Mike

Good military history

Revisado: 10-21-24

Good book just only partially about Culloden, worth it if you like military history of Georgian history

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A must read for military history

Revisado: 08-01-24

This book is the best written account of the Malayan Emergency in existence. The war in Malaysia was one of the very few counter insurgency won by a western power. This conflict is often studied by the US military academies as a how to manual for fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The War of the Running Dogs is also a great piece of late British Imperial and Malaysian history, and is a must read for fans as Asian or British Imperial history. The narrator does a great job my only complaint is they censored the C word once. I took notes on tactics the British used to win the war while reading and will post them below, I think many are invaluable lessons for counter insurgency.

“Malaya was isolated and british able to cut supplies from Thailand
British able to easily identify enemy because ethnic chinese, put chinese in concentration camps
5000 CTs vs 45000 British and Maylas for good counter insergency ratio
Won hearts and minds by promising independence, focusing on intel and light touch fighting vs all out war like vietnam
Templar was a less aggressive military leader than Montgomery and stepped down for civilian leaders when fighting quieted
Civilian government was always in charge over military, military was in supporting role to police
Offered generous terms to surrendering CTs
Gave out large bounties to those who would turn in any CTs especially leaders
British ended segregation
British consulted with local leaders before making any major decision
British had the support of majority mayla population because enemy was ethnic chinese and they promised independence
Later in the war British had “white zones” where they could promise no fighting would happen if population assisted them
British used propaganda about Ct leaders keeping mistresses and stealing girl friends while normal cts had no girls
British were willing to give into a independent civilian government before war was totally won
CT commander bragged to his body guards about his bounty and was killed by them
Air support bombing of enemy camps
British dropped 500 million pages out of airplanes over the jungle as propaganda
A CT leader surrended and the British paid him to get his troops to surrender”

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Amazing book, a great historical memoir

Revisado: 04-09-24

I have recommended this book to everyone I know that is interested in Asia. An incredible perspective from the last British governor of Hong Kong. The HK diaries is at its heart a book about diplomacy and the dealings between the UK and China in the final years of British Hong Kong. Patten has an interesting and insightful perspective on the end or the British Empire as a moderate conservative of Irish Catholic heritage. The book shows how China will lie and manipulate in diplomacy in order to get what it wants, and when China gets any concession it perceives them as weakness and demands more.

Patten deserves a place in the history books for his admirable attempts to bring democracy to Hong Kong in the closing days of British rule. Patten did this against the wishes of the home office and much of his own party. In Pattens quest for democracy he makes enemies of several great figures of his generation who supported stability such as Lee Kuan Yew, Rupert Murdoch, and head of Jardine Matheson, Henry Keswick. In a great line Patten says that Keswick “will never forgive him for failing to understand the purpose of the British Empire was to make Keswick money.”

In the end this is a tragic story as nearly every thing Patten accomplished in the way of democratization was thrown out by the incoming Chinese and Hong Kong fell into a state of oppression described in the end of the book. I personally was tear gassed and baton charged in one of the protests described in a final chapter and Pattens words on that issue hit me hard.

This book is also historically relevant as a great historical record of the final setting of the sun on the British Empire. Despite Pattens modern liberal views and Irish identity he still fits the mold of a great old British colonial official. Patten had incredible power over the city and great autonomy in his actions, he alone could improvise and set policy even against the wishes of many in London to do what he thought right. Patten should be remembered as the last great British colonial governor. Ultimately I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in politics, history, or Asia, it was a book I will never forget.

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Worthwhile

Revisado: 04-08-24

I studied history in undergrad with a love of British Empire History and graduated from law school. So this book should have been up my ally. Personally I found it to be a bit dry, it kinda felt like the author was just dumping his PHD thesis into a book. A assume the one review on Amazon and here was probably written by him and posted by his mom. That said the book isn’t bad and is full of information. I was hoping for a full legal history of the British Empire, instead this is a history of the Georgian era Qubec Act and early British legal policy in EIC Bengal . The book shows how the British decided to mostly abandon the common law in their extractive colonies and bring legal pluralism instead with French, Hindu, and Islamic law then being found in the British Empire. I give the book 5 stars because it is informative and I want to see more audiobooks on legal history and the British Empire. Just be warned this book is a bit dry and hyper specific in topic. The end is good though as the author talks about how common law was brought to British Settler colonies and Legal pluralism to extractive colonies which helps explains their differing patterns of growth which is quite relevant to understanding the modern world. Buy the book if you really like British Empire History or Legal History.

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Great history book

Revisado: 03-22-24

This should be titled “The history of the British in Hong Kong, and insights into 1970’s Hong Kong”. That is what this book is. It is half a history of the city by the masterful historian of the British Empire Jan Morris. Half book about Hong Kong in the 1970’s including descriptions of fancy European clubs and restaurants and a sort of travel guide for the city at the time. A overview of the 1970’s colonial government and diplomatic situation with China is also given. The flaws of the book is first that it is entirely from a British perspective and has very little to say about the Chinese population of the city besides the ultra wealthy who worked with the Europeans. The second flaw is that the travel guide parts of the book are some 50 years old and often quite outdated and a bit boring. That said I love Jan Morrris’s history books on the British Empire and the historical chapters here are like an excellent lost part of her trilogy. I would highly recommend this book to any Hong Kong fans who want to know more about the British heritage of the city.

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Must read for fans for history and politics

Revisado: 03-15-24

This book was written by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer of the UK. Ghosts of Empire shows how victorian and modern British colonialism lead to modern conflicts and political flashpoints. The author is a conservative politician but also a child of African immigrants so he keeps a fairly balanced view of the pros and cons of Empire. The author having been educated at the most elite British schools shows how those schools made the British colonial elite. Ghosts of Empire is incredibly well written and thought provoking. I have listened to every book on the British Empire on audible and this was my personal favorite. I would recommend it to anyone I know who wants to have a better understanding of how history shaped modern conflicts.

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Excellent book

Revisado: 03-14-24

This was my favorite book about the opium war on audible. The book is really a history of the East India Company and 19th century British government policy in Asia. A great deal of Indian and colonial history is found in the book. A history of the parliamentary debates that led up to the Opium war is also found in the book. If you are a fan of Victoria era British colonial history then you will love this book. If you are looking for a book that focuses more on the Chinese perspective you may be disappointed.

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Excellent Grad School level history book

Revisado: 02-25-24

This book is a great on the ground history of the British Empire. I have listened to almost every major British Empire history on audible. This book has been the most detailed of the lot. Colonies that other books did not talk about were described in detail such as the Gilbert Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica and many others. This book is essentially a graduate school level book for those looking to do deep study on the late British Empire. If you are new to the Empire you may want to start with Sears or Morrison’s books. However if you are looking for new information on more obscure colonies and imperial figures this is your book. One Fine Day is a snapshot in time of the interwar Empire. I think this book does a better job as a snapshot in time than Morrisons Pax Britannia because it is willing to show the history of the years proceeding and coming after the 1923 date. Pax Britannia was a snapshot of one day which I found made the book somewhat boring. This book is more flexible which makes it a compelling and complete history of the interwar British Empire. This book is highly recommended for those who wish to study the British Empire or interwar period more generally. I hope to see more books about the British Empire with this level of detail in the future.

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Excellent

Revisado: 01-30-24

Fantastic history of the Empire. Shows how the Empire was never finished and was always in a state of change.

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A nihilistic, comedic, brilliant, and sad book

Revisado: 03-12-22

Repeat Until Rich has been my favorite book about card counting yet. The book involves both triumph and tragedy. Ultimately it is a story without a happy ending. The author has many hilarious observations on life from a nihilistic perspective that read like lines from Fight Club or American Psycho. The book is very real and doesn’t involve the absurd fabrication of card counting stories used in books like Bringing Down the House and Busting Vegas. The last hour of the audiobook is genuinely hard to listen too and you hear the way a poker addiction consumed this mans life and left him a failure. If you want to hear stories of adventure and the achievement of greatness in professional gambling mixed with stories of great sadness, failure, and sorrow all from a Fight Club style nihilistic perspective of a societal outsider and anarchist then you will enjoy this book. For a someone like myself who wants to become a card counter this book was both a guide map as well as a dangerous warning of what could go wrong. Repeat Until Rich is one of my favorite books of all time.

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