About: Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar, the World’s Most Wanted Criminal by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña is a memoir of the two Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who spent decades hunting drug traffickers. The two authors are the subject of the Netflix show Narcos, which follows their hunt for Pablo Escobar […]

This is a very readable book, exposing people to the “most celebrated scientist of the 19th century”.

The book is expertly researched with extensive notes and bibliographical information. There are many photos and illustrations throughout as well as a list of characters to make it easier to follow.

Attempts, and I believe succeeded, to capture the personality and intelligence of Mr. Kenney, even though, it seems, he was not aware of  his own comedic brilliance.

The book mainly fills in the blanks in the non-technical side of the moon landing, the political environment which fostered at the time, as well as how leaders at high levels encouraged or derailed the program based on their own goals and/or selfish reasons.

Some fascinating stories and anecdotes are included in this book, such as the time President Ronald Reagan saw the movie War Games and asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff if it would be possible for a teenager to execute an attack.

Mr. Mayer must have had balls of steel, he seem to have neve inherited the protective gene of fear. Whether it is to fly a B24 without training, or jump out of it over the Austrian Alps – for the first time.

Mr. Stengel makes an excellent case about the first part of his subtitle, but sadly the second part “what can we do about it” is not convincing. Mostly because of the government bureaucracies, slow moving administrative machinery, and simply the way democracies work.

The book is full of pictures, many of which I have never seen, each one with an engrossing caption.

The Names Heard Long Ago: How the Golden Age of Hungarian Soccer Shaped the Modern Game by Jonathan Wilson recounts how the Hungary’s changed soccer and became a powerhouse exporting players and coaches to the world.