Five Books Newsletter 19

Hic sunt camelopardus: this historical edition of The Browser is presented for archaeological purposes; links and formatting may be broken.

This week's interview

http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/seth-mnookin-on-vaccines

Seth Mnookin on Vaccines

Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it, says the journalist and author of The Panic Virus (http://www.amazon.com/The-Panic-Virus-Vaccine-Autism-Controversy/dp/1439158657) . He chooses five gripping reads on vaccines, "medicine's greatest life-saver."

Books of the Week

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/good-man-jesus-and-scoundrel-christ-by-philip-pullman"It is a marvellous fantasy which is that there were twins born to the Virgin Mary."

Mary Warnock on Godless Morality (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/mary-warnock-on-godless-morality)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/guide-good-life-by-william-b-irvine"If tranquillity is your goal – and Irvine argues that it’s a worthwhile goal – then the Stoic way of life is pretty plausible."

Emrys Westacott on Philosophy and Everyday Living (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/emrys-westacott-on-philosophy-and-everyday-living)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/making-mind-how-brain-creates-our-mental-world-by-chris-frith"It is all guesswork... Everyone should read this book and grasp this idea."

Dorothy Rowe on Lying (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/dorothy-rowe-on-lying)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/chaos-by-james-gleick"James Gleick is a former science writer for the New York Times and in this book he describes the science of chaos."

Adam Maloof on Earth History (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/adam-maloof-on-earth-history)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/13-bankers-by-simon-johnson-and-james-kwak"One of the really big issues raised by this book is whether we are actually living in an oligarchy of the sort we attribute to places like Russia."

Daron Acemoglu on Inequality (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/daron-acemoglu-on-inequality)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/forgotten-continent-by-michael-reid"He looks at how populism has led countries to choose wrong economic policies that focus mostly on immediate redistribution rather than on economic growth."

Patricio Navia on Politics of Latin America (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/patricio-navia-on-politics-latin-america)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/collected-ghost-stories-by-mr-james"MR James is arguably the greatest master of the English ghost story...He says just enough to suggest far worse."

Ramsey Campbell on Horror Stories (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/ramsey-campbell-on-horror-stories)

Quote of the Week

"I’m a heretic. I like to say, 'There is no God but God and his name is William Shakespeare.'"
Harold Bloom on Literary Criticism (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/harold-bloom-on-literary-criticism)