What We Are Reading Today: The South China Sea

What We Are Reading Today: The South China Sea
Short Url
Updated 06 February 2023

What We Are Reading Today: The South China Sea

What We Are Reading Today: The South China Sea

Author: Bill Hayton

The book explains why the world can’t afford to be indifferent to the simmering conflict in the South China Sea.

China’s rise has upset the global balance of power, and the first place to feel the strain is Beijing’s back yard: the South China Sea. 

For decades tensions have smoldered in the region, but today the threat of a direct confrontation among superpowers grows ever more likely. This important book is the first to make clear sense of the South Sea disputes. 

Bill Hayton, a journalist with extensive experience in the region, examines the high stakes involved for rival nations that include Vietnam, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, as well as the US, Russia, and others. 

Hayton also lays out the daunting obstacles that stand in the way of peaceful resolution, according to a review on goodreads.com.

The book offers stories of individuals who have shaped current conflicts. 

Hayton makes understandable the complex history and contemporary reality of the South China Sea.

He underscores its crucial importance as the passageway for half the world’s merchant shipping and one-third of its oil and gas.

Whoever controls these waters controls the access between Europe, the middle east, South Asia, and the pacific.


What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

Photo/Supplied
Photo/Supplied
Updated 28 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

Photo/Supplied

Author: Vaudine England

This is a fascinating and exhaustive look at how one of the most famous cities in the world as created and how it shaped the fortunes of nations. without hong Kong history would have been very different.
A British crown colony for 155 years, Hong Kong is now ruled by the Chinese Communist party. Renowned journalist Vaudine England delves into Hong Kong’s complex history and its people—diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan—who have made this one-time fishing village into the world port city it is today.
Rather than a traditional his- tory describing a town led by British governors or a mere offshoot of a collapsing Chinese empire, fortune’s bazaar is the first thorough examination of the varied peoples who made hong Kong.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny
Updated 26 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

This is a story of adventure, pushing boundaries, disregarding gender norms, and setting historical precedents.

“Brave The Wild River” is the story of two women — Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter — who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon.

The botanists’ story is exciting, interesting, and informative. It is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.

Meticulously researched and written like an adventure novel with page-turning prose, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny’s work deftly weaves the women’s stories and discoveries that influenced botany for decades. Unlike those old-time newspaper reporters, Sevigny does not look at her subjects and see women out of place.

Clover and Jotter and their 1930s achievements remain relevant and their example does not fade with time, Sevigny insists.

Sevigny has worked as a science communicator in the fields of planetary science, western water policy, and sustainable agriculture.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer
Updated 25 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

Lions are the only social cat. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together against neighbors and strangers. Lions also rest atop their ecological pyramid, with profound impacts on competitors and prey alike, but their future is far from assured. Craig Packer interweaves his discoveries from more than 40 years of research—including a substantial body of new findings—to provide an unforgettable portrait of the African lion.


What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe
Updated 24 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

Author: Jens H. Petersen  

In this beautifully illustrated introductory guide, Jens Petersen shows how to successfully identify and forage for edible mushrooms, and then how to prepare them for the table to ensure a delicious culinary experience, even if you’re a first-time forager.

Accessible and user-friendly, the book opens with a substantial introduction to fungi—what to look for, where to find them and how to collect and cook them.


What We Are Reading Today: The Power of Hope

What We Are Reading Today: The Power of Hope
Updated 23 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: The Power of Hope

What We Are Reading Today: The Power of Hope

Author: Carol Graham 

In a society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why should economists care about how people feel? The truth is that feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future life outcomes.

In this timely and innovative account, economist Carol Graham argues for the importance of hope—little studied in economics at present—as an independent dimension of well-being.