Not just the history of the people but the conflicts in ways of thinking across cultures and the way the book forces you to think about what a map is and who history belongs to. Loved it.

March 4, 2024

This book has everything I can ask for from sci-fi. A fun read that felt well researched. Like the other Suarez books I've read, he did a great job of helping me think about the ways space industry will affect society and how it could work.

March 9, 2024
May 23, 2024

It makes a convincing case that we should all be paying attention and that free market ideals conflict with national security. Ultimately, I enjoyed the Acquired podcast episode about TSMC more. Maybe I would have rated this higher if I had not previously listened to that episode.

March 1, 2023

Another interesting dimension to Lincoln's challenges and leadership

April 17, 2023
October 6, 2023

Well-titled story of the most undertold life story of the 20th century

I enjoyed the book, though some of the tangents into work done building on von Neumann's ideas felt long-winded.

February 20, 2023

Very good premise, lacking substanceI wanted more action, less blockchain.

May 27, 2023

Mitt Romney was right. It's incredible how much Russia has tested their cyber weapons, how much we know about it, and how little things have changed despite how obvious the dangers are.

February 1, 2023

A lot to like but it didn't live up to the hype for me.

March 2, 2023

It feels like the whole product manager experience and the first ~1/3 of the book is very focused on who should be and how to be a product manager. The rest is about what to do though each section is not very deep.

October 18, 2023

“The loser of an argument is the one who can learn something” Worth it just for that line. Interesting study on the history of argument.

February 6, 2023

It took me a bit to get into this. There are many things I really enjoyed about it: police bureaucracy, fights for power, what it means to be a parent and partner in extremely difficult circumstances, and more.

January 3, 2024
August 13, 2023

Sublime and accessible

A spectacular story filled with wonderful prose. And if you read all the footnotes you'll triply well read.

February 15, 2023

Worthy godfather of the true crime genre

Excellent storytelling well categorized by Capote as “a non-fiction novel.”

March 21, 2023

Dense, obviously. 3000 years of facts, people, events. It's a lot in a good and overwhelming way. There's not a lot of room for fun stories or depth of character beyond a few people. It is definitely the kind of book you could read multiple times and pick up a lot each time.

May 12, 2021

A lot of books could have been blog posts and this one could have been a tweet

March 20, 2021

Loved every second

An incredibly fun and interesting way to relive and learn about the show. I can't wait to rewatch it a fourth time now.

May 5, 2018

Great book. Helped me to understand why what I do now is a waste of time and what to do about it.

March 17, 2021

Would have been a good long-read article. It's a convincing argument but I'm not sure it felt stronger reading the book than from the podcast interviews I heard Appelbaum on that convinced me to read it.

August 20, 2020

I was expecting this to be the kind of book that has a big idea that could easily be explained in an article, but has to be lengthened to sell it. It ended up being a good length and worth it.

March 31, 2021

I'm glad I pushed through to the end. Everything after Vietnam felt much more impactful and relevant. Reagan, Clinton, W and Obama all come out very poorly. This is not a fun read but I do feel more informed.

October 6, 2020