El Generalisimo (Giles Tremlett)

Giles Tremlett’s El Generalísimo is a well-researched biography of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, explaining his rise from an unremarkable military officer to one of Europe’s longest ruling dictators.

Franco was an enigma to some degree - fascist by many definitions, at minimum a nationalist dictator that fused a strong religious dogma within state convention. Spain struggled to recover from its Civil War in the 1930’s, mostly because of Franco’s policies, until a monetary bailout plus increasing affluence in Europe helped drive tourism and exports, almost both by accident. In the wake of Franco’s death in 1975, the Spanish monarchy was restored and Juan Carlos I quickly brought about changes to ensure representative government and modernization within Spain. Tremlett covers not only Franco’s life but the aftermath of his rule with effective, balanced coverage.

Tremlett explains complex military and political developments in Spain in the early 20th Century  to help readers understand why the political environment was such that someone like Franco was able to take control of Spain’s government. One of the book’s greatest strengths is Tremlett’s argument that Franco’s rise to power and enduring control of the Spanish government came less from his personal charisma or fervent ideology and more from patience, discipline, and an ability to outlast rivals. This interpretation challenges the idea that Franco’s rise was inevitable, emphasizing how chance events, especially the Spanish Civil War and specific events within the war itself, played a decisive role in ensuring Franco took over as Caudillo of Spain.

Overall, El Generalísimo is an engaging and insightful biography that offers a nuanced understanding of Franco and the conditions that enabled his rise, making it valuable for both students and general readers interested in Spanish history.

MY RATING: 4.5

The Winner's Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now (Richard H. Thaler and Alex O. Imas)

Richard H. Thaler and Alex O. Imas team up to update the economics book The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now. This book offers an engaging exploration of how real people actually make economic decisions rather than how textbooks assume they should. The book is a collection of essays and reflections that trace the rise of behavioral economics and its challenge to traditional rational models. The central idea of The Winner’s Curse shows how competitive environments can lead individuals to overpay or overcommit because of flawed judgment, optimism, and social pressure. In other words, keeping up with the Jones’s can be a helluva drag on the wallet.

The Winner’s Curse is not the lightest of reads that you can breeze through in a weekend unless you have a background in psychology, sociology, or economics. However, the authors do an effective job of making the book relatable. Concepts such as mental accounting, loss aversion, and fairness get explained through stories drawn from decades of research within the field of behavioral economics and the author’s own anecdotal everyday stories.

Another strength of the book is its narrative about the development of behavioral economics. Thaler reflects on the early skepticism he faced from mainstream economists, while Imas contributes a contemporary experimental perspective in nearly every chapter through an “Update” essay. Together, they show how behavioral ideas moved from the margins into more mainstream public policy, finance, and business strategy. 

Overall, The Winner’s Curse is thoughtful, persuasive, and informative. Those with an interest in human behavior and economics will enjoy the updated version of this book.

MY RATING: 4.5

The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind (Simon Winchester)

Simon Winchester’s The Breath of the Gods is a study of wind and humanity’s long effort to measure and understand it. Rather than focusing on a single dramatic event, the book traces several key facets of the interaction of wind in everyday life, often positive but sometimes disastrous.

The Breath of the Gods is a book that blends scientific research and man’s quest for innovation over time while dealing with a subject all of us face. Winchester probes the study of measuring wind, how wind matters in war and in peace, as well as how nature and man have fought a long battle that often centered around harnessing and controlling wind. When Winchester focuses on storytelling, the book shines. At moments, however, the author strays off from simply telling the story to interjecting his belief systems. These moments, which have become far too common in nonfiction writing in the 21st Century, can detract from a well-written book and turn it into a piece better suited for The New Yorker or National Review, depending on the expressed opinion. It’s an unfortunate trend that arguably needs to calm down a bit in today’s writing.

I wish I could have loved this book and for a while, I was sailing through and enjoying it. However, those occasional gusts of commentary blow the book slightly off course and detract from what could have been a much more enjoyable breeze of a read. That said, the story of wind and our quest to harness and understand it is arguably worth reading about.

MY RATING: 3.5