Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“The talks had completed a circle to nowhere.”

Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor by Steven Kemper

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Steven Kemper’s Our Man in Tokyo tells the story of Joseph Grew, the United States’ Ambassador to Japan in the decade leading up to World War II. Ultimately, of course, the story has to be a tragedy. Despite Grew’s tireless efforts to build meaningful relationships and develop creative solutions, he could not keep the United States and Japan from war. Nor could the many other well-intentioned people in both nations. Grew’s story is an engaging and encouraging one, despite the ultimate result. The ambassador – […]

Army Chief of Staff Reading List #14

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George Friedman is a geopolitical forecaster with degrees in political science and government.  He worked for think tanks before founding Stratfor, an intelligence platform known for being open-sourced and available to the public, for a fee of course.  Friedman earned renown for predicting a handful of major global events.  The New York Times Magazine wrote in 2003 of Friedman and Stratfor “He predicted that the surging Asian economy would collapse by the end of 1997, while the American economy would reach unprecedented heights.” (NYTmag).  I feel […]

Army Chief of Staff Reading List #5

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Here’s another one from the Chief of Staff reading list.  As always, I read it now because it became available.  There’s a lesson here too.  If you put a hold on a dozen or so books at once, several will probably become available at the same time.  Then you have to listen or read fast.  I’m usually a 1.5x guy but I’ve listened to the last few at 2.0x.  It’s great while working out but it can be awkward when you’re doing dishes.  Lesson learned. […]



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