Information Networks and How They Work: History

 Nonficton 

Published Sept. 10, 2024; Signal

 

NEXUS: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI - how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. "Taking us from the Stone Age through the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. 

He explores how different societies and political systems have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence." (publisher)

I'm finding this a fascinating historical account of how societies and  people within societies form groups through networking information that bind them through common beliefs or sympathies, real or unreal, truth or fiction. This is particularly true in the political climate when disseminated information, fabricated or real, true or false, creates groups with similar beliefs. 

It's slow going reading as the topics are weighty, but I am enjoying the book inbetween my fiction reads.  I think everyone would benefit from this history of info networking and how it has and continues to work.

Fiction

Publication: March 4, 2025; Severn House, NetGalley

Description: Puri travels to London to receive the Detective of the Year Award, but he is tasked to hunt down a billionaire fraudster known as Bombay Duck, who is hiding in the English capital. Problem is, Puri is sworn to secrecy but his meddling mother and his wife have traveled with him on this trip.

On a lighter side, I'm reading a new mystery with humorous Indian detective, Vish Puri of New Delhi. The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck is the sixth book in a series by Tarquin Hall; I've reviewed four of them on Goodreads.

Tarquin Hall is a British author and journalist who has lived throughout South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. His wife is Indian-born journalist, Anu Anand. They have a young son and divide their time between London and Delhi.

Also reading

A reader suggested another book that could fit last week's House Swap title and theme. 

Published January 1, 1957; Little, Brown and Company

The Scapegoat by Daphne DuMaurier has its own distinctive name, but the story could fit in to the house swap theme.

John of London meets by chance his exact look alike, Jean of France.  When Jean realizes John speaks fluent French and could easily replace him, Jean disappears with John's clothes and identity papers, leaving John with the wrong papers and clothes. He has no choice but to take his place in France. 

It sounds mixed up, but one man without family ties replaces another man with a complex family life and becomes the scapegoat. Cleverly plotted, this is one of DuMaurier's books I really like. 

And I found another book with the same title though a different  situation.  The theme of this one is scapegoating.

 

Published March 2, 2021; Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Description: "The Scapegoat follows a university man in California as he investigates his father's death. A shadowy group of fringe academics surfaces in relation to his father's death. As he comes closer to the truth, his ability to distinguish between delusion and reality begins to erode. Is he the unwitting puppet of a larger conspiracy?

Sara Davis probes the borders between reality and delusion, intimacy and solitude, revenge and justice."

Have your read any good nonfiction books recently?

 Are you a Daphne du Maurier fan? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday