Book Reviews

An updating list of all the reviews you can find in Dorseyland, by Paul Dorsey of course. The books are in alphabetical order by title. Asterisks indicate recommended reading.
Click on the title to read the review.


1776 – America and Britain at War *
History by David McCullough

The Adventure of English –
The Biography of a Language *
Linguistics by Melvin Bragg

American Evita
Christopher Andersen assails Hillary Clinton

The Ancestors' Tale *
Richard Dawkins tracks evolution

Bangkok Exit
Farang fiction by Ryan Humphreys

Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness *
John Wehrheim's beautiful travelogue in words and photographs.

Blink
Malcolm Gladwell's pointless behaviourism

Chain of Command *
Seymour Hersh on Bush at war

China Shakes the World *
James Kynge assesses Beijing's impact

The Colonel of Tamarkan *
Julie Summers on WWII PoWs in Siam

Da Vinci Code decoder books
Various authors tackle Dan Brown

Eric Clapton – The Autobiography *
Old Slowhand surveys his sober domestic bliss
and recalls the wild ride that got him there

First Man *
James R Hansen's biography of Neil Armstrong

Foreign Devils of the Silk Road *
Part of a history series by Peter Hopkirk on Western shenanigans
in the orient between 1880 and 1920

Freedom Next Time *
John Pilger's stunning reports from the front lines of political travesty

Generalissimo *
Jonathan Fenby's biography of Chiang Kai-Shek

Genghis Khan – Life, Death and Restoration *
John Man tracks the Mongols

The Great Game *
Part of a history series by Peter Hopkirk on Western shenanigans
in the orient between 1880 and 1920

Interventions *
Noam Chomsky on the staggering extent to which popular opinion
has been moulded by government misinformation

Kennedy: An Unfinished Life *
Biography by Robert Dallek

The Last Generation: How Nature Will Take Her Revenge for Climate Change
Fred Pearce preaches to the converted about global warming

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Bill Bryson doesn't quite prove that you can go home again

Meet You in Hell *
Les Standiford looks at Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick,
millionaires brewing the perfect storm in a Pennsylvania mill town

More Living Thai Ways Part III
Michael Keller trundles through the same old 50-satang tour
of Thailand: sanook, katoeys, stray dogs ...

Muhammad: Prophet for Our Time *
Karen Armstrong's well-intentioned primer on Islam is too simplistic
to convey the whole truth.

Need to Know: UFOs, the Military and Intelligence
Timothy Good keeps phoning home with evidence of an alien cover-up but the line stays "busy"

On Secret Service East of Constantinople *
Part of a history series by Peter Hopkirk on Western shenanigans
in the orient between 1880 and 1920

One Fourteenth of an Elephant *
Ian Denys Peek on the WWII PoW camps in Siam

The Oriental Hotel Cookbook
The venerable Bangkok hotel's history and recipes

A Plastic Nation *
Pavin Chachavalpongpun on Thai-Burmese relations

POW: Allied Prisoners in Europe 1939-1945 *
Adrian Gilbert dramatically summarises the prisoner-of-war experience
in Europe, evoking amazement as well as empathy

Private Dancer
Stephen Leather's novel of Thai bargirls

Rewriting History
Dick Morris assails Hillary Clinton

Sayings and Tales of Zen Buddhism:
Reflections for Every Day
William Wray paves a path to enlightenment with koans

The Second Front: Inside Asia’s
Most Dangerous Terrorist Network *
Ken Conboy on Jemaah Islamiya

Setting the East Ablaze *
Part of a history series by Peter Hopkirk on Western shenanigans
in the orient between 1880 and 1920

Shades of Eastern Madness *
Funny holidays with Devanshoom

Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance *
Thoughtful short stories by Matthew Kneale

The Spin Doctor’s Diary:
Inside Number 10 with New Labour
Lance Price mulls Tony Blair

Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre
and Israel’s Deadly Response
Aaron Klein on the tragedy's aftermath and the movie

Supernatural: Meetings with
the Ancient Teachers of Mankind
Occult theories redigested by Graham Hancock, and not well

Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism *
Thak Chaloemtiarana on the rise and fall of Sarit Thanarat,
a dictator in an era of strongmen

Thailand Confidential
Jerry Hopkins assesses Siamese ways

Thai Lite *
S Tsow assesses Siamese ways

The Theory of Everything *
Stephen Hawking explains God

Too Far From Home *
Chris Jones on the twisted ride of the "marooned" men
of Expedition 6 to the International Space Station

Tree Talk and Tales
Daniel Henning goes barking mad

Vengeance
George Jonas' inspiration for "Munich"

Very Thai *
Philip Cornwel-Smith explains Siamese customs

Wave of Destruction *
Erich Krauss on the tsunami

The Wisdom Paradox – How Your Mind Can
Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older
Life can begin anew at 60, Elkhonon Goldberg assures ex-hippies

The Woman With the Alabaster Jar
Margaret Starbird on Dan Brown's theme

The Writing on the Wall –
China and the West in the 21st Century
Will Hutton thinks the occident can reorient itself

The Young Che – Memories of Che Guevara
Ernesto Guevara Lynch offers a father’s recollections,
but they’re not revolutionary