More books

Thanks to the wunners of globbelisation, I have three hot new books to devour. That's right: ordered 11 June on Amazon, delivered 25 June to my very doorstep.

Brave New War - John Robb. John's website (Global Guerillas) is compulsory reading for those who are trying to make sense of the increasing disorder that seems to surround us. I long ago read (in Rees-Mogg and Davidson's 'The Great Reckoning') that the mediaeval city-state would re-appear in our futures, as the best configuration within which to conduct business, defend oneself and generally get on with life. JR's latest book will be about Resilient Communities, which doesn't sound a long ways away from those city-states....

Reinventing Collapse - Dmitry Orlov. Another riff about the immediate future of the US of A. Still, as Britain has found, it's a long and quite comfortable drift downwards. I keep an eye on the Housing debacle there (Doctor Housing Bubble and others) and it's quite apparent that in terms of the five stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Grief, Acceptance), they're veering between Denial and Anger right now. Still plenty of time on the hour-glass...

In Praise of Prejudice - Theodore Dalrymple/Anthony Daniels. I just like this guy's world-view and his spare, elegant but powerful way of writing. Oh, blimey, I'm gushing already and I've only looked at the cover. It joins another TD/AD book on the shelf, so it was a safe choice. Call me a convert.