Book Bites: 27 August 2017
Published in the Sunday Times
The Age of Genius: The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind
AC Grayling, Bloomsbury
Book buff
****
The book of the year for history buffs and closet philosophers. The question at the centre is: how did the events of the 17th century radically alter the way people thought about the world and their place in it? Grayling offers a detailed yet riveting account of the history of ideas; how ideologies transformed despite – or because of – the tumultuous events of the 1600s. The 17th century is known for its battles between Catholics and Protestants, and Catholicism and science. But it was also a triumphant time that gave rise to, among many other things, the postal service. – Anna Stroud @annawriter_
A Fast Ride out of Here: Confessions Of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man
Pete Way, Constable
Book real
***
Pete Way is a colourful character who played bass for ’70s rockers UFO and a number of other bands. In his day he was capable of – as detailed throughout this book’s 250 or so pages – ingesting enough drugs and alcohol to make even Keith Richards arch a concerned eyebrow. It’s a direct, old-fashioned sex and drugs and rock ’n roll tell-all. It entertains and frustrates in equal measure – Way’s lackadaisical “that’s just how I was” attitude to his excesses and the pain he caused often comes across as selfishness rather than as a request for the leeway sometimes required by an artistic nature. – Bruce Dennill @BroosDennill
Book details
- The Age of Genius: The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind by AC Grayling
EAN: 9781408870020
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- A Fast Ride out of Here: Confessions Of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man by Pete Way
EAN: 9781472124319
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Oct
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