Clearing the Backlog - May 17, 2021

  • I was frightened every single day’: the perils of guarding Stalin
    • Author: Matthew Janney
    • Source: The Spectator
    • Summary: A brief book review of  "Young Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Memoir and a Reckoning" by Alex Halberstadt
  • At the Type Archive
    • Author: Alice Sprawls
    • Source: London Review of Books
    • Summary: A short but entertaining article about a specific sort of typesetting machine and the London museum that houses a large number of such machines, as well as related items.  Of note, however, were a number of factual corrections submitted as letters to the editor that were included with the article.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clearing the Backlog - May 11, 2021

The Computer Game That Led to Enlightenment   Author:  Peter Bebergal Site: New Yorker Summary: Short article about the video game Ultima IV and it's moral framework In Mali Author: Rahmane Idrissa Site: London Review of Books Summary: a travelogue/history of Mali.  A bit meandering but an interesting jumping-off point. Lionel Barber’s diaries — encounters with Merkel, Fuld and a piano-playing Putin Author: Lionel Barber Site: Financial Times Summary: Excerpt's from the author's memoirs of his time as Editor of the FT: ‘The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times’ by Lionel Barber Quote:  "Merkel is impressed, if puzzled, by Barack Obama’s rock star status. 'Who is he? What does he stand for?'”  Impression: an interesting and entertaining series of short vignettes.  I'd be interested in reading the entire book.
Read more

Clearing the Backlog - May 29, 2021

Claude Shannon: Tinkerer, Prankster, and Father of Information Theory   Author: John Horgan Source: IEEE Spectrum Summary: A biography of Claude Shannon and a summary of some of the basic ideas of Information Theory.  An interesting jumping-off point and a decent (and consistent) companion to  this book.
Read more