A short reflection on five of the many books read and appreciated during the previous 12 months. Some of the following will undoubtedly be a great study we’re certain.Also, a bonus… an all-time favourite revisited following a 40+ year absence, this time around in an electric format.In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik LarsonA stunning capture of 1933–1934 in Berlin recording the increasing stranglehold on power by Hitler and his group of thugs.Very detailed portrayals of the major people and their many, many misdeeds. In particular, the “night of the long knives” that was a for the atrocities which followed. The time is taken by larson through the contact of American Ambassador Dodd and his family trying out his post in pre-World War II Berlin. Dodd was not a conventional diplomat. As he becomes familiar with the German Reich leadership, Dodd significantly understands their savage character and aspirations. He correctly analyzes Hitler and correctly opined that war might follow. Sadly, the “Pretty Good Club” of monied diplomats in Washington thwarted Dodd’s message.One admires Dodd’s high principles for not attending the yearly kostenlos parken nuernberg Nazi-fest: Dodd made the difference between party politics and statecraft.If a reader needs an insightful perception of pre-war Berlin and Germany since it slipped into fascism, this really is a definite “must read” followed, of course, by the traditional Christopher Isherwood “Berlin Stories.”Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage by Douglas WallerA engaging read – – warts and all – – of William Donovan, an lawyer from Buffalo NY who established the Office of Strategic Services just before WWII. The OSS became the CIA in the early 1950’s.Wild Bill Donovan personifies “Better to request forgiveness than find permission.” He was an inspiring leader, poor officer and absentee father/husband. His and the OSS encountered opposition from FBI Director J Edgar Hoover and others using their own espionage agendas and fiefdoms.Donovan was a man of ideas, not politics. His OSS operations spanned the world and despite many failures, played a significant role in the Allies victory. Eventually, he was sent packing with the wind-down of the OSS by President Truman, not a Donovan supporter.Despite his faults, I really believe the world needs more men like Wild Bill Donovan: happy to serve their nation, a for action, and an inspiration for followers.Interestingly, in the current discourse on national health care in the US, Donovan’s friends secured President Eisenhower’s assistance so Donovan may devote the last portion of his life in the army’s Walter Reed Hospital as cost of his medical care was beyond family economic capacity.Definitely a read for record buffs and those interested in genesis of American espionage.Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel PinkTraditional thinking is that inspiration at work and at home can be best attained by a carrot-and-stick method. Bonuses at any office. Products for children.But, Daniel Pink believes that the carrots and sticks drive system is really a problematic approach in today’s world. In reality, he believes, carrots and sticks can and do hinder large performance.Pink believes there is a between what science knows and what company does. For Pink, the secret to good performance and satisfaction -at function, at school, and at home – is the need to direct our very own lives, to discover and produce new issues, and to do better by ourselves.He posits that you can find three components of true motivation – independence, mastery, and function – and the greatest motivation we’ve comes from within, intrinsic (Type I) rather than outside, extrinsic (Type X ).To guide today’s workforce that is not inspired by carrot and stick method – – the flawed Motivation 2.0 – – businesses must accept Pink ‘s Motivation 3.0. And, fortuitously, he offers a resource of resources to assist that transition.Rationale arguments backed by reliable research. Invoking. An extremely stimulating read.Someone to Teach Them: York and the Great University Explosion, 1960-1973 by John T. SaywellJack Saywell was the Founding Dean of Arts at York University in the very early 1960’s. Invited to the barren campus north of the town from his hot midtown Toronto company at U of T by York’s founding President Murray Ross.Someone to Teach Them is Jack’s story of the early years at York and the surge of post secondary education in Ontario with the associated challenges to built a first-rate school. Jack had a unique perspective as an observer, engaged person and prey of York’s inner politics during the university’s transformation from a small college in the middle of a pasture to Canada’s largest university in the middle of the greater Toronto area.If you’ve an interest in the development of York University and post-secondary education in Ontario during the 1960’s early 1970’s, Someone to Teach Them will be a massively interesting read. It was that for me personally, specially as I was at the middle of many on college contretemps that Saywell describes including the famous “Americanization of York protest – – we were holding the days of student power. And, for a short time, one of Saywell’s adversaries as an editor of the York U student paper, Excalibur. We later sorted that out.I had the fortune to spend the summer following graduation from York as a author and researcher for Saywell. Liked working for him and along with his team of scientists so much that I returned for a summer during my graduate college years.Working for Jack was a strenuous but enriching experience. He did not suffer fools or mediocrity with patience. But, he did stimulate and induce his students and his group to execute at an even far beyond relaxed norms. Away from office, Jack was equally demanding: tennis games at which he excelled, dinner parties at which he articulated, entertained and outlasted visitors. Liked more than a few good bottles of simple and red malts with him.Jack Saywell was an inspiring historian to his many students and a widely followed political commentator for Canadians. For most of us York undergrads, Jack was our Mick Jagger of academia, a media rock star on campus. Really, an original Canadian. Larger than life. Canada requirements more Jack Saywell’s!Killing Floor by Lee ChildI discovered of author Lee Son or daughter earlier in 2010. The Jack Reacher novels had been missed by somehow despite always buying refreshing and new thriller writer. Thanks to Malcolm Gladwell for the advice via an Floor is the first of the Jack Reacher line. Reacher – that’s the only name he uses – is a reputable hero, unlike many other creatons whose superhuman characteristics leave visitors wondering.. and gasping. how can he/she do that? Reacher can’t travel or end bullets with his teeth but he can take of business.Good piece with some interesting twists. Plenty of depth to provide context and understanding to readers missing expertise: a 17 has 17 bullets! Reacher gets the job done and leaves governed carnage behind. As I do not wish to be a spoiler.I am currently reading Reacher book # 14 I will not give details. Have liked every one. Reacher is definitely an intriguing figure and Lee Child makes him true. Specially appreciate Reacher’s way of thinking as Child tells the story in first person account. Will undoubtedly be interesting to see how that means onto the large screen with Tom Cruise in Reacher role!Interestingly, Lee Child chose the character’s name “Reacher” following a visit to a supermarket with his wife. Daughter or son is 6’3″ and Reacher is 6’5.” As Child was reaching for something on the top corner of the supermarket, his wife announced to the then jobless Child: “If you can not get a, you can continually be a supermarket reacher!” The title stuck.If you appreciate thrillers with legitimate personalities along the lines of Vince Flynn, Ted Bell, you’ll undoubtedly become a Child fan.For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, an all-time favourite revisitedEarlier this year I renewed acquaintance with Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” after a year separation.The last time I read this impactful story about the Spanish Civil War I was a year undergrad at York University enrolled in Professor Donald Summerhayes American Literature course.At that time, I read the Scribner’s edition which I still have in my library. Cost at the York bookstore, $1.45.40+ years later, I read the e-book edition. Charge online $9.99.Times change. Platforms change. Great reports live on!The Eagles song “My Man” about the late and much lamented cosmic country stone artist Gram Parsons reminds one of the magic of Hemingway’s writing:I once knew a guy, very talented guyHe had play for the people and people could cryThey knew that his song originated from deep down insideYou could hear it in his speech and see it in his eyesWith Gram Parsons, “you could hear in his voice.”With Ernest Hemingway, you can study it in his words.