Malay Archipelago, by Alfred Russel Wallace

 Wonderful account of Wallace's travels through South East Asia, detailing the amazing sights, sounds & smells that he saw as he collected as many animal specimens as he & his hired helpers could shoot, including several Orang Utans. Obviously any account of the natural world as it was over a century ago now feels like a lost world but the sense of adventure & wonder is timeless, & the region's remoteness may ensure that much of what Wallace saw is still there even now. For me the highlights were the chapters describing the notorious Orang hunting & Wallace's marathon boat (more like a raft!) trip out across the Banda Sea to the remoter parts of the archipelago near Papua New Guinea in search of birds of paradise. As well as the natural wonder detailed Wallace's skill, intellect, resourcefulness & fortitude in the face of great travails & ill health come through vividly to make this one of the all-time great reads about one of science's greats.
5/5

Debunking History, by Ed Rayner & Ron Stapley

Starts off well, dissecting various episodes from history to assess their accuracy against what's considered today's facts, but by the end of book a lot of what's discussed seems a bit mean-spirited & a bit pointless. Yes the legend isn't totally based in historical fact but that's the point: the stories are often an allegory to act as a warning or to celebrate down the ages. The main areas covered are the American & French Revolutions, World War 1 & 2, in particular Hitler & the Nazis feature prominently. The most disappointing aspect was the inclusion of a few contemporary "historic", not "historical" items including a couple of items featuring Tony Blair’s decision to invade Iraq for example. This seems to have been shoe-horned in to give it some additional selling power when it was published in mid-2000s. Reading it now that Blair is long gone it seems particularly tedious & unwelcome (as were the last days of his premiership) and it felt more like current affairs than history. Quite a few of the items overlapped, particularly the many on Hitler & WW2. However for me there were enough items of interest, in periods that I hadn’t read much about before, to keep me going until the end of the book.
2/5.

The Rise & Fall of the British Empire, by Lawrence James

Absolutely brilliant page-turner that for this Brit read like one of the greatest stories ever told. Although 600+ pages in length the author’s erudite & concise writing whips you along so that it feels like the book is barely 200 pages in length. Indeed the story ends in 1995 just before Hong Kong was handed back & it cries out for an update. The story could have been a litany of battles on faraway shores & there is inevitably a great deal of this but what makes this book so good is how the author weaves British politics into the story, & it was the politics of the day that was ultimately responsible for the actions of its fighting men. It also details the wider aspects of the empire's impact on British society, how the empire was viewed throughout its history & how this has been reflected down the generations. It does not pay too much attention to those that were colonised; it's a story from the British perspective though there are some wonderful touches lent to it by quotations from contemporary sources & often from those that were colonised. The exhilaration from the sense of adventure during the empire's rise is followed by jingoism, bigotry & racism but throughout there was a keen sense of morality which was ultimately reflected in the mostly peaceful way that the empire was dismantled. The author then perfectly captures some of the feelings that occurred during the decline which particularly resonated with me. Once again I cannot praise this book highly enough for it's flowing & concise style, information packed & often moving story, one that should be taught in all the country's schools. I certainly wish I had been taught this sort of history at school!
5/5

Refactoring, by Martin Fowler

Seminal book, like a lot of Martin Fowler's books are, providing inspirational advice on writing better software from the software that's already been written. Key concepts are explained lucidly & often with humour, which is very difficult to do with a quite dry subject matter, but this is what makes Fowler's books invaluable for the time-pressed developer. There is much to be learned from this book even for a seasoned IT professional & as such it should appear on the reading list of everyone who is involved in the software profession.
5/5