Guus Bosman

software executive and technologist


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Here I keep track of some of the books that I've read, often with a short review and some personal thoughts. These are only a selection since I read a lot more books for work.

I like to read book in their original languages where possible: French, German, Dutch, English and I even read three books in Bulgarian. Here is the list of books I'd like to read. See also books about technology or management, and my all-time favorite books.

I'm an engineer, and enjoy science fiction novels. Some of my favorite authors are Vernor Vinge, Terry Pratchett and LE Modesitt Jr. No overview of my reading habits would be complete without mentioning The Economist -- I love that magazine.

Books below are in order of date read; this overview starts in October 2002.


Een schaap in wolfskleren

A book by Rick van der Ploeg, economist and ex-minister of Cultural Affairs. It's very interesting and well written that gives insight in the trade-offs politicians have to make between effectiveness and fairness of policies.

As Labour politician he is in favour of a society based on solidarity, as an economist he is in favour of free markets and (economical) liberalism. I liked it a lot to read about how he deals with these two goals.

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Dutch

Thinking the unthinkable; the immigration myth exposed

A very positive review in Foreign Affairs made me want to read the book. Jonathan, Irena and Ilana gave it to me as a present for Christmas (2002).

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English

Duizend dagen in de landspolitiek

Book written by the ex-chairman of the CDA, on the crisis in October 2001 that forced him and Jaap de Hoop-Scheffer to resign.

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Dutch

Globalism

Manfred Steger writes about globalism, the ideology associated with globalization. His survey of the academic debate about globalization is very thorough and well-referenced.

He analyses both the claims of hyper-globalists and of the anti-globalization movement; very much worth reading.

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English

Amerikaanse Toestanden

The author, Maarten Huygens, has been a journalist for NRC Handelsblad for many years. The book deals with the effects of globalization (or Americanization) on Dutch society and politics. It's not extremely well-written but some of the observations were interesting. There's a rather extensive review online.

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Dutch

Prinsendrama

A collection of essays written by Gerard van Westerloo who followed Ad Melkert during the campaign for the elections 2002. Interesting to read after 'Strijd om de Macht', the author is a journalist and it thus looking from 'the other side'.

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Dutch

De Strijd om de Macht

Book written by the campaign leader of the Dutch Labour party (PvdA) about the time before the previous elections. Gives an interesting insight in how he tried to influence media as a 'spindoctor'. Not in a bad sense but very much focussed on for example trying to get 'his' candidates on Teletext.

It was a Sinterklaas present.

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Dutch

De Kwetsbare Democratie

From the library I borrowed a compilation of essays on politics. It's called "de Kwetsbare Democratie" and contains a wide variety of articles from Adam Smith, Aristoteles, Marx etc. Very interesting; many of the papers are famous (the End of History for example) but I never read them.

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Dutch

Hoe God verdween uit Jorderd

The direct translation of the book's title is "How God Disappeared from Jorwerd". It deals with the changes in a village in Friesland between 1945 and 1995. The writer, Geert Mak, is a professor at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He lived many years in this village and he spoke with many villagers.

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Dutch
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Ooggetuigen van de vaderlandse geschiedenis

A compilation of small articles written by people in or about the Netherlands throughout the ages. It's a very nice selection, with stories of ordinary people but also from Ceasar and Casanova for example.

It was a present from my grandmother for my 24st birthday.

http://www.guusbosman.nl/images/books/ooggetuigen.jpg
Dutch

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