General

[Deuce]

Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell.

[dextrous]

By Jared Diamond.

Excellent book on socioeconomic development, colonization and the factors that lead to national dominance.

From wikipedia:
Author argues that Eurasian civilization is not so much a product of ingenuity, but of opportunity and necessity. That is, civilization is not created out of superior intelligence, but is the result of a chain of developments, each made possible by certain preconditions.

In our earliest societies, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. The first step towards civilization is the move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture, with the domestication and farming of wild crops and animals. Agricultural production leads to food surpluses, which supports sedentary societies, specialization of craft, rapid population growth, and specialization of labor. Large societies tend to develop ruling classes and supporting bureaucracies, which may lead in turn to the organization of nation states and empires

Very good read imho

[usagi_tetsu]

Just got from the local library Kevin Mitnick's Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. I don't know what it is, but I love reading hacker biographies. So far it's interesting, but I'm only 2 chapters into the thing. Will let you know more the deeper I get.

[coyote]

Sailor From Oklahoma by Floyd Beaver

A look at the war (and pre war) WW2 navy through the eyes of an enlisted man.

[coyote]

Originally Posted by dextrous

By Jared Diamond.

Excellent book on socioeconomic development, colonization and the factors that lead to national dominance.

From wikipedia:
Author argues that Eurasian civilization is not so much a product of ingenuity, but of opportunity and necessity. That is, civilization is not created out of superior intelligence, but is the result of a chain of developments, each made possible by certain preconditions.

In our earliest societies, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. The first step towards civilization is the move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture, with the domestication and farming of wild crops and animals. Agricultural production leads to food surpluses, which supports sedentary societies, specialization of craft, rapid population growth, and specialization of labor. Large societies tend to develop ruling classes and supporting bureaucracies, which may lead in turn to the organization of nation states and empires

Very good read imho

This was also made into an excellent documentry that is available to stream on netflix.

[HP_Lovecraft]

Originally Posted by usagi_tetsu

Just got from the local library Kevin Mitnick's Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker.

Sounds pretty good. I read "Takedown" 15 years ago, which covered the same events. But Kevin has said that "Takedown" is very inaccurate since the author never interview Kevin himself for any information.

[usagi_tetsu]

I'm about a third the way through it, and it is interesting. It is amazing how much security he broke through just to see what he could see - no thoughts of monetary gains or stealing money from people, he did it because he wanted to see how things work and what he could get away with.