In Dark Places, Robinson - B

                                               This is the most recent book in the DCI Alan Banks series that I first mentioned here two years ago.  In this one, an EU wide theft system (mostly expensive farm equipment and autos that can be put on a truck and disappeared onto the continent) is at the center of the story. The murder of an underling is the starting point. As discussed previously, it is Banks' skill and charm as well as his supporting cast-Annie Cabot and Winsome Jackman -that makes this series fun. Almost all crime novels set in England and Scandinavia (apparently the only European ones I read) written in the last decade or so deal with criminal transgressions that spread far and wide because of the open borders in the EU. I don't know if that has transformed crime and police work, but it certainly has changed novel writing.

Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution, Ackroyd - B

                                               He was thirty-seven in 1603 when, as James VI of Scotland, he entered London and became James I of England. He was met with the beginnings of puritanism and he had little familiarity with the accepted limitations on totalitarian monarchy in his new kingdom.  His profligate ways led to inevitable and ongoing conflict with the Commons, which refused almost all funding requests from a monarch, who believed in the 'divine right' of kings.  Their clashes continued throughout his reign over taxes, foreign policy, negotiations for Prince Charles' marriage, religion - in essence - everything.  In 1621, he dissolved a parliament, arrested some of its leaders and announced he would not govern according to the common will. The battle lines were being drawn between a parliament that had been accreting powers for centuries and a monarch with little understanding of English history,  and who believed he was answerable only to God.  Unlike his mother (Mary Queen of Scots) or his son, he died in bed, in 1625. His reign was praised for a long peace and the King James Bible. He was eulogized with faint praise. He was missed by virtually no one.
                                              Charles I opened his reign with a marriage to a French princess, thus assuring the country of a return to anxiety about Roman Catholicism and it's possible return. Over half a century would pass before civil war, regicide, restoration and revolution would resolve the matter.  Charles I was bound and determined to rule absolutely and he continued in his father's footsteps, battling  with parliament. He dissolved one in 1629; it would be 11 years before he called  another.  He assented to an imposition of the English Book of Common Prayer in Scotland in 1639 and had to back down when the Scots raised an army of 12,000.  He called a parliament and demanded funding; it was  refused.  He dissolved it after three weeks.  Months later, with the Scots again marching, he called what became known as the 'Long Parliament.' Talk of civil war became common.  The Commons impeached and arrested the bishops in the House of Lords.  The King sought to arrest the leaders in the Commons.  Skirmishing broke out. "The partisans on both sides had provoked the conflict, and it was they who would end it." August 22, 1642 is the generally accepted date for the beginning of the English Civil War.
                                          Parliament was better funded and had a larger army. One of their earlier victories was at Marston Moor, where Oliver Cromwell achieved fame as a commander.  He established a national standing army without any aristocratic leaders and dressed them in 'redcoats'. Charles was captured in February, 1647. Negotiations between the puritan New Model Army, the King and a moderate parliament broke down. Charles could have kept his crown had he been willing to compromise. Over the course of the next two years positions hardened.  Cromwell and the obdurate revolutionaries began to suggest that the King should die. They had a brief trial and beheaded Charles I on January 30, 1649. "In truth the trial and death of the king were contrived by a small, if committed, minority who in no way represented the wishes of the nation."
                                            The 'Rump Parliament' abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords.  There was no template for governing under these new circumstances. "Could a representative parliament ever coexist with what was essentially a military dictatorship?" Parliament offered Cromwell the crown; he sensibly declined.  In 1657, he accepted the title of Chief Protector,  " a restored monarchy in all but name".  A year  later, the uncertain reins of government passed upon his death to his son, Richard.  Unsure of how to resolve the ongoing differences between the army and parliament, Richard resigned and fled to the continent.  The army authorized what became known as the Convention Parliament, which included both a Commons and a Lords.  Negotiations with Charles Stuart led to his return and restoration as Charles II.
                                           The reign of the third Stuart was known for "profligacy and sexual license." "The king did not have the patience or the intellect to formulate clear lines of policy or enunciate the ideas that might sustain them."  Religious divisions between the Anglicans and the various dissenter sects continued unabated. Though the affairs of state were desultory, commerce, culture and science made marked steps forward in the later third of the century. Newton, Halley, Wren and the Royal Society took the lead in exploring new avenues of thought. 'The origins of the industrial and agricultural revolutions, conventionally located in the eighteenth century, are to be found in the previous age." By 1685, England had the largest merchant fleet in the world. Trade with the colonies, the continent and the Orient increased and brought immense wealth to the country.  Yet, religion and the succession remained the most compelling issue of the decade. Charles II had many illegitimate children, but it was his brother, James Duke of York who was the rightful heir. Unfortunately, he was Catholic. When Charles II died in 1685, James II succeeded him.  He maneuvered to strengthen the position of Catholics in the country and was blessed with a son and heir in June of 1688.  His daughter Mary, a Protestant, was married to William, Duke of Orange, the man who had fought against Louis XIV.  A Protestant hero was waiting on the continent.  He was invited to invade. An easterly 'Protestant wind' took him across the channel in November.  The 'Glorious Revolution' put an end to what Henry VIII had started a century -and-a -half  ago - England was and would now always be Protestant. More importantly, Parliament reigned supreme.

Murder At The Margin, Jevons - B

                                               This 1978 novel is the first in the Henry Spearman series, the most recent of which was commented on here in April.  The authors and the main character are economists, and these books are occasionally assigned in conjunction with traditional source materials in econ courses.  Spearman is on vacation in the US Virgin Islands at a fabulous beach-side hotel where there are three fatalities. First, a noted curmudgeon is poisoned,  then, a bigoted loudmouth goes snorkeling and never returns, and finally, a recently retired US Supreme Court Justice falls of a perilous cliff.  The backstory is one of racial tension and violence in the Islands.  The arrest of two local 'agitators' does little to sway Spearman's analytical assessment of the murders. His application of his theories to the affair lacks some of the verve of the fourth book I read in April, but is adequate enough.

Falling In Love, Leon - B +

                                                This is the 24th in the series, the 3rd since this blog began and thankfully, Donna Leon continues at a superb level. An opera singer at La Fenice in Venice becomes more and more wary of endless roses, dozens upon dozens, showing up at her dressing room. It slowly becomes evident that a deeply disturbed person is stalking her, and eventually, hurting those around her. Guido and the team sort things out in another great book. There is a tremendous amount of background information on opera and, as always, wonderful drawings of Venice, her people and spaces.

Rust: The Longest War, Waldman - C

                                               The ubiquitousness and destructiveness of rust is the theme here.  "Rust is costlier than all other natural disasters combined,  amounting to 3 percent of GDP, or $437 billion annually."  This book is a series of rust vignettes and starts with the Statue of Liberty. Almost a  hundred years after installation, engineers discovered that a third of the iron rivets holding the copper skin to the iron skeleton had popped out and half of the frame had corroded. A massive, multimillion dollar renovation, heralded by Ronald Reagan as a highlight of his presidency, followed.  A National Corrosion Restoration Site plaque now honors the effort.  Most of the Statue's problems stemmed from the fact that it was made of iron, not steel, which came along later in the 19th century or stainless steel, the 20th century's major contribution to the war against rust.  The fight against corrosion in cans has lead to the widespread use of BPA (a resin likely not great for humans) in aluminum cans.  The author points out that it would be hard to imagine life without cans. But at the same time, since Rachel Carson published 'Silent Spring' in 1962, the percentage of Americans touched by cancer has doubled.  As the author romps through the world of rust, one of the things we learn is that the Dept. of Defense has a Director of the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight. NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers ) calculated that corrosion costs the Pentagon $20 billion annually. The Office is so successful that the GAO calculates that its preventative programs have an investment return (savings) of 50:1. The battle against corrosion is ongoing, an integral part of the oil and gas industry and an important aspect of many industries. At the end of the day though, rust and corrosion are about as boring as it gets. I'm not sure anyone could make it an interesting a read.

The Valley, Renehan - B +

                                             This is a fabulous novel set in Afghanistan. Lt.  Black is assigned to an admin function at a vast forward operating base ( F.O.B. Omaha) where he lives a very easy life and has just submitted his resignation papers.  His colonel assigns him a 15-6, which is an  investigation of a civilian complaint involving a dead goat.  The problem is that the task must be performed on-site and the site is very, very deep in the shit. It's a literal Ft. Apache in the wilderness near the Pakistani border.  Everyone knows that Black has been handed a thankless, likely wasteful, task. Matters go quickly downhill when he gets to COP Vega ( the platoon size post in the Valley) where no one wants  to waste time on the shooting of a goat. The local lieutenant is not there, the sergeant in charge is completely indifferent and hostile, and the primary response to his inquiries is - "fuck-off Lieutenant." Men fighting for their life on daily basis couldn't  care less about a 15-6.  Black's attempt to investigate the complaint goes awry and the astute lieutenant figures out that there are many other  things wrong in the Valley.  He concludes that the Yanks are involved in the heroin/poppy protection racket and that men who are supposed to be on the roster really aren't there.   Black is shot in the bang-up last section of  this book, which has been compared to 'Heart of Darkness' and 'Apocalypse Now'.  I thought of my favorite line in 'Apocalypse'  ( "Who's in charge here, soldier? Aren't you?") when all hell breaks lose in the Valley. The Army and all its disconnected hopelessness in combat is set forth brilliantly here. This book is recommended.

Ghettoside: A True Story Of Murder In America, Leovvy - B -

                                               This book is about black-on-black homicide and features a 2007 murder in South Central LA, its investigation and its prosecution.  The thesis of the book is that black-on-black violence is of minimal  consequence to our society, and that that indifference leads to lawless ghettos filled with  endless violence. In essence, "gangs are a consequence of lawlessness, not a cause." The story is told through the eyes of two LA detectives, one black and one white. The white detective is John Skaggs, a sincere man who abhorred the concept of 'another black death that no one cared about' and who achieved the highest clearance rate in the 77th district.  Wally Tennelle, the black man, was a very successful detective and father who chose to stay in the neighborhood he grew up  - the 77th Police district, south of the Ten.  In the 77th, the murder rate was six times higher than the rest of the city.  Black gang members died almost every day. Tennelle's son, Bryant, was gunned down for no reason other than he was in the proverbial wrong place at the wrong time - maybe it was the Astros hat he was wearing. After a few months of no results,  the case was assigned to Skaggs.  Skaggs found the shooter and a 22 year-old prostitute who turned into the perfect witness.  Generally, 40% of cases failed because of the lack of a willing witness.  He soon had the 17-year-old killer in the interview room, and at the end of the day, called Wally Tennelle to tell him that arrests would be forthcoming. Additionally, a slightly older gang-banger who provided the gun and instructions to the 17-year-old was also indicted. Two years later, both defendants were convicted and sentenced to life without parole.  Wally Tennelle watched the entire trial, most days in tears.
                                                The author makes her point about lawlessness and society's apparent indifference to black death in the ghetto. She makes it by pouring out detailed information about innumerable murders. This leads to a  problem with  the coherence of the story. Those other murders do not relate directly to the Bryant Tennelle case. A chapter about the case is followed by one completely unrelated.  Leovvy does end with some positive information. In California, over a third of the black men released from prison collect social security disability payments. "Money translates to autonomy. It helps break apart homicidal enclaves by reducing interdependence and lowering the stakes of conflicts." One would hope there is some way to end the urban nightmare told here.