I’ve noticed that when I have a specific question, as I did with Napoleon, this focuses my mind as nothing else can. Thus, when I began to wonder about Russia, and how anyone could conquer and hold so big an area before the age of railroads and mass communication—much less the digital age—this drove me through Geoffrey Hosking’s Russia and the Russians: A History.
It was fun to discover the answer and, since I had to return the book to the library before finishing it, I look forward to learning the whole story someday. Before I had to quit reading it, I found the track to another compelling question: How was the Chernobyl disaster ever allowed to occur? I gleaned hints from reading about the Stalin years.
This has all added up to an exciting quest to learn about events that have shaped our world.
A Case of Brilliance 