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What We’re Reading – The Soul in Cycling

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Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France by Max Leonard

“Normal people feel an attachement to a guy that is struggling through the Tour just to survive in the race, because that’s what normal people on bikes would do. They’re not superstars like the guys at the front end of the peloton. It’s equally as hard for the guys at the front, but they get results. The guys at the back are suffering like hell just to get to the finish.” – Phil Liggett

It took the COVID pandemic for me to return to the bicycle after over a decade away. For the most part I’ve ridden alone. On the occasions I’ve ridden with other, more experienced riders I’ve regularly been outpaced and out-climbed. Really as a late convert to cycling I’ve aged past the era of optimism for achieving greatness in the sport. I don’t identify with the champions and the feats of prowess on two wheels. No, I’m just happy to be in the peloton. 

Foolishly I signed up for a race less than a month after purchasing my first road bike last year. Unsurprisingly, my 15-20 mile Sunday morning rides were inadequate preparation for the Southwold-Roubaix. After 44 miles I absolutely ran out of gas. “Bonked,” I later learned, is the correct term. Too bad that the course was 57 miles and only my pride carried me to the finish.

Which brings me to another term I’ve whole-heartedly wrapped my arms around: Lanterne Rouge. On the railroad a red lantern is hung on a train’s caboose to signal the station master the last car of the train. It’s also a signal that no cars had broken free and remained stranded on the track. Lanterne Rouge has also been adopted by the press of the Tour de France to describe the last rider to complete the Tour without abandoning the race or being eliminated for missing the time cutoff. In this term I identify with the mentality of a rider certain of missing victory, but still persisting to the finish line. 

Max Leonard, a British author and cycliste, explores the history and meaning of the lanterne rouge. As Leonard reveals, lanterne rouge does indeed capture the heroic hopelessness of the last rider, but it also the complicated relationship between sportsmanship, capitalism, honor and ignominy. In his book he tells stories of twelve lanternes rouges and the different facets their tale reveals about the term. 

 Each chapter offers something unique, so I’d be doing a disservice if I tried to summarize them. However, I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciate Leonard’s approach to the complexity of the lanterne rouge and overlaying it with the complexity of life and one’s legacy.

Higher Calling: Cycling’s Obsession With Mountains by Max Leonard

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses . . . then, I account it high time to get to altitude as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flouish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the bicycle.” – Max Leonard

This is the second book from Max Leonard that I’ve read and the second book that combines historical context with the philosophy of cycling. Needless to say, I’m a fan. In these pages he takes the reader into higher altitudes and teaches, philosophizes, and researches the draw of cycling up (and down) mountains. Historically, he decides to narrow his narrative to the peculiarities of the French Alps, specifically the Cime de la Bonette. 

Competition is a central component of cycling. The human desire to pass another at the finish line or to challenge oneself to improve one’s performance are strong motivators each time someone gets into the saddle. However, when the incline increases the mountain takes over. A man and bike are all set against the unforgiving pull of gravity and the force to overcome it. Despite all his training and experience cycling up mountains Leonard admits that it never gets any easier – he only gets faster. 

In professional racing, adding mountainous elements came about as an evolution. Early 20th Century roads through the mountain passes were primitive and undeveloped. Often unpaved, mired in mud, exposing riders to frigid temperatures and brutal windchill on descents. Adding Alpine stages to the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia took daring, salesmanship, and suffering. It’s no wonder heroic exploits in the mountains are fondly remembered and the routes themselves revered within the cycling community.

In addition to the history of categorized climbs in professional cycling races, Leonard introduced me to the concept of Everesting – the endeavor to gain elevation equivalent to the summit of Mount Everest – even at the pain of cycling the same hill 68 times in a day. He discusses the science of training at higher altitudes, the natural and artificial ways to elevate oxygen in red blood cells. He also reflects on the military history behind the construction of concrete bunkers high above the French-Italian border and the brutal fighting in the frozen terrain of the Dolomites between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers during World War I. 

Leonard brings the seasonal life of the highest cycling routes to full life. He interviews shepherds witnessing the decline of their traditional ways. He joins the work crews as they cut through a winter’s worth of snow and ice to re-open the mountain passes in time for spring. And he speaks of the Bonette as if it were an old friend. Reliable, strong, and always ready to entertain a challenger or two.

Le Secret de Gino Bartali by Kike Ibáñez

“Gino était un cycliste de ceux d’avant, qui fumaient et buvaient du vin, de ceux qui avaient appartenu au cyclisme épique, au cyclisme réservé aux héros.”

“Gino was a cyclist of those before, who smoked and drank wine, of those who had belonged to epic cycling, to cycling reserved for heroes.”

I stepped into a bookstore in Marseille to find some relief from the rain on a cool autumn day. Among the shelves and stacks of colofrul books the soft pink cover of Kike Ibáñez’s Le Secret de Gino Bartali stood out. I can’t remember the last time I read a comic book or graphic novel, but the alluring title pulled me right in. 

Gino Bartali was one of Italy’s greatest cyclists and his rivalry with Fausto Coppi is legendary. However, this book dwells briefly on Barali’s cycling credentials on its way to telling a story of his resistance activity during the Second World War. Gino Bartali used his cycling fame to ride between Florence (Firenza) and Assise where he transported falsified documents to help Italian Jews escape the fascist regime of Mussolini. 

The drawings are beautifully done and the language simple enough for the novice French linguist. Not all of cycling’s history is often written in the great races, and this short book is an excellent addition to any library.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Book Reviews, Cycling, Mind

What We’re Reading – Cycling History

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At the beginning of the year I dug out my old bicycle to add some variety to my fitness routine. I hadn’t ridden in over a decade and it needed significant maintenance to become roadworthy again. In the ensuing years since making that purchase I’ve developed a dependency on reading and research when I take up an activity. I can’t simply do a thing. I have to mentally walk the corners of a room before I can sit down in it. Whether it’s a historical topic, cooking technique, or a new sport – I have to contextualize it before I can appreciate it. 

In this familiar pattern I approached the world of cycling as I began pedaling through the late-English winter cold and rainy spring. I don’t have the background knowledge (yet)  for understanding the sport’s statistics, rattling off names of famous cyclists, or identifying key moments in cycling history. At this stage the best I can do is appreciate a good story. And there are some good stories from cycling’s history which I have found in the following books:

The Monuments: The Grit and Glory of Cycling’s Greatest One-day Races


by Peter Cossins

The Monuments: The Grit and Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races by Peter Cossins

“Paris-Roubaix is the last test of folly that cycle sports puts before its participants. . . It’s a savage race, but not one for brutes.” – Jacques Goddet, race director, 1968

“The Monuments”. What great branding! It’s powerful wording. It creates exclusivity. And it keeps the same five one-day races perpetually on cycling’s global stage. Peter Cossins writes a straight-up history of these five races (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Leige-Bastogne-Leige, and the Tour of Lombardy) in five distinct sections. It’s not a page turner, but it’s great material for anyone wanting to learn about each race in detail. Best read throughout the racing year. Cossins does discuss some of the great rivalries between cyclists in different eras in the context of these races (Coppi-Bartali, Merckx-Gimondi, etc.) which can add greater context to a wider knowledge of cycling history. 

The appeal of The Monuments, especially for me as a novice cyclist, is the unpredictability of each of these races. There is still the feeling that any entrant has a legitimate chance to win. In stage races cyclists and teams can adjust tactics based on daily changes in terrain, weather, or mechanical issues. Monument races are less forgiving. A crash,  mechanical failure, or incredible luck can eliminate a favorite from contention and/or place an unknown at the front of the peloton in the blink of an eye. Not to mention, these races generally are designed to be extremely difficult to compensate for their single-day duration. (Riding on bone-jarring cobblestones is a feature sought after in several of these races) These are races of endurance, luck, and grit unlike any other on the racing calendar. 

If I had to pinpoint my favorite part of each section were the histories of each of the races in their earliest years. From the 1890s until the 1920s the world of cycling was a wild and crazy place. The roads of the time had incredibly variable quality to them, the races weren’t on closed courses and mixed with train service and commuters, and riders dealt with all sorts of unpredictable factors that don’t bother modern-day races. Especially the spectators in those days. Fans were very active participants. They pushed riders up hills, conspired to block rivals, threw tacks and causing punctures, and helped with repairs. This is bananas stuff and super interesting! None of these races were destined to be the great events they are today and I find it fascinating how the races’ organisers clawed their way onto the racing calendar, into respectability, and into history.

Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy

by Tim Moore

Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy by Tom Moore

Dies slowly he who transforms himself into the slave of habit, repeating every day the same itineraries. 

Fabio’s head nodding significantly besides mine.

Dies slowly he who does not risk the certain for the uncertain. To go toward a dream that has been keeping him awake.

How very moved I was to think that a free spirited young offroader like Fabio should look up to me, suburban, middle-aged me, as the standard bearer of flinty-eyed solo adventure. Moved and ashamed.  – Tim Moore, while reading Dies Slowly by Martha Medeiros 

Tim Moore is not a historian. He’s a traveler, writer, and a Brit. When I look through the catalog of books he’s authored I have two complimentary thoughts. One, I’d like to have a beer with this guy. Two, how do I save enough money to embark on an adventure scheme of Moore-ian style? He’s the type of guy that has driven across the United States in a Ford Model T and walked the 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago with a donkey, written books about the experience, and financed his life with these adventures. For this book he restored/rebuilt a century-old bicycle and donned period-accurate clothing to ride the route of the 1914 Giro d’Italia – a race famously so difficult and misfortuned that only eight of 81 riders finished all eight stages – considered by many to be the most difficult stage race of all time.

This book is less about cycling history and more travel writing. Moore spends a good five chapters bringing the reader through the process of getting a pre-World War I bike functionally rideable and the rationale behind his scheme. He meets, and conveys to the reader, anekdotes from all across his journey of those that helped him build and repair his bike, and those that shook their head at him along the way. It’s filled with British cheekiness and observations about continental Europe finally tuned from a career of writing. It’s worth the read even if you don’t care much for the actual cycling in it.

Moore does have a fair number of stories and information about the 1914 Giro d’Italia interspersed with his modern-day tale. It’s impossible for him to avoid it when retracing the steps of such an infamous race. The cyclists of the day struggled along the entire length of the Italian peninsula, attacked several 400 kilometer stages, and battled the limitations of their equipment. It was a harrowing ordeal for them and I’m glad Tim Moore came along to remind us.

Riding in the Zone Rouge: The Tour of the Battlefields 1919 – Cycling’s Toughest-Ever Stage Race

by Tom Isitt

Riding in the Zone Rouge. The Tour of the Battlefields 1919: Cyclings Toughest-ever Stage Race by Tom Isitt

But with a 2,000 km route in seven stages across the war-torn roads and battlefields of the Western Front in horrific weather a mere couple of months after hostilities ceased, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille took suffering on a bike to a whole new level.

This book is the perfect combination of the first two books and I can’t endorse it enough. I had the privilege of listening to Tom Isitt give a talk to the Western Front Association about this book before I read it. Like Tim Moore, Tom Isitt set out to ride the route of a horrendously difficult race from cycling’s earliest days. He chose the Circuit des Champs de Bataille, a seven-stage race that occured mere months after the conclusion of the First World War. The French organizers, after a hasty reconnaissance, planned the route to pass through Luxemburg, Belgium, and France – especially the recently reacquired provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The race would befall misfortune after misfortune as extreme unseasonable weather tormented the riders and roads pulverized by four years of warfare hobbled race times.

Isitt rode along a route that best approximated the original race route, accounting for modern highways and pleasanter alternatives. He also made several diversions to tour different battlefields and sites of significance. He didn’t attempt to recreate the conditions or the hardships of the original race, but he designed an itinerary that gave him a sense of history and place. In this way, along with extensive research on the cycling and cyclists of the era, he was able to construct a narrative that successfully weaves his personal story, relevant cycling history, and World War I historical context into the story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille, region by region. 

This comes together perfectly in the chapters on stages four (Amiens to Paris) and five (Paris to Bar Le Duc) of the race which crossed the most devastated battlefields of the war. As Isitt points out, many of the riders had seen service in the military, some on the front lines, and the passage of the race through some of these areas must have been emotionally taxing in addition to the severe physical hardships of the race itself. These are heartbreaking and beautiful sections on the devastation of the war and the national trauma it caused, and the individual sufferings of the riders.

Le Petit Journal, the race’s organizing newspaper, hailed the race as a triumph at its conclusion. Such high acclaim was underserved, though. Incessant rain forced stops every few miles to clear mud and dirt from chains and sprockets. The roads chosen were so bad that time cutoffs for each stage were abandoned as riders routinely sheltered overnight (sometimes in unfilled trenches). Artillery shell craters caused multiple crashes and riders to withdraw. Unseasonable weather in the Vosges Mountains forced riders to carry their bikes over their heads in waist-deep snow for several kilometers. It took superhuman determination to endure. As Tom Isitt pointed out in his talk, the motivation of prize money, equal to four year’s wages in the post-war economy, and riders “off their head” on cocaine and amphetamines had a lot to do with anyone finishing the race at all. 

Amazingly 21 of 87 entrants finished the race – including my new personal hero, Louis Ellner. (Louis Ellner, an isole rider with a routière bicycle, finished each stage 8 to 74 hours after the stage winner, but never abandoned the race!) There’s a lot packed into this 280 page book that can appeal to everyone. It is prolific in nerdy history for someone like myself, athletic tales of achievement for my cyclist friends, and quality storytelling for anyone that likes being emotionally connected to the narrative. Again, it’s a phenomenal read and it already has me plotting my own cycle route in Western France.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, Mind

What We’re Reading – Historical Fiction

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Summer time is approaching and it’s time to find the right books to throw in the beach bag, download on the tablet, or remain perched by your favorite rocking chair. Winter is for the dense works that educate, inform, and develop the mind. Oftentimes accompanied by hearty meals and warm drinks. Summer reading demands the opposite. When not out enjoying warmer weather, a bit of well-deserved vacation time, or just decompression from a long year of coronavirus stress it pays to have a good book at hand.

This spring I’ve been indulging in some fiction. Not straying from my normal habit too far, I’ve picked up a few books that have augmented my recent travels around Great Britain. I now offer these works of Historical Fiction for your consideration:

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson

“A man would have to look far before finding more rewarding beggars than you,” said Orm, “for not one of you but has a tale to tell. If your story is good, Rainald, let us hear it.”

“Stories about sin are always good to hear,” said Ylva.

The protagonist, Orm is a great fictionalized hero of yore, with a named sword and a strong arm. He’s honorable, wise, and quick of wit. He earns the respect of his enemies and everlasting devotion of his friends. He’s also well-traveled. As a boy he’s swept up into the world of sea-faring vikings, raiders of the sea, and spends years (and many pages) on his adventures. In his fictionalized lifetime he’s a slave, bodyguard, warrior, chieftain, treasure hunter, husband, friend, and father. He’s truly a character a reader can seek inspiration and set aspiration to. 

The Long Ships is simple good ole, serialized storytelling. It’s not meant to be read straight through as Frans Bengtsson originally wrote the epic tale of Orm in two novels that have only recently been combined into a single book. Bengtsson’s own story is worth a little side-reading on. He’s a historian that poured all he knew about early medieval viking culture and lore into this story. He takes Orm across the known Western world throughout his adventures and makes the character react to Jews, Muslims, and Christian Europe. He processes the scale of the Byzantine Empire and the kingdoms of Africa, while he dabbles in the regional politics of the Norse people. Bengtsson takes the reader on a tour of history within the pages and it has a depth that modern viking tales seem to lack.

Vindolanda by Adrian Goldsworthy

“Now we are friends, until the kings says different. . . You are brave and know how to fight. Share a drink.” He offered his cup. Ferox took it, drank what he guessed to be half and handed it back.

“I like you, the German rumbled and clapped the centurion hard on the shoulder, the friendly blow feeling as if it would drive him a foot into the floor.

“I like you,” Ferox replied, a little surprised to find that he meant it.

It’s no secret that I’ve become enamored with the Ancient Roman Empire this past year. You can’t visit Hadrian’s Wall twice in a year without feeling a gravitational pull. On the second visit I made time to visit Vindolanda, the archeological site of a Roman fort that pre-dated the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in AD 122. While it’s proven a treasure trove for archeologists, it is little more than low walls in the outline of the fort’s buildings and walls. When I was browsing through the gift shop I came across Adrian Goldsworthy’s novel Vindolanda. All I needed to read was that he was a historian of Roman Britain and this was his fictionalization of much of what he knew. Into my library it went and I finished it before my trip to the north of Great Britain was finished.

The story revolves around Centurion Flavius Ferox, a Roman staff officer of infamous repute. He’s stationed in the north of Britannia to maintain relations between the tribes and the Roman garrisons. The novel is set in the early days of Emperor Trajan’s reign and there is much uncertainty in the air about Rome’s stability as an empire and presence in Britannia. As Roman officials and aristocrats arrive from far off Rome, Ferox must grapple with diplomatically educating them on the ways of the local tribes while also sniffing the air for challenges to Rome. Goldworthy’s narrative brings Vindolanda, and all of northern Britannia, alive with his descriptions of life at the fort, relations between the tribes, and where Rome is in its history.

I can say with complete honesty that there were some real page-turner episodes for me in this book. Both battles and feasts held me with rapt attention and there is enough human element to make me identify with Centurion Ferox. This novel brings to life the meager facts of what is known about Roman Britain, which incidentally owes a great debt to Vindolanda’s archaeological offerings.

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cronwell

“Don’t go to Cridianton,” he told me.

“My wife is there,” I said. “My child is there.”

“Alfred is at Exanceaster.” he said

“So?”

“So the man who takes news of the battle to Exanceaster gets credit for it.” he said

“Then you go.” I said.

The Last Kingdom made this list because 1) I read it, 2) it’s also a popular Netflix series, and 3) there are serious flaws with it. I also happened to be at Bamburgh Castle, in the far north of England, where the protagonist was born and spends the entire novel (and series) trying to get back to. I genuinely enjoyed the first 300-or so pages of this. The Danish colonization of England is an interesting period as the descendents of Red Orm settled on the eastern shores of the island and battled the Saxons and Britons. I’ve been to the cities of York and Lincoln that have shared history with each civilization and seen the evidence of that history in the names and architecture that remain. For 90% of this book, it holds up.

Ivar the Boneless, a real historical figure, makes appearances in The Last Kingdom. Most of what was known about him was lost to history, which makes him a perfect character to plug into a fictional story with creative license. Photo by Andrew Zapf, taken at Whitby Abbey in northeastern England - where the vikings came ashore.

***Mild Spoilers***   It all falls apart when the protagonist, Uhtred Ragnarson, stops following the societal rules for power, security, and advancement of his own era and starts adopting the decision making paradigm of the 21st Century. The quote above, when Uhtred decides to follow his wife to Cridianton, instead of claiming credit with King Alfred at Exanceaster, makes no sense for the early medieval societies he lives in. This diversion from reality pushes the accuracy levels of the subsequent novels, not to mention the whole television series, way down as Uhtred keeps failing to learn from his mistakes, refuses advice pertinent to the society, and spends years of his fictional life making illogical decisions. It’s too much and I won’t endorse it beyond page 324. 

However, I can’t recommend Bamburgh Castle (pictured in the banner above), it’s vast beach, and lovely village highly enough.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, Mind

What We’re Reading This Month – August 2020

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This past month has been a busy one. As society emerges from months of isolation the demands of stir-crazy families, a modern economy, and extended work hours in our day jobs has drastically cut down on the available reading time. I’ve turned to a few audiobooks during my commute to feed my appetite, but have still managed to read a few pages each night from a trusty hardbound, real-life book. This month’s reading selection features a mix of what was on-hand and what was easy to consume in these days.


The centerpiece for my reading this month has been The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. Since last autumn I have been eagerly awaiting its release. There are few authors I’ve bothered to set up a Google Alert for, and he is one of them. For Father’s Day this year my wife purchased it for me and which fit neatly into the mental space I’ve made for the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

“And so, with family turmoil, civic trauma, and Hitler’s deputy falling from the sky, the first year of Churchill’s leadership came to an end. Against all odds, Britain stood firm, its citizens more emboldened than cowed. Somehow, through it all, Churchill had managed to teach them the art of being fearless.”

In true Larson style, he weaves the historical narrative of the Battle of Britain, which began this month in 1940, with that of the human experiences of Winston Churchill, his family and closest associates in his first year as prime minister. Historical figures, especially the giants like Churchill, can be so famous that we view them as a two-dimensional version of themselves. Larson’s true skill is drawing out primary sources – letters, diaries, speeches, etc. – from the unlikely corners of history to inflate these 2D oversimplifications into three-dimensional, flesh and blood people with human foibles, emotions, and insecurities when the outcome of monumental events were uncertain. 

Furthermore, Larson reveals a wartime England that still clung to the normalities of life. Air raid sirens, shelter wardens, and rubble have been well-captured by history, but it was also a time when night clubs stayed open, debutantes were still presented to society, and the love-struck sought flowers and chocolate to express their affections. Probably the most memorable chapter for me describes the night of Queen Charlotte’s dance of 8 March 1941 and the death of jazz band leader Kenrick “Snackhips” Johnson as bombs rained down on central London and exploded into packed hotels, night clubs, and shopping districts. 

The Splendid and the Vile showed that Londoners didn’t simply turtle into a year-long shell only to emerge when the Nazi’s turned their military attention to invading the Soviet Union in May of 1941 True, many nights were spent sleeplessly awaiting the Luftwaffe, fighting fires, and digging the wounded and the dead from the rubble. But other nights were spent with lovers, dancing in clubs, courtship, and adultery. Churchill’s family enjoyed the privileges of the privileged society and spent weekends in the country in comfortable homes and exceeding their ration coupons. It was an exciting time to be alive for the English and the prospect of nightly death sharpened their appreciation for life. Larson magnificently portrays how life went on in England through the stories of Churchill’s daughter, Mary Churchull, and private secretary, John Colville who had their own stories of love and disappointment.

WIth this book I have renewed appreciation for Larson’s writing and added respect for the English spirit as they persevered with living and fighting when the second world war seemed the most hopeless and bleak.

Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain by Len Deighton

“The Luftwaffe, hitherto a tactical supplement to the blitzkrieg, a force that had taken orders from the army, was about to take upon itself a strategic role. Moreover, it was asked to create a strategy, and then to translate that strategy into day-to-day tactical objectives for its bombers and fighters. The experience of its staff officers was not equal to this task.”

It’s been in my head for months to learn about the Battle of Britain while living in England. 2020 marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the battle and there are several events across the country to mark England’s success in defeating the Luftwaffe’s attempts to crush the Royal Air Force and England’s fighting spirit. I’ve sung the praises of Len Deighton for years. He’s one of my father’s favorite authors and his Cold War spy thrillers are some of the most enjoyable reads I have in the past five years. He’s also had success writing alternative histories – which have been converted into a television series. Deighton has also written some histories, and with his storyteller’s pen, has done an excellent job of making them readable and digestible

While he tells a remarkable narrative, Deighton does analyze the Battle of Britain beyond the mythical heroic Royal Air Force pilots and their advanced Spitfire and rugged Hurricane fighter aircraft. He delves into British aircraft production, the Luftwaffe staff shortcomings, German short sightedness. Probably the greatest feat Deighton reveals is the immense difficulty and achievement in the logistical balancing needed to build, employ, and maintain the Royal Air Force Fighter Command at a time when wooden-framed, cloth-covered aircraft were still in the British inventory. It’s a quick read and the way he organized his sections I was able to read a little at a time without having to commit to a full study of the battle.

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan

“I struggle for your rights despite my fears. But your rights have to be balanced against our needs for survival. That is why you cannot be satisfied. For you, every viable solution will always be lacking in justice. In a peace plan, everybody will have to do with less than they deserve.”

In a departure from the Battle of Britain theme, I downloaded the audiobook of The Lemon Tree for my commute into work. In a vary Erik Larons-esque style, Tolan weaves the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the story of a single home built by an Arab family and later occupied by an Jewish family. The home, and the lemon tree that was planted in the garden, become the focal point for all of the contradictions, injustices, and mutual hope that characterizes the evolving conflict. It’s a story looking backwards, not a solution looking forward, but it’s greatest feature is the empathy a reader can gain for both sides. 

I listened to this as an audiobook and hearing the stories orally added an additional layer of hurt to the injustice.

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene

“The prudent man might seem cold, his rationality sucking pleasure out of life. Not so. Like the pleasure-loving gods on Mount Olympus, he has the perspective, the calm detachment, the ability to laugh, that comes with true vision, which gives everything he does a quality of lightness – these traits comprising what Nietzsche calls the ‘Apollonian ideal.” . . . Odysseus loved adventure; no one was better at the experience of pleasure. He was simply more reasonable, more balanced, less vulnerable to his own emotions and moods, and he left less tragedy and turmoil in his wake. . .  . In a world where people are increasingly incapable of thinking consequentially, more animal than ever, the practice of grand strategy will instantly elevate you above others.”

Finally, the end of my COVID-induced physical separation and work absence has given way to a rushing return to the office. A backlog of emails, papers, and activities to coordinate has eaten into the reading time I previously enjoyed. I turned to Robert Greene for a daily dose of professionally thought-provoking material. Having finished The 48 Laws of Power a few months prior I decided to pick up another of his works, this time The 33 Strategies of War. Each “law” is packaged into a chapter of historical case studies, analysis, related parables, and cautionary counter-examples. In short, Greene gives a readers’ digest of political-military content for the busy and the rushed. I tend to read a few pages each morning over coffee, allowing my brain to engage with the material as the caffeine stimulates my central nervous system.

Geared toward the non-military professional, The 33 Strategies of War employs lessons of past conflict for common usage. There may be some disappointment for those that view their industry as cutt-throat and hope to find practical advice on wielding the knife. It’s not prescriptive for action, but encourages the reader to think with a clear vision. 

Don’t expect to become a new Napoleon after reading this work, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself with a more ruthless inner monologue in your daily interactions.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, Mind

What We’re Reading This Month – June 2020

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My father doesn’t buy antiques. He always says that “antique” is a synonym for “overpriced.” What he does do is attend auctions, estate sales, and the like to find bargains before they get snatched up and resold by antique dealers. I’ve been to a few of the country auctions with him and seen him in his element. He’ll take his measured steps through the items, hands held loosely behind his back, gazing down like an eagle on a warm updraft. If he sees something of interest he’ll pick it up and look it over. If he’s really interested he’ll call out “Hey, Andy! . . . look at this” Drawing me closer to inspect. More often than not he’ll put the item back and walk away. If he’s still thinking about it in ten minutes he’ll go back for another look. It’s how he plays the game.

He doesn’t buy many items, but when he does they are always a steal. Typically, the auctions he goes to require you remove to your purchase within 24 hours. That’s a limiting factor. He’s seen solid oak armoires and giant kitchen hutches go for pittance. He’d probably have several dining rooms worth of furniture if he had a big truck and the strength to shoulder it all. It’s the boxes of books that he goes for. Sometimes he buys enough to outfit a bookstore in a single evening. He’d pick out what he wanted and donate the rest to his town’s library. In the end he pays mere pennies for the books he keeps in his library. He’s a master of his craft.

Last month he sent me one of those auction books. It arrived in the mail with a short note, the torn dust jacket tucked gently into an envelope. Worn out by over 70 years of existence. The pages are yellow and heavy, with a strong smell of decay. In the letter he explained how the author’s name had drawn his eye. James Hilton. Most famously author of Goodbye, Mr Chips, which was turned into a Hollywood movie in the 1960s. After reading this lesser-known work, and seeing his pencil ticks at the edge of some pages, I know exactly why he sent it on to me. 

So Well Remembered - James Hilton

“Because, the English, after all, are a race of eccentrics. They don’t think it’s odd that people should be odd. And they always bear in mind the possibility that the lunatic view might, after all, be right. That’s what makes them tolerant of their enemies.” 

So Well Remembered is a window into a different era. As a novel, it does not aspire to create a fantastical world with which the characters live in. They live and act in early-twentieth century England, before the world ever heard of nuclear weapons just as it was. James Hilton describes a pre-modern England when time is measured in seasons and small European wars are almost as predictable. His writing style is very different from most living authors. The first thirty pages are a single day, a single frame of mind, and an intimate conversation that takes twenty pages to unfold. He captures the easiness with which someone sits in a chair, with the inner dialogue when trying to impress, and the slow realization that one’s world is being turned upside down. It’s the title’s day, so well remembered by the protagonist. That’s how the book begins and eases into a story of a man’s life, and how life changes that man.

George Boswell’s life brings forth so many lessons about love and marriage, lifetime achievement and determination, failure and resiliency. Hilton’s main characters are complex, beautifully flawed people shaped by their respective families’ pasts and unique upbringing. They are interesting and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy as the moments of triumph turned sour or best laid plans came undone. The collective interactions of the people that come in and out of Boswell’s life left plenty of room for me to be contemplative.

I never would have picked this up on my own. I probably never would have even known of its existence if not for my father. He’s been reflective during these COVID times, archiving old letters from his father, and now reading novels triggering his nostalgia. I can tell he wanted to pass on some of the ideas captured in this novel, unclouded by the sensationalism and immediacy of present times. I understand him just a little bit better now and how the thinking of a different time shaped his perspective on today. 

The Gun - C.S. Forester

“And the gun stood there with a faint wisp of smoke still trickling from its muzzle, immense, imposing, huge. It almost looked as if it were filled with contempt for the little marionettes of men who capered round it, little things whose lives could be measured, at the best, in scores of years, and who were quite incapable unaided of hurling death across five hundred yards of valley.”

I began reading The Gun as background research to another vignette I’m writing. It’s the source material for a Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, and Frank Sinatra film titled The Pride and The Passion. I had seen the film once. Long ago, back in the early days of cable television when anything and everything was played to fill air time, I watched it in our south Michigan living room. Like the movie, The Gun is a story set in the Napoleonic Peninsular Wars of Spain. Published in 1933, the novella only has one main character – a bronze, eighteen pounder cannon – 18 pounds being the size of the cannonball it could fire – a mammoth cannon in any age. The war in Spain was a brutal one. Napolean’s puppet king couldn’t quell the Spanish despite defeating the regular army in the field. It dragged on as a series of small wars against insurgent bands. “War” in Spanish translates to “guerra”; and this type of war in Spain became known as guerrilla, literally “small war” because of the lack of large, set-piece battles. The men and women that fought small wars can be called guerillas or guerrilleros. While the outsized cannon has devastating potential for those who could wield it, the guerrilleros seem cursed by its presence.

C.S. Forester writes a tightly written story where human life is local, simple, and short. Names are inconsequential and the suffering of men is commonplace. I’ve highlighted many passages, noting the horrible conditions of war and the easy deaths many suffered. Passages like are representative of this constant themes (note: el Billbanito is the name of a guerrilla leader in the novella):

“The men did not die. They cursed el Bilbanito, they cursed the gun, and the cattle, but they lived. During this period el Bilbanito slept more securely than before; he knew that mutiny breeds in idleness, not in hardship or hard work. The men might curse, complain, grumble, but they were secretly proud of their efforts. There was a thrill in looking back down a seemingly endless mountain side and in knowing that they had dragged a gun all the way up it. Unremitting toil of the most exacting nature had always been the destiny of those peasants even in peace time, and now in war their labour was made more attractive for them because each man wore a plume of cock’s feathers in his hat and belonged to the noted guerrillero band of el Bilbanito, which was soon to sweep the plains of Leon by the aid of the gun.”

There are no heroes for the reader other than the cannon. Unlike formulaic war stories of action, heroism, and climactic victory, Forester provides a flat narrative that allows the reader more reflection on the real face of war – much as he probably intended when he wrote this in the aftermath of World War I.

Wind, Sand, and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“We must throw out bridges into the darkness.”

I’ve got quite a few books on my nightstand that are so dense that I couldn’t split them with an axe. I’ve attempted to chip away at them night after night, but sometimes it feels like whittling with a dull knife. I picked up Wind,Sand, and Stars as a reprieve. Saint-Expuréy’s writing is poetic and smooth. He delves into camaraderie, the magic of flight, and the mystique of the desert but with a light touch. It’s a pleasure to read and a reviving contrast to my usual reading selections. 

Too young to join the army in World War I, Saint-Exupéry spent the 1920s and 1930s as a pioneer of flight chasing the respectability he thought he missed by not being in the war. Earning fame as a commercial pilot in Europe, South America, and Africa, and saw the world before it was interconnected by globalized travel. While a pilot he also began to write, using his time above the clouds as inspiration. Taken from a small portion of his interesting life, Wind, Sand, and Stars is a breath of fresh air and a reminder that beauty can exist in austere and difficult circumstances. It was the mental break that I needed and a true joy.

“For such is life. We grow rich as we plant through the early years, but then come the years when time undoes our work and cuts down our trees. One by one our comrades deprive us of their shade, and within our mourning we always feel now the secret grief of growing old. . . there is only one true form of wealth, that of human contact. When we work for material gain, we build our own prison. We enclose ourselves in isolation; our coins turn to ashes and buy nothing worth living for.” 

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, History, Mind

What We’re Reading This Month – April 2020

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The current situation has many limitations but equally it has presented us with certain opportunities, in this case to continue to read great works.  Limited, for the most part, to the confines of our own house; surrounded at all times by our loving but rambunctious children – we can escape into (and learn from) the worlds of great authors.  Below are some of the books I have read, and recommend, from the month of April 2020, when the spring weather arrived in its full glory.

The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works

“Gaul..is divided into three parts.”  With those immortal words, once memorized by most of the educated western world, Julius Caesar began his commentaries of the conquest of Gaul.  To read Caesar’s writings, which also include the Civil War he would later fight against Pompey leading to the final collapse of the Roman Republic, have long been an objective of mine.  However, only now, did I believe I had the time and freedom to take on the daunting task.  

While many versions of the book are available, some for free online, I cannot recommend highly enough the Landmark edition of these works.  The Landmark series, beginning with Thucydides, are incredible acts of devotion by Classical scholars.  They include numerous maps, footnotes, and additional essays that provide invaluable context to the ancient writings.

The lush detailed editions of the Landmark editions of the Classical texts.

In the case of Caesar, this is essential.  For not only was he one of the greatest military commanders in history, he was also a politician desperately sparring with his rivals and using the commentaries as a means to influence public opinion in Rome.

Which makes their (selective) honesty, in hindsight, even more interesting.  Caesar does not disguise the fact that his is a war of conquest, or that his opponents-whether they be Gauls (from modern day France) or Germans are fighting for their freedom from Imperial domination.  He allows his opponents to be heroes in his own writing, and his sparse, clean writing style holds eternal truths about war, leadership, diplomacy, politics and the human condition.

Interestingly, Caesar highlights the bravery of working class legionnaires and centurions.  Their exploits are known to history only through Caesar’s words.  The passage below captures his technique of dramatizing the actions of these men, without whom none of Caesar’s brilliant achievements would have been possible.  Caesar was much more sparing in his praise for the senior commanders and nobles in his army, who in the future might be political rivals.

“In that legion were two superbly brave men, centurions,…Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.  They had unending arguments about which of them should rank above the other, and every year they were involved in high stakes rivalries about their position.  Now while the fight was most intense.., Pullo said, “Why are you hanging back, Vorenus?  What opportunity are you waiting for to prove your bravery?  This day is going to decide our competition.”  Having said this, he…rushed  toward the enemy forces.. Vorenus…followed right behind, worried about what everyone would think of him.  Pullo threw his spear at pretty close range into the crowd of enemies, and it went straight through a man who was in front and had been running toward him.  Pullo’s shield was pierced by a javelin…and while he was struggling with this, the enemies surrounded him.  His rival Vorenus ran up to help him …and stood by him.  Vorenus faced the threat, fighting at close quarters with his sword.  He was surrounded in turn, but Pullo now came to his aid…  Fortune thus brought it about for the two in their fighting and competition that while each was the other’s rival, he also helped and saved him, and there was no way to judge between them as to who should be thought to rank above the other in bravery.”

It is from that short vignette, that the creators of the HBO show Rome decided to make Vorenus and Pullo the protagonists of their tale, rather than the more famous and powerful characters of that era.  Of course, while reading Caesar, I had to dust off my old DVD collection of the series and introduce it to my wife.  It had been my favorite show when I was younger, and learning my trade as an infantry officer.  One of my friends later told me that every man’s watchword should be WWTPD,  What Would Titus Pullo Do?  Long after we put the girls to bed, my wife and I watched the artistic rendering of the momentous acts of Marc Antony, Augustus, Pompey, Brutus, and Caesar himself that led to the end of the Republic.  Throughout it all, would be Pullo and Vorenus- representative of the many nameless individuals whose lives make the history whose spotlight is on the elites’ competition for power.

On the Ides of March, Caesar was famously assassinated by a conspiracy of senators, who feared that the tremendous dynamism of the man would ultimately lead to tyranny.  As such, while reading Caesar, I also studied the works of the ancient biographer Suetonius to gain another perspective.  Suetonius, who lived during the era of Hadrian, compiled all the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of the Emperors starting with Caesar.  According to him, the dictator Sulla hunted Caesar as a young man for daring to defy him.  When other nobles begged the dictator to spare his life, Sulla responded “Have your way…but be aware that the man you so desired to save, believing him to be attached to the aristocratic cause… will be its downfall.”

Caesar was clearly no ordinary man, and his skills far exceeded those of solely a strategist or ambitious politician.  It has been well worth the effort to read his commentaries, thousands of years later, especially when accompanied by critical notes that explain the intent and purpose behind those words

The King’s Gold: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste

Alatriste is drawn into a complicated plot to steal Gold from the New World for the King.

“If what I have I do not fear to lose, 

nor yet desire to have what I do not,

I’m safe from Fortune’s wheel whate’er I choose”

After wading through an intense ancient work, I was hoping for a light fictional adventure.  When I was younger, I enjoyed historical fiction and occasionally still like to delve into a swashbuckling tale.  When we visited my Pushing Horizons’ partner, Andy, and his family in England during Thanksgiving, we came across an old Edwardian phone booth turned into a community library.  Among the pile, one book caught my eye.  It was an English translation of one of Captain Alatriste’s adventures. 

England. Check the phone booth, you never know when it may be filled with free books.

The Alatriste series, written by a Spanish war journalist, now novelist, are loved in Spain and I have a few of the series on my bookshelf in their original language.  This translation, however, is excellent.  Of course, it had all the sword fights, plot twists, and romance one could hope for in an adventure. Beyond that, the author Arturo Perez-Reverte also artfully tells the story of Spain at the height of its power, awash with gold from the New world, but beset by a myriad of enemies, and increasingly hobbled by its own corruption.  This is no ordinary adventure.   

Sunset in Ronda, Andalusia, Southern Spain.

The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos

A young man walks through the Balkans in 1933.

“One is only sometimes warned, when these processes begin, of their crucial importance: that certain poems, paintings, kinds of music, books, or ideas are going to change everything, or that one is going to fail in love or become friends for life; the many lengthening strands, in fact, which, plaited together, compose a lifetime.  One should be able to detect the muffled bang of the starter’s gun.  This journey was punctuated with these inaudible reports: day springs veiled and epiphanies in plain clothes.”

A scrutinizing reader may notice that we at Pushinghorizons.com are devotees of the author Patrick Leigh Fermor.  His books, his ethos, and writings by his companions are scattered like clues throughout our articles.  During World War Two, while serving in occupied Crete, he led a successful operation to kidnap a German general.  However, it is his walking trip in 1933 from Holland to Constantinople that he took as an eighteen year old that provided an inexhaustible resource for his later life as a writer living in Greece.  The first two excellent books detailing his trip were published during his lifetime.

A few years ago a group of us spent New Years on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France.  Amidst the camaraderie, and many bottles of Champagne, Andy and I discussed Patrick Leigh Fermor.  I had just read his biography by Artemis Cooper, and was enamored by his life.  However, I am ashamed to admit it, I had yet to read his actual writings.  It was high time for me to rectify this omission, so I have taken the opportunity to read the third and last book in his trilogy detailing his youthful walk through Europe on the brink of armageddon.

This manuscript had not been finished at the time of his death, but has been rescued and published by Cooper.  It is filled with the experiences of a young man whose deep sense of cultural and historical knowledge and evident charm allowed him to penetrate and understand the diverse wonderful societies which he passed through. 

If you are not already intrigued by the Balkans as I am, that mysterious beautiful land troubled by violence and a crossroads of great power competition, you will be after reading Fermor.  Passages like that below easily transported me from our current situation to a much different place and time:

“..prompted by the moonlight, our group sneaked away, armed with a bottle of wine, to a boat in the Maritza, and rowed out on to the wide river singing and drinking in turn from the same glass and moored under a clump of trees.  At last, and with great delight,  I heard, and finally learnt the words, of that strange wavering song the women had sung in the bus from Radomir.  I got the students to perform it by humming what I could remember of the tune: 

Zashto mi se sirdish, liube?” 

 (‘Why are you angry with me, my love?  Why do you shun me?…)

 ..Sirdish ne dohojdash?  Dali konya namash, liube Ili drum ne znayesh?  

It ends in mid-air in an oddly unfinished fashion.  They sang beautifully the slow and complex tune, with many modulations: an entrancing and melancholy sound over this moonlit river.  I wonder what has become of them all?”  

If one could all live such a life.

– RM
Roland Minez is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, Mind

What We’re Reading This Month – March 2020

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Snowdon: The Story of a Welsh Mountain & The Hills of Wales by Jim Perrin

There is a pseudo-legend frequently recounted about Cwm Cau on Cader Idris, forty miles to the south: that to sleep there alone is to wake either as poet or madman, so sublime are the surroundings – Jim Perrin, Snowdon

Ever since I walked the Llanberis Trail to the summit of Mount Snowdon part of my brain has remained in northwestern Wales. The freezing summit and zero visibility wrapped the mountains in mystery. Before going I was vaguely aware of Snowdonia’s connection to the earliest British mountaineering pioneers, but not enough to speak smartly on the subject. There are a number of books on the subject, but Jim Perrin’s offered me an opportunity to dig a little deeper into Mount Snowdon’s history with Snowdon: The Story of a Welsh Mountain, which is a compact natural, mythical, and historical review of Snowdonia. 

He also seeks to give credit to the unnamed flora-seekers, shepherds, and guides for knowing the crags and crevices of Snowdon before the so-called discoveries by British hikers of a certain class.  The Hills of Wales is a collection of essays that Perrin has written over the decade, so it gives a more meandering look at the whole Welsh countryside. These two books are not appropriate for reading in a single sitting, but I revisit them each night when my mind absconds from daily concerns and returns to the mountains.

Into The Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis

One of the peculiar and unexpected outcomes of peace was the desire of many veterans to go anywhere but home. For those who survived, as Paul Fussel writes, travel became a source of irrational happiness, a moving celebration of the sheer joy of being alive. – Wade Davis

Relatedly, Into the Silence by Wade Davis came strongly recommended to me by Roland, a more accomplished and well-read climber. More than a story about the first attempts by Westerners to climb Mount Everest, it tells a wide-ranging story about the devastation of World War I on a generation of British climbers, on the classist Cambridge-Oxford-bred British climbing elites, and the evolution of a climbing as a pursuit of national pride and imperial symbolism. Davis delves into the lives of each of the personalities in the English climbing community, exploration of northern India and Tibet, politicians and diplomats, and others that play parts in the quest for Everest. He explores the upbringing, their relations to the mountaineering community, the strictures of their class and upbringing, and their experience/trauma of the First World War that “cleared the board,” so to speak, for this undertaking. I’m still working my way through this one, but it’s had an iron grip on my attention.

Flashpoint Trieste: The First Battle of the Cold War by Christian Jennings

By summer 1945, five sides faced each other around Trieste. Geo-political, strategic and diplomatic necessity forced all of them to communicate and negotiate with each other constantly. Anxious fingers needed to be kept off triggers. But nobody trusted the other. There were too many hidden agendas, promises made, assurances broken, vested interests and covert priorities. At the top of the Adriatic, Great Britain, the United States, Italy, Yugosalvia and Russia circled each other like nervous cats. And each nations’ storm-troopers of the Cold War, their intelligence agencies were in action. – Christian Jennings

Finally, I needed a book for a commute and picked one of the more pocket-sized paperbacks on my shelf. With my recent fascination with Italy, the outbreak of the coronavirus, and my love for historical complexity Flashpoint Trieste: The First Battle of the Cold War by Christian Jennings hits a sweet spot for my intellectual taste. Plain and simple, the Cold War wasn’t always a tale of two superpowers. It began with the convulsion of the post-World War I order – which was extremely volatile, even at the death of Adolf Hitler. This is a pretty straightforward history, but it gives nuance to a corner of World War II often overlooked with the sweeping gaze of 21st Century hindsight.

~ AZ

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases. 

Book Reviews, Mind

Introduction to North Africa

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I’ve spent the better part of the last decade trying to gain an expert-level of understanding on the people, politics and history of North Africa. Across my bookshelf, and the many libraries I have patroned, are books related to every aspect of North Africa. However, in an effort to not overwhelm any that ask me for recommendations I have consistently returned to these three books to crack the lid on the region. While these books don’t address the dispute in Western Sahara, Mauritania, or the Sudanese civil war, they suitably scratch the surface for those inclined to read further.

The French Intifada: The Long War Between France and Its Arabs by Andrew Hussey

“The real rivalry between Britain and France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was about commercial and political power. They sought to achieve their aims, however, in very different ways. The British were mostly interested in money and therefore mainly indifferent to the cultures of the ‘natives’ they colonized, subjugating them by force of arms when and if necessary. The French, in contrast, controlled their colonies by pursuing the ‘civilizing mission’, effectively seeking to make their subjects culturally French. Of course the French plundered where they could, but there was an added strategic urge to extend the concept of ‘Frenchness’ across the world.”

History did not start in the last two centuries, but within those 200 years the French colonization of North Africa – specifically Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia – continues to dramatically shape the post-colonial outlooks of these countries. Andrew Hussey, a journalist, uses France and French politics as the focal point of his book. As colonies, France’s possessions were dominated by the whims of French politicians and a largely disinterested public – until figurative screaming and literal violence was needed to effect change. 

While French influence and France are by no means the chief driver of social and historical change, their involvement in these countries cannot be ignored. The contrast between decolonization experiences of Morocco and Tunisia with that of Algeria is an important feature in understanding these countries during the Arab Spring and afterwards. Although nearly six years since its publication, its broad scope allows The French Intifada to be a natural starting point for understanding these three countries.

The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya by Frederic Wehrey

“As the clock ticked, Libya’s factions seemed more intent on fighting each other, even if it meant ruining the country and giving space to the Islamic State. It reminded Libyans of an old joke.

A genie appears from a lamp and promises to give a man one wish, while doubling that wish for his friend. 

‘A blind eye,’ the man responds.”

Moving East, most of what you’ll find on Libya either focuses on Qaddafi, his rise to power, the peculiarities of his state, and the Arab Spring. However, Libya’s descent in to civil war after 2012 is still largely undocumented and misunderstood by the outside world. Frederic Wehrey bridges that gap, from the Arab Spring until 2017, with delicacy in his book. He explains the complexity and layers of the competing militias, tribes, ethnic groups, and religious adherents and why peace, reconciliation, and prosperity did not quickly follow the fall of the dictator. Libya has its own rich and complex history to take into account, but the parallels of societies with non-existent civil societies, dependency on all-powerful leaders, and an inescapable secret police/intelligence service are consistent with what the world has seen recently. 

As the contest between the militias of the so-called Libyan National Army and the Tripoli-based militias propping up the Government of National Accord in Tripoli persist, the divisions unleashed in 2011 are still very much the dominating feature of Libya today. This is an excellent start to understanding the problems facing Libya after the fall of Qaddafi as it seeks its own form of representative democracy and peace.

Soldiers, Spies, and Statesmen: Egypt's Road to Revolt by Hazem Kandil

“Not to know what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child.”

Egypt’s Arab Spring brought sweeping change to the country. However, as the saying goes ‘the more things change the more they stay the same.’ Hazem Kandil’s book helps drive that point home with a brilliant and detailed analysis of Egypt’s political history between 1952 and 2013. He draws a single line between all the events using the paradigm of the competing and balancing powers in Egypt – the security apparatus, the political parties, and the military institution. The ascent of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power in 2014, after the period covered in this book, would be unsurprising for those familiar with this book. Soldiers, Spies, and Statesmen is essential fundamental reading for understanding modern Egypt.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author.