Author Archives: Peter Sahui

Book log: March/early April 2013

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Peter Sahui

From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals who Remade Asia, by Pankaj Mishra. One of those books I found fascinating as a glimpse into a different world, and worldview, despite my real disagreements with the author. Here is a useful … Continue reading →

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A thought on Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Peter Sahui

Six months after I read this book, there are two things that stick in my mind. One is the discussion of a soldier’s priorities – note the importance placed upon the ordinary needs of life:   In trench warfare five … Continue reading →

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My 2012 holiday reading

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Peter Sahui

Early Modern Europe: An Oxford History. I spent ages searching for a book of this sort – a clear, concise, holistic overview of the subject. The book is divided into three parts, each broadly dedicated to a specific century – … Continue reading →

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Queenstown, New Zealand notes

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Peter Sahui

Every aspect of Queenstown, a resort town on the South Island of New Zealand, is dominated by tourism. (This is not a bad thing, merely an observation.) This is obvious when it comes to the local economy: at a conservative … Continue reading →

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A TED talk worth watching: are droids taking our jobs?

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Peter Sahui

After I watched this TED talk, there was no way I could not post it to a site named “The Optimist”. Enjoy!  

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RIP John Keegan

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Peter Sahui

Military historian Sir John Keegan has died, age 78. Keegan’s books have been part of my life for a very long time. When I was a kid, I devoured A History of Warfare; when I was in university, some of … Continue reading →

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The data gathered from ebooks

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Peter Sahui

The Wall Street Journal reports on the insights ebook vendors and publishers can glean from data (h/t Seth Godin):   Barnes & Noble, which accounts for 25% to 30% of the e-book market through its Nook e-reader, has recently started … Continue reading →

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The price of extractive institutions

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Peter Sahui

John Kay writes (behind a paywall at the Financial Times, but also reprinted on his website):   … The real damage imposed by men such as Mr Mubarak is not the money they might have stolen. The tragedy is that … Continue reading →

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Social media before the Internet

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Peter Sahui

Some interesting trivia from Knowledge@Wharton:   In The Victorian Internet, author Tom Standage recounts the tale — apparently gleaned from the 1849 publication Anecdotes of the Telegraph — of a marriage ceremony conducted over the telegraph. With the bride in … Continue reading →

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Smart ammunition?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Peter Sahui

The Economist‘s Clausewitz blog reports on a prototype bullet under development in the US:   MILITARY snipers are competitive types. There is an ongoing and grisly contest between them to see who can kill an enemy soldier from the farthest … Continue reading →

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