The books and reading thread

[Farang]

sandman67

You, Sir, are an Officer and a Gentleman and a Generous Donator!

Thank you very much for the books.

[dtaai-maai]

Seconded. I'll have a think and be in touch.

[migrant]

Thanks Sandman!

Off topic but what are (the collective) you e-readers doing with your hard cover and paperbacks?
I have shelves of them and know a good deed would be to take to the library, but it's ....... difficult to give them away.

I've read 2 non e-books since my first reader 3 years ago, and those were only because I couldn't find them in e-version, but I still hate to get rid of them.

[sandman67]

I know that there are some fans of the great T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) on here and so have great pleasure in alerting them to a new biography of him and the period of history he helped form: LAWRENCE IN ARABIA

The Arab Revolt against the Turks in World War One was, in the words of T.E. Lawrence, “a sideshow of a sideshow.” Amidst the slaughter in European trenches, the Western combatants paid scant attention to the Middle Eastern theater. As a result, the conflict was shaped to a remarkable degree by a small handful of adventurers and low-level officers far removed from the corridors of power.

Curt Prüfer was an effete academic attached to the German embassy in Cairo, whose clandestine role was to foment Islamic jihad against British rule. Aaron Aaronsohn was a renowned agronomist and committed Zionist who gained the trust of the Ottoman governor of Syria. William Yale was the fallen scion of the American aristocracy, who traveled the Ottoman Empire on behalf of Standard Oil, dissembling to the Turks in order gain valuable oil concessions. At the center of it all was Lawrence. In early 1914 he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in the sands of Syria; by 1917 he was the most romantic figure of World War One, battling both the enemy and his own government to bring about the vision he had for the Arab people.

The intertwined paths of these four men – the schemes they put in place, the battles they fought, the betrayals they endured and committed – mirror the grandeur, intrigue and tragedy of the war in the desert. Prüfer became Germany’s grand spymaster in the Middle East. Aaronsohn constructed an elaborate Jewish spy-ring in Palestine, only to have the anti-Semitic and bureaucratically-inept British first ignore and then misuse his organization, at tragic personal cost. Yale would become the only American intelligence agent in the entire Middle East – while still secretly on the payroll of Standard Oil. And the enigmatic Lawrence rode into legend at the head of an Arab army, even as he waged secret war against his own nation’s imperial ambitions.

Based on years of intensive primary document research, LAWRENCE IN ARABIA definitively overturns received wisdom on how the modern Middle East was formed. Sweeping in its action, keen in its portraiture, acid in its condemnation of the destruction wrought by European colonial plots, this is a book that brilliantly captures the way in which the folly of the past creates the anguish of the present.

Here is an interview with the author



Interested?

http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/66184290/file.html

From Mobilism

[migrant]

Looking for a kindle copy, or a format I can convert, of W Somerset Maugham's "Gentlemen in the parlour: A record of a journey from Rangoon to Haiphong"

He finished it in the Oriental in BKK and I may treat us to a couple nights there, would be good to read in the artists wing

Thanks!

[lomuamart]

Have a look at Pirate Bay (they've got some SM there) or Kickasstorrents (can't get that to open at present).

[Chromeman]

The only possibility on Pirate Bay might be a collection of 65 short stories. No listing of the content of the RAR file, and this book is not exactly a short story, so probably not in this collection.

Could not find any of his books on Kickasstorrents.

Alternatively, if you are not completely against paying for it, Amazon has it available at $14,99.

[kendo]

I know that there are some fans of the great T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) on here and so have great pleasure in alerting them to a new biography of him and the period of history he helped form: LAWRENCE IN ARABIA

The Arab Revolt against the Turks in World War One was, in the words of T.E. Lawrence, “a sideshow of a sideshow.” Amidst the slaughter in European trenches, the Western combatants paid scant attention to the Middle Eastern theater. As a result, the conflict was shaped to a remarkable degree by a small handful of adventurers and low-level officers far removed from the corridors of power.

Curt Prüfer was an effete academic attached to the German embassy in Cairo, whose clandestine role was to foment Islamic jihad against British rule. Aaron Aaronsohn was a renowned agronomist and committed Zionist who gained the trust of the Ottoman governor of Syria. William Yale was the fallen scion of the American aristocracy, who traveled the Ottoman Empire on behalf of Standard Oil, dissembling to the Turks in order gain valuable oil concessions. At the center of it all was Lawrence. In early 1914 he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in the sands of Syria; by 1917 he was the most romantic figure of World War One, battling both the enemy and his own government to bring about the vision he had for the Arab people.

The intertwined paths of these four men – the schemes they put in place, the battles they fought, the betrayals they endured and committed – mirror the grandeur, intrigue and tragedy of the war in the desert. Prüfer became Germany’s grand spymaster in the Middle East. Aaronsohn constructed an elaborate Jewish spy-ring in Palestine, only to have the anti-Semitic and bureaucratically-inept British first ignore and then misuse his organization, at tragic personal cost. Yale would become the only American intelligence agent in the entire Middle East – while still secretly on the payroll of Standard Oil. And the enigmatic Lawrence rode into legend at the head of an Arab army, even as he waged secret war against his own nation’s imperial ambitions.

Based on years of intensive primary document research, LAWRENCE IN ARABIA definitively overturns received wisdom on how the modern Middle East was formed. Sweeping in its action, keen in its portraiture, acid in its condemnation of the destruction wrought by European colonial plots, this is a book that brilliantly captures the way in which the folly of the past creates the anguish of the present.

Here is an interview with the author



Interested?

http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/66184290/file.html

From Mobilism

TE Lawrence used to live around the corner from me there's a plaque on the wall of a lovely old cottage.
He was posted to RAF Hythe Power Boat Company in 1931 and stayed here for about two years the Ship Yard Estate where I live is on and next to that original RAF site.

Kendo.

[migrant]

Thanks guys for the look!

I looked on Amazon but didn't see it, I'll look again

Thanks!!!

[Chromeman]

The Amazon link to the book is

http://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Parlour ... 8&sr=&qid=

[migrant]

The Amazon link to the book is

http://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Parlour ... 8&sr=&qid=

Thanks

[STEVE G]

....W Somerset Maugham's "Gentlemen in the parlour: A record of a journey from Rangoon to Haiphong

Thank you for the idea, that looks an interesting read and I'm going to download in from Amazon later. Incidentally, for anyone interested in earlier travel books about SE Asia, there are many available for free on sites such as Gutenberg.

[Chromeman]

Incidentally, for anyone interested in earlier travel books about SE Asia, there are many available for free on sites such as Gutenberg.

And here you find the travel books on Gutenberg. Unfortunately, no one from Siam / Thailand.

[STEVE G]

Try archive.org, I've read a load of them from free sites as they're older books out of copyright.

[Chromeman]

Try archive.org, I've read a load of them from free sites as they're older books out of copyright.

A search for Siam and type text gave 673 hits...
Narrowing down to keywords "Thailand -- Description and travel" gives 12 hits. Should be something for everyone here!