

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower by Frank Dikötter 

Fortune's Bazaar: The Making of Hong Kong by Vaudine England 

Conquering the North: China, Russia, Mongolia: 2,000 Years of Conflict by John Man 

Empires of the Steppes: The Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilisation by Kenneth W. Harl 

The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic by Robert L O'Connell 

Humanise: A Maker’s Guide to Building Our World by Thomas Heatherwick 

Funnily (I've just remembered), I saw 'Humanise' on the bookshelf of a YouTuber who was using it as a backdrop... The things you notice! 

Happy Birthday: John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". His important works include A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), Two Treatises of Government (1689/90), both published anonymously, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689/90). His writing on toleration contends that religion is a matter for the individual and that the churches are voluntary associations, ruling out religious coercion and uniformity; these lead to the idea of separation of church and state. His Two Treatises on Government argues for government based on the consent of the governed and the right to revolt against tyrannous government which has lost consent. The Two Treatises are believed to have influenced the language that Thomas Jefferson chose in his drafting the July 1776 Declaration of Independence during the War of American Independence.

Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, Locke is equally important to social contract theory. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American Revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence. Internationally, Locke's political-legal principles continue to have a profound influence on the theory and practice of limited representative government and the protection of basic rights and freedoms under the rule of law.

Locke's philosophy of mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of personal identity and the psychology of self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers, such as Rousseau, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. He postulated that, at birth, the mind is a blank slate, or tabula rasa. Contrary to Cartesian philosophy based on preexisting concepts, he maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception, a concept now known as empiricism. Locke is often credited for describing private property as a natural right, arguing that when a person—metaphorically—mixes their labour with nature, resources can be removed from the common state of nature.

Just Finished Reading: Woman Much Missed by Thomas Hardy [56pp] 

...and Poetry..... AGAIN. I guess that its easier to have short booklets of poems than just about anything else plus not every author produced short stories to fit in this format. To be honest I knew (indeed KNOW) so little about Hardy that I wasn't previously even aware that he wrote poetry! But here we are...  

An impressive 35 poems are crammed into less than 60 pages which is some going. Mostly, as you might imagine from the title, revolve around the loss of his first wife Emma Gifford, whom he married on 17 September 1874. When Emma died in 1912 Hardy travelled to Cornwall to re-visit places associated with their courtship and the area repeatedly comes up in his poems of that period including the mythical location of Lyonnesse which was interesting to research further. 

Not being a poetry fan, nor to be honest particularly romantic, most of the contents fell rather flat for me. A few were quite affecting (or maybe effective) in getting across a mixture of loss and fond reminiscence but generally I can't say that I enjoyed them much. In fact I did find myself skimming the last quarter of the booklet. Maybe I'll like his novels better if I ever get around to reading them? 

"The assumption that there is nothing we can do to change the world is the best way of ensuring we never do."

Mark Galeotti, The Weponisation of Everything.

Happy International Dog Day...!

Flu Season is Coming.... I've just (a few minutes ago) had a text from my local doctors to say that, because of my advanced age, I'm eligible for a NHS Flu shot this year (as I have been since hitting 65). So, I followed the link on my phone, confirmed my ID, was offered a ranged of dates and times (and a choice of locations), picked the most suitable one for me (Oct 9th) and confirmed it. Less than a second later I got a text saying that everything was confirmed - all in about 2 minutes total. Brilliant and FREE. Gotta love the NHS! 

Just Finished Reading: The Beats – A Very Short Introduction by David Sterritt (FP: 2013) [108pp] 

I've encountered 'The Beats' on many occasions over the years – in movies, cultural histories and novels - and have even read a few things by them most notably On The Road by Jack Kerouac and, more recently, a booklet of poetry by Allen Ginsberg but have never really read anything about them until now. 

My initial thought that they were essential a precursor to the 'Hippies' on the late 1960's and into the 70's wasn't too far off the mark. The Beats were certainly rebels of their post-WW2 era and talked about and practiced 'free love' and drug use (although this was pre-LSD so the drugs of choice tended to be marijuana, cocaine and heroin) as well as breaking the taboo around homosexuality. The difference in their radical outlook from the Hippies that followed in their wake was that Beatniks tended to be more inward looking and less 'revolutionary' whilst Hippies tended to be much more political and looked to change society in general. 

Naturally this slim volume concentrated its focus on the big three Beats – Kerouac, Ginsberg and William S Burroughs. I was at least familiar with the existence of these three figures and was at least somewhat acquainted with their work – in that I knew of it! The other figures mentioned in this volume were universally new to me – Neal Cassady, Gergory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane di Prima and Gary Snyder. Potted biographies of everyone listed certainly helped me know more about them and appreciate their impact on the Movement. 

Much like the Hippies, the Beats tended to be into everything – novels, poetry, music (especially Jazz), art and film. Despite there being only an estimated 150 published authors/poets amongst them the Beats managed to punch well above their cultural weight in part due to the backlash against their countercultural drive. The horror stories (often either made up or exaggerated – although sometimes not!) helped to cement their cool image with youths looking for something to rebel against. A fairly interesting look at an often-forgotten countercultural movement. Reasonable.  

Happy Ukraine Independence Day.....!