Friday, November 9, 2012

Question on a book

We are reorganizing which means moving and reshelving and I'm trying to get rid of books I don't need. Honest question: as an open-minded guy interested in economic history do I need Amity Shlaes's history of the depression on my shelf or is it not worth the inch and a half?

5 comments:

  1. Man, I'd never be able to get rid of books. I used to have a full bookshelf of WWII books, and even when I stopped reading WWII history books it took 1-2 years for me to finally give away my ~87 books. I probably get it from my grandfather; he has ~3,500 WWII books in storage units (now, +87 thanks to me).

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  2. I haven't read it, so I can't comment. But being a historian and an economist are different things. Economists trained to be economic historians have overlaps, but they aren't quite the same thing. So perhaps Amity Shales's book isn't worth "the inch and a half", as you put it.

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  3. I keep those extras behind the books on the shelf (I have extra room between book and wall). Never know if someone will try to argue a point about something by someone, and while sitting at my desk, I want to be able to quickly grab it without breaking much focus. Not helpful to you, but providing a point of view.

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  4. I'd say sell it on Ebay; maybe Paul Ryan will buy it. Unless, of course, you need a good example of the abuse of history for political gain.

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