Frederic C. Beiser, The German Historicist Tradition. A long and dense work, but full of interesting content and written with extreme, almost unbelievable clarity. The historicists are today the least discussed approach in the history of German thought. Have you ever wondered why Justus Möser was important and why he focused on the history of Osnabrück? Or how Leopold Ranke saw his work as a response to Hegel? What about the difference between Dilthey and Rickert? At the very least, this book is also an excellent basis for understanding the development of the methodology of the Austrian School in economics. After reading it, I decided to order other books by the same author.
Céline Dietziker and Lukas Gruntz, Aalto in detail: a catalog of components. I didn’t realize what a “micro-architect” he was. This book, for example, has a fantastic collection of different photos of staircases that he designed. There’s a chapter on “Ramps,” “Door Handles,” and also “Drainage.” It’s a book for me.
Zeke Hernandez, The Truth About Immigration: Why Prosperous Societies Welcome Newcomersdelivers exactly what its title promises.
Neil Taylor, Estonia: A Modern Historyis by far the best historical work I have found on this country. It also contains a glowing introductory text by Robert Service.
Arthur Brown Ruhl, The new masters of the Baltica travel book from 1921. If you visit a place, you should always try to read a much older travel book about said place. Fantastic for perspective, indefensible but nonetheless insightful generalizations, and these books give you a sense of how contingent history can be. Who the “good guys” were was often harder to figure out than you might think.
There are also passages like this: “I asked them if they thought Latvia would be able to maintain its independence when Russia was itself again. Yes, they said they did; if the non-Russian border peoples united in a defensive alliance, old Russia would have a hard time coercing them. But they would like to ask me a question. Did the Allies, who had encouraged them to declare their independence, really believe in it? Or were they simply being used because the Allies thought their own soldiers were too good to be sent against the Bolsheviks?”
