Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady (Samuel Richardson, 1748)

This is "a landmark 18th-century epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, published in 1748, about a virtuous young woman, Clarissa Harlowe, who defies her family's wishes to marry a wealthy man and instead flees with the charming but villainous rake, Robert Lovelace, leading to her tragic downfall."

Here we are closing in on 300 years later - it's still considered the longest novel ever written - I read that it has 950,000 words and originally was published in seven volumes.

Which is why I quit about 10% of the way through (already a lot of reading!) I enjoyed the part I read but do not want to commit the time to read the entire novel. The epistolary method was working quite well, but still. 

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Rick Atkinson, 2025)

Just the kind of book I like - well-written history.

This covers the difficult middle years of the war.

Dense with details, the sentences pile on and give you the sensation of being taken right into the scenes - all his books are like this, a real gift.

1777 a rough year - hadn't realized the British took Philadelphia while Continental Congress fled to York, lots of stuff was stored at Lancaster. Big success for Americans up north against Burgoyne (big win at Saratoga) - partly because the main British force had relocated from NYC to Philadelphia. Not much success for Washington in general this year, and Valley Forge winter quarters are tough. 

Brits just abandon Philadelphia by orders from England after wintering there. Thought to be untenable to hold it given manpower constraints etc and Burgoyne's loss (need to defend NYC). 

Burgoyne news motivated French to get off the fence and become allies (early 1778). 

I like how Atkinson presents perspectives from both England and France.  French role probably more important than I thought. 

In some ways not much happened.  Main armies were struggling to find manpower and maintain supplies, were reluctant to get into major engagements. France and Spain with huge fleets, but mostly inept - though very important in terms of stretching Brit resources - needed to keep lots of ships home to protect the Channel.

Getting the French involved was super important. Franklin influential.

Looking forward to volume 3 of this trilogy.  

The Taste of Empire - How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World (Lizzie Collingham, 2017)

(276 pages)

I had much enjoyed another one of the author's books - that earlier one focused moreso on Indian food and its evolution via British influence - so gave this one a shot.  I liked it quite a bit, though not quite sure of the takeaway. I think the main perspective was that globally-shipped, high-efficiency (in growing) food items were gaining sway a lot earlier than I would have realized.

A cool device was providing a recipe at the beginning of each chapter to anchor the development of key ingredients.

Gemini's summary:

In The Taste of Empire, Lizzie Collingham provides a comprehensive historical analysis of how the British Empire was shaped by the fundamental human need for food. Moving away from traditional political or military narratives, Collingham argues that the empire was essentially a vast global food system, driven by the necessity of feeding a growing domestic population and the commercial desire for new commodities.

The book explores the intricate "web of trade" that connected distant corners of the globe:

Commercial Expansion: It details how the pursuit of stable food sources, such as North Atlantic cod and Caribbean sugar, laid the groundwork for early colonial infrastructure.

Logistical Innovation: Collingham highlights the incredible organizational feats required to transport perishable goods across oceans, which spurred advancements in shipping, preservation, and global finance.

Cultural Exchange: The narrative shows how the British palate became "internationalized," adopting products like tea from China and spices from India, while simultaneously introducing European farming techniques and crops to the Americas and Australia.

While the book acknowledges the disruptions caused by these shifts—such as the transition from local subsistence to export-based economies—its primary focus is on the interconnectivity of the imperial era. Collingham illustrates how the modern globalized food market, characterized by the year-round availability of diverse ingredients, is the direct descendant of this historical British mercantile network.

Macbeth (William Shakespeare, 1606)

A classic I'd not read in many years - there it was on Kindle, so I read it.  Much enjoyed.

Story line is familiar - witches prophecy, Macbeth gets ambitious (with assist from his wife), Macbeth kills the kind of Scotland and takes over; further murders to try to cement his position.  Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth overcome with guilt (I had forgotten the scenes where she sleepwalks trying to wash the blood off her hands).

Banquo's ghost! Birnam Wood moves! Beware Macduff - born via C-section! 

Tons of familiar quotes. Shakespeare talent unreal.

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day... / Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing."

Revolutionary Spring - Europe Aflame and The Fight for a New World 1848-1849 (Christopher Clark, 2023)

(754 pages)

This took a while to read but was thoroughly worth it. The events of these two years are amazing. 

Google Gemini's 150-word blurb:

"Christopher Clark's Revolutionary Spring provides a panoramic history of the 1848 revolutions that swept across Europe, arguing against the traditional view of them as a failure. Instead, he casts the simultaneous continental upheavals as "the particle collision chamber" of the nineteenth century, a critical turning point that profoundly shaped the future.

Clark traces the origins of the revolts to a mix of economic precarity, social inequality, and a collision of emergent political ideologies, including liberalism, radicalism, and nationalism. The book vividly recounts the rapid spread of uprisings, constitutional changes, and the subsequent, often ruthless, counter-revolution. He highlights how the movements forced open debates on social rights, democracy, and capitalism. Though short-lived, the 1848 revolutions left a profound and lasting legacy on European political thought and public life."

Part of my interest was the rather strange times we're going through here in the 2020s. Donald Trump's emergence (going back to mid 2010s) has been and remains, for reasons I don't really grasp, a perceived threat to the way political business has been done in the US for decades. A dire threat. There exists a continuing resistance that certainly reminds of mid-19th century elements described in this book.

Though vast differences. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic era had stirred the pot of sentiments that hadn't really developed previously - national identity, the desire for a constitution, political viewpoints arranged left to right (or vice versa) - all this getting more and more refined.

Similar problems as today - the leadership of the left somehow refused "to have any enemies on the left" - leaving them stuck with positions that just didn't have much support. Mazzini’s idea for Italy - that the revolution needed the blood of martyrs to feed success - sounds familiar. The familiar trope of students locking themselves into university buildings - always way too sure of themselves. A bunch of folks who take advantage of unrest to just plain loot.

When the excitement and glamour of change and revolution flips to mundane matters of governance - much harder. Most governments conceded some form of constitution, though some retook control through different methods than prior to the revolutions. 

Different types of revolutionaries. Poor people who wanted better wages, or even just food, some poor harvests were involved here (timing of potato famine?) Then the more theoretical types who were looking for social change, a constitution, etc.  Often minimal understanding of the poor or rural folk.  Elements of the “haves” v. “have-mores” a driver as much as the “have-nots” as drivers.

Widespread across Europe - astonishing scope and speed.

Little preparation - groups assemble to fill a governance void.  Existing regimes often in a position to regain.  Parliaments that might end up supporting monarchy - for a while.

Louis Kossuth incredibly popular - led to naming places after him (such as Kossuth County, Iowa). His popularity did wane however.

This just scratches the surface, a lot to learn here.  I think. 

Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1946)

It's such a good book. Orwell "gets" it. Worth an occasional re-read.

I feel pretty much the same about the book as when I wrote this summary on this blog back in 2011:

"The story is familiar.

The inevitable end-point of centralized political/ideological control:  "All animals are equal.  But some are more equal than others."  Boxer's death - compelling. 

I haven't read this since high school.  I'm sure it was quite interesting in high school - but (as often when I think of books read back then) - I wonder what I then thought of it.  I pretty much read it in an information vacuum.  Now - nigh 40 years later - have had the benefit of much more reading about Russia, Communism, the Spanish Civil War, political environment when this was written in the 1940s.  Maybe I get half of Orwell's allusions now?  What percentage did I get in high school (when I wouldn't have even known about Leon Trotsky)?  What percentage if I read this again in 20 years?

Another thing I hadn't realized was the extent of Orwell's commitment to socialism - given the nature of the book, I would have assumed he opposed.  But the foreword to this edition indicates that he was then a true believer - had fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Soviet-supported government against the Nazi (fascist)-supported rebels - but left after seeing the murderous nature of the Russian "support."  Animal Farm was supposed to debunk the myth of the Russian version of socialism, to help prospects in other socialist systems. 

Good.  Short.  Effective."

Beowulf (Old English, 8th century(?))

I had never read this and saw it as a Kindle item - so why not? Seems like it's the kind of thing that should be read.  

But it is rather hard to follow. Beowulf crosses some body of water to hep King Hrothgar of Denmark - Hrothgar's royal hall is regularly attacked at night by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf pledges to defeat the monster without using weapons, and succeeds by tearing off Grendel's arm, after which Grendel dies.

They celebrate - but on the next (or one of the next) night Grendel's nasty mother (a swamp resident) attacks the hall and kills a key warrior. Beowulf gets into Ma's underwater den and kills her by using a giant's sword conveniently found there.  

Beowulf goes home and becomes king.  The story then jumps forward ~50 years. A dragon with an immense treasure hoard (Smaug-like!) is disturbed by a thief and starts attacking the kingdom. Beowulf and a few warriors go to take on the dragon.  All the men but one abandon Beowulf.  But he gets the job done, though mortally wounded.

Didn't take much time, I didn't love reading it but am glad I did. 

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (William Shakespeare, 1599-1601)

Another Shakespeare classic that somehow I've never read.  I wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but found the story entirely engaging.  

Yes, it is a tragedy! The ghost of Hamlet's murdered father sets much of the plot in motion. Hamlet unhappy with his uncle (the murderer) who took over the throne as well as Hamlet's mother. Questions about Hamlet's sanity. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern aren't good friends to Hamlet and pay a price.  Ophelia (now I get the pre-Raphaelite painting). Polonius, Laertes. 

More famous quotes than I knew, examples - 

• to thine own self be true
• neither a borrower nor a lender be
• more honored in the breach than the observance
• something is rotten in the state of Denmark
• There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy
• Brevity is the soul of wit.
• Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
• To be, or not to be, that is the question.
• The lady protests too much, methinks

Really happy to have read this, long overdue.

The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro, 1988)

(245 pages)

Written in the voice of a butler (Stevens) who served in an important English hall for decades, serving under the rather famous Lord Darlington.  The service period included the difficult years between the two world wars and continued through and beyond the hall's postwar purchase by a wealthy American (as Britain declined economically).

Remarkable accomplishment by the author - uses, almost exclusively, the carefully restrained voice of a professional butler - and also manages to communicate deep, believable emotions.

At the behest of the new owner (who is leaving the hall to spend some weeks in his native US), Stevens borrows the owner's car and takes a tour by motor car into the English countryside.  The book sets out the butler's description of the trip and various topics about which he muses during it.

Long discussions about professionalism in the early going, what makes a "great" butler. There were demanding positions, especially in the years when a large staff was required.

Stevens muses about his father - also a high-end butler, he came to work under the younger Stevens late in his life.  An example of the protagonist-butler prioritizing his work commitments over his butler-father. Pursuing "greatness" - hmmm.

Mostly protective of Lord Darlington, but notes - and eventually completely admits - some serious chinks.  Efforts to help Germany ameliorate the punitive Versailles peace treaty - a goal shared by many - turn into a period where Lord Darlington is a useful idiot for the rising Nazi regime.

The butler (Stevens) thinks a lot about a housekeeper (Miss Kenton) who he worked closely with at Darlington Hall, often at odds, and who left the hall to get married.  Stevens characterized the relationship as professional until admitting at the end of the book that it was (and could/should have been) quite a lot more.

Concludes somehow on a hopeful note - Stevens hopes to learn how to banter. 

Kim (Rudyard Kipling, 1901)

Re-read of another previously-enjoyed book.  The Anecdotal Evidence guy continues to enthuse so I gave it another quick run-through.

Here are my notes from first read, they are a pretty good summary.

I had forgotten that the "Great Game" aspect was not central to the main parts of the book; this is a strength.  

The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde, 1895)

Kindle offered this as a free item; we had joked about it with my dad; so why not? Entertaining, light.  Two Londoners claim to be named "Ernest" as they woo two separate young women who have a thing about marrying someone named "Ernest". 

There is a butler of course, but not nearly as entertaining as Wodehouse's Jeeves.

I liked it but was hoping for more. Very quick read.  

Mason Dixon - Crucible of the Nation (Edward G. Gray, 2023)

(374 pages)

Grok's summary below.  I liked the book but it was kind of a slog in spots. Here are some ideas I took away - 

The idea of uncertain boundaries in the early colonial era, sometimes continuing quite a while.  Vague land grants, inexact or nonexistent maps. Settlers who don't know if they have title, don't know who is entitled to tax payments, etc.  Challenges of surveying - in merry old England you could line up a bell tower or whatnot whereas in this area it was a bunch of trees and other ephemera.

Similar - vague wording of authority granted to proprietors of the various colonies. In this immediate area - conflict between Lord Baltimore and successors (Maryland) and William Penn and successors (Pennsylvania).

Meeting the actual Mason and Dixon - very little biographical information, few details of their surveying expedition.  One of them later became obsessed with figuring out longitude (though I don't think he was part of the famous contest, per this). 

Interesting discussion about Lancaster (Charlie & Beth's area) - always part of Pennsylvania, a bit to the west and nearing Maryland; Pennsylvania ultimately succeed in pushing its border a bit south (at Maryland's expense).

Low Counties become Delaware.

Mason Dixon line as fraught for blacks - I hadn't thought about it but because getting into Pennsylvania was a very useful step in escaping - southerners very watchful in this area - tough for free blacks. 

Fugitive slave acts. Roger Taney and James Buchanan.  

Maryland and Delaware south of the Line and both permitted slavery; but they did not secede.

I didn't appreciate how exposed Washington DC was during Civil war times.  Maryland with slaveholders and mixed feelings about this; if it seceded, no way to get federal trips to DC without passing through rebel territory.  

Author with a couple obligatory potshots at capitalism as driving slavery. Does not mention that slavery existed pretty much always and everywhere, before any idea of capitalism was conceived; or that capitalist countries were the first to ban it.  Oh well.

Grok is kind of generic - 

Mason-Dixon: Crucible of the Nation by Edward G. Gray traces the history of the Mason-Dixon Line, a boundary that resolved a colonial dispute and became a symbol of America’s divisions. Established in 1767, the line settled a conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, sparked by Pennsylvania’s 1681 founding, Dutch settlers in Delaware, and rapid agricultural growth. This led to jurisdictional chaos, violence, and ethnic clashes with Lenape and Susquehannock natives. Historian Gray frames the line as a geopolitical border where colonial, imperial, Native, and U.S. sovereignties collided.

The book highlights the line’s transformation into a cultural and political divide. Pennsylvania’s 1780 abolition act positioned the Mason-Dixon as a boundary between free and slave states, intensified by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, which made it a federal tool to recapture enslaved people. Gray details the region’s history of imperial intrigue, Native dispossession, and settler violence, featuring colonial grandees, Native diplomats, Quaker abolitionists, and Underground Railroad conductors navigating a volatile borderland.

Gray excels in analyzing the line’s role in pre-Civil War tensions between abolitionist Pennsylvania and slaveholding Maryland. Initially meant to end conflict, the line became a metaphor for a divided nation, reflecting struggles over slavery, freedom, and identity. Its significance faded post-Civil War but lingered through Jim Crow oppression. Deeply researched, Gray’s narrative reframes U.S. history by centering this overlooked region, revealing its national impact. Praised for its vivid storytelling, the book underscores the Mason-Dixon Line’s role in shaping America’s colonial roots, nation-building, and enduring racial divides.

The Inimitable Jeeves (P.G. Wodehouse, 1923)

(225 pages)

I really want to like Wodehouse's books.  He has such a funny way of writing (always coming up with a phrase or word that I wouldn't expect); I think the books are considered to have aged well; I want to keep trying; but I usually end up wondering why I'm spending any time reading them.  Hmm.

My last Wodehouse attempt was 10 years ago.

This is the first volume in what became a lengthy series of books centered around the unflappable problem-solving butler, Jeeves. He is employed by Bertie Wooster - a youngish gentleman who is independently wealthy. In this volume, Bertie is beset by Aunt Agatha; deals with multiple romances experienced by his friend Bingo; deals with two miscreant cousins (Claude and Eustace).

With Jeeves around, everything turns out well.  

OK I will try the next Jeeves volume before deciding on whether to give up.

The Savage Storm - The Battle for Italy 1943 (James Holland, 2023)

(476 pages)

I've been lucky to run across quite a few WWII histories that are very high quality - but this one is a definite favorite - the author was completely effective in knitting an overview of the military strategy and key battles with many contemporary excerpts from diaries, letters and the like; these latter gathered from grunts and officers in American, British, German, and Italian armies; also Italian citizens, Ernie Pyle, etc.  

I'll let the author explain - 

"I have been studying the long and terrible Second World War for some years now, but nothing has moved me in quite such a profound way as researching and writing this book.  Perhaps it's because, for the first time, I've used mostly contemporary sources:  diaries, letters, signals and memoranda, and photographs taken in a split second.  Rather than hearing the memories of those times fifty, sixty or even seventy years on, my cast of very real characters have drawn from the testimonies they recorded at the time. I have deliberately tried to avoid any forward projection and to write purely in the moments, hours and days in which the events described were taking place.  None of those writing diaries and letters knew when Rome would fall. None of them knew when the war would end.  I have found it difficult not to be swept up in their experiences, their suffering, their anxieties, their fears and it has been impossible not to care about their fates." (p. 474)

I was definitely swept up.  It also helped that Irvin Bormann and Vernon Hohenberger were literally there for big chunks of the 1943 timeline covered in this book - Irvin's diaries and Hohenberger's memoir include items that are 100% on point with descriptions here; makes it much more personal.

Some things I have a better grasp of -

--The Allies attacked Sicily earlier in 1943 with overwhelming force and encountered weak Italian resistance in many cases.  Plenty of landing craft available to bring all the stuff that a mechanized army needs, especially when the strategy is to overwhelm the enemy with aircraft and artillery to reduce the expenditure of soldiers' lives.

--Italy in this second half of 1943 was not like this.  Resources were diverted to preparations for Normandy and for the war in the Pacific.  Sicilian success perhaps gave too much confidence; the politicians and high command were promising "Rome by Christmas" and no one could back off this push even though it pretty quickly became evident that there soon was no basis for achieving this goal.

--Landing craft in particular were key - I didn't think about how new large-scale amphibious assault was (not a thing in WWI) - these craft just didn't exist in sufficient numbers to bring all the stuff needed. As manufacturing ramps up, many diverted to Pacific and Normandy.

--And to some extent the lack of mechanized support and artillery didn't matter - horrific winter weather and isolated mountainous terrain made aircraft and tanks and shelling less effective. 

--Italy surrendered in September 1943, and the German army took over - much tougher resistance than encountered in Sicily.  Hitler very concerned about this southern approach to Germany.

--The mountains were just made for defense; and the Germans were expert at exploiting this. Whereas an attacking force might be assumed to need a 3:1 numbers advantage, it probably was higher here. Divisions were pulled out of the line (Normandy), soldiers were expected to keep going way beyond normal tours.

--Yet the decision was made to keep going.  Which meant the infantry had such a terrible time of it here.  

--Mark Clark takes a lot of grief, but this author pins the blame higher up the chain, thinks Clark did well under the circumstances.

--I hadn't read much about the Salerno landing - difficult, interesting.

--The civilian suffering - the mechanized, heavy shelling approach had very different consequences in populated Italy as compared to the North African deserts. The sad stories here, wow.

This book wraps up at year-end, so author doesn't get to Anzio, Rapido River crossing; Irvin Bormann DOW on February 1, 1944 so we don't get battles in his final month. Irvin does mention seeing a big battle down in a valley in the December 15-17, 1943 time frame; that could well have been for San Pietro (p. 440).

The Spy and the Traitor (Ben Macintyre, 2019)

 (335 pages)

Book club selection by POC.

Story of Oleg Gordiansky, KGB agent who rose through the ranks but started working with British intelligence - this continues for years, including during London postings. Gordiansky disaffected by building of Berlin Wall, crushing of Prague Spring (1968); seems to have acted out of ideological conviction, not for money, perhaps other motivations as this is hard to sort out.  

Lots of important information revealed, some quite helpful as Thatcher and Reagan governments deal with a declining Soviet Union and then Gorbachev.

The author can make all of this quite interesting; for example, the story of the escape from Moscow is quite good (playing Finlandia for a fellow in the trunk!)  Several close calls; Aldrich Ames appears. Sneaky rendezvous tactics.

Downside - to me, this was just another spy tale; very little to be learned and I think could have been told effectively with far less detail.  Does help illuminate the stresses under which these folks operate.  

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902)

Read an electronic version of this classic while flying to and fro Phoenix -> Bangalore.  Perfect airplane reading material.

Much of my memory of the book is intertwined with memories of the 1939 movie starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - a favorite as we were growing up; the younger siblings made a tape recording and then a typed transcript. The movie also delights, if varying in some respects from the book.

Anyway - the detective is hired to get to the bottom of a mystery on the moors - a legendary, huge hound-like fiend that haunts the Baskervilles over the generations.  Dr. Mortimer brings in Holmes.  Watson stays on the moor.  Stapleton and his "wife" live nearby; he is a naturalist.  Barrymore - butler - and his wife and brother.

Laura Frankland wrote to Sir Hugo - I don't really recall that part in the movie.

I would avoid the Grimpen Mire.

Great read.  

The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy, 1886)

Sixth of his works that I've read, all well worthwhile.

Descriptions continue to amaze - agriculture details, market details, local terrain details, personalities in various social sets. This aspect is enjoyable in its own right.

Story line was good but not my favorite of his works. Too many key characters are disposed of via dying (for example).

Michael Henchard the key character - warts and all - he persists despite impulsive outbursts that cause serious mistakes.

No heroic figures in this one - everyone with some issue or the other, Elizabeth-Jane and the Scotsman perhaps less so.  But that is a strength of the novel, not a criticism.

The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954-55)

(1,032 pages)

Second time I've read this. Beautiful hardbound 50th anniversary edition with maps, etc., gift from Paul Jr. and Nedda.

Such a pleasure even if quite familiar with the story. Tolkien skill well-known and for good reason.

I had forgotten much of the detail of the final chapter so particularly enjoyed rereading that section.

All the sequences are quite wonderful but I think I best like the Shire scenes that begin and end the work.  Tolkien has a great touch with those small-scale interactions. 

Imperial Twilight - The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age (Stephen Platt, 2018)

I liked this.  

Some overlap with recent book about Brits in India (some of the same folks, lots of trade, India is where the opium poppies were cultivated, etc.) Some of the same opportunism I associate with British adventurers in India.  Things not really planned, but aggressive action when the right excuse came along.

Opening section does a really nice job of bringing to life Macartney's initial trip to visit the Chinese emperor.  I've seen several renditions of this and enjoyed this author's the most.  Hard to imagine.  The "kowtow" kerfuffle, later used to justify aggression.

Explained the origins of the officially sanctioned trade in Canton; the factories; the fallback site in Portuguese Macao.

Chinese bureaucracy getting corrupted, with a few outstanding examples and then widespread problems.  Wasted lots of money putting down White Lotus rebellion (1790s or so).  This is not directly affecting Canton except the corruption issues spread in that direction as well.

A couple missionaries show up (Manning, Morrison); they are more aggressive about exploring China (one of them even went in via Tibet); this helps spark interest back in Britain.  Manning connected to Charles Lamb, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (always these small world stories in Brit-world),  First European to see Lhasa in a couple centuries.

China navy badly outdated, can't even control local pirates.  Brits well aware.

Useful discussion of the growth of the opium trade. It wasn't legitimate, not all firms participated. Author doesn't exonerate China - corrupt officials, users are making a decision as well - but overwhelming driver is Brit aggression as profits started rolling in. Jardine and Matheson as infamously venal, also constantly calling for British navy to attack - ugh.

It's interesting to see how much opposition to the opium trade was raised on the home front.  This was happening shortly after Britain outlawed slavery, and some of the successful antislavery folks turned to attacking the opium trade.

China wavering on policy; some argue to legalize and tax opium (similar discussions as today); the emperor finally decides on an aggressive crackdown (under Li's leadership).  Which is making some headway, surprisingly enough, perhaps would have worked pretty well.  But Li gets crossways with the Brits.  The government back home never seems to have much time to focus on China - this was a very minor backwater as far as Brit Empire matters went - but finally they decide to take action.  Parliamentary vote was very close, the Opium War (here focusing on the First Opium War, 1839-1842) almost didn't happen.

But once started - it took awhile, but outcome never in doubt.  China humiliated; Brits insist on a long list of concessions. This became a bigger issue once Chinese nationalism became more of a thing in the early 20th century - no doubt still used as a rallying cry. With some justification, it was not a pretty chapter.

Army of Empire - The Untold Story of the Indian Army in World War I (George Morton-Jack, 2018)

 (528 pages)

This was very much worth reading.  Not just for the role of the Indian Army in WWI (highly interesting for various reasons if not highly affecting the outcome), but for what it reveals about British policy of the times, the evolving Indian independence movement of the times, life in the villages from which the British drew recruits, etc.

Britain continuing to rely on Indians for military personnel in the prewar years . . . but aggressively maintaining "prestige" to keep them in their place.  Also a color barrier existed - Indians were not allowed to fight against white armies anywhere in the Commonwealth (what if they succeeded?!)  Let alone become officers with any form of authority over whites.  Selection by race, not merit.

Most of the recruits were drawn from select villages in northern India; many (Afridi, Pashtun) from loosely-organized territories outside British India (these areas functioning like buffer states between British India and places like Afghanistan).  The Afridi/Pashtun types were, and definitely considered themselves to be, independent of British India - and so behaved sometimes when serving in the Indian army.

Some British Army leaders foresaw the coming conflict, and prepared even the Indian army to assist.  Thus they were in position to land Indian troops at a critical juncture of 1914 - before the trenches were developed, just as France and Britain were running out of troops to stand up against German units still trying to break through in the initial drive to Paris.  The presence of those Indian troops - even if they didn't end up with lots of fighting - was essential in plugging the weak points.  Then the Western front settled into years of trench warfare.

Some of those troops were cavalry - and used in charges in a few instances - over time they figured out how to somewhat effectively support ground troops following "softening up" bombardments.

Indian troops were kept in Europe for years in many instances; it seems that they were well treated by the French citizenry in particular.  This was an eye-opener as compared to treatment by the Brits.

I don't want to sound too negative toward the Brits - I think the author does a pretty balanced job on this topic - many of the Brit officers were really good about how they treated their men.  But still.

I also thought the author did a good job exploring the mixed feeling of various of the Indians serving the British.  Genuine loyalty mixed with the primary driver - serving in the Army was a pretty good job for those recruited, and they were able to help the folks back home.  The Indian independence movement didn't have all that much traction as yet - folks like Gandhi were early in the process - and folks recruited from villages into the Indian army were mostly unaware of "independence" as a concept.

While some of the Indian troops - especially those with lesser preparation - were ineffective, the author points out that the Indian army - due to action in various skirmishes or engagements around the British empire - had greater experience than many or most of its European counterparts. They were not struggling "fish out of water" as the artillery boomed - they had seen versions of this, if smaller scale. 

Something I hadn't appreciated - Indian units fought all over the world during WWI. Heavy action in Iraq.  Chasing Germans around East Africa. Gallipolli.  Palestine (including encounters with "Lawrence of Arabia" - who had unfriendly encounters with their officers).  Minor forays into Afghanistan.

Indians transferred from the Western front often were unhappy about this - they enjoyed being in France.

Significant number of Muslim soldiers - this was a touchy subject as fighting occurred in Iraq (Ottoman emperor as caliph, after all).

Lots of change among those who served outside India - they came back with different views - but still tended to remain participants in the Indian army - resentful of some of the mistreatment, but the compensation remained attractive and they had been through a lot of shared experiences alongside their white officers.  Independence movement slow to gain traction among this group.

Amritsar massacre in 1919 - mostly Indian troops firing at the order of their white officers.  Led to repressive steps.

Folks like Gandhi had supported Indians fighting in WWI based on promises that this cooperation would hasten independence after the war ended.  Disillusionment, the transition to a more confrontational (though nonviolent for Gandhi and his group) style.