Jezza

A positive angle on what activists can do about finance, 8 Oct 2013

This is an important and interesting book that covers a lot of ground in a succint and clear way. It explains a lot about how the world of finance works and suggests some ways in which activists can take it on. If you know nothing about finance and financial markets you should definitely read it.

If you are looking for a rant about the inquities of global finance then look elsewhere. Scott has set out to do something different in this book. As well as an account of how finance works (rather than a critique of how it doesn't), it is also an exploration of the possibilities to act on the financial system - both through disruption and also through the creation of positive… Read more

Overlong, mediocre, reactionary, 2 Oct 2013

This was recommended by someone that I trust, but I really didn't like it. It is overlong and the writing is not that good. Fitzroy seems to have been an interesting character who was badly treated and under-appreciated, but this book makes him about to be something like a saint. His hunches are always right, he is always on the right side of every argument, and his thoughts are almost always honourable. His main character flaw - his terrible temper and his bipolar disorder - is presented as something entirely external to him. I don't want to diminish the illness, but the way it is described means that it is nothing to do with Fitzroy's self. The book is also entirely sympathetic to… Read more

Lyrical evocation of a dismal world, 10 Sep 2013

This is a good, enjoyable, well-written collection of vignettes - they're not quite stories, but little portraits of times and incidents. Litvinoff has a wonderful eye for telling detail (especially textures and smells) and writes beautiful about a world that is anything but beautiful. Those who view the past through rose-coloured spectacles will find little to please them here, but for everyone else it's a treasure.

In passing I can't help noting the overlaps between the situations he describes and the history of my own family, including the father (in my case my mother's grandfather) deported to Russia to fight in its army in WW1, the poverty, the overcrowding, the low-waged… Read more