Blood and Ruins is a masterpiece from of one of the most renowned historians of the Second World War, which will compel readers to view the war in novel and unfamiliar ways.
Thought-provoking, original and challenging, Blood and Ruins sets out to understand the war anew.
Author Richard James Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich.
Overy sets out in Blood and Ruins to recast the way in which “we view the Second World War and its origins and aftermath,” said a review in Goodreads.com.
“He argues that this was the ‘great imperial war,’ a violent end to almost a century of global imperial expansion which reached its peak in the ambitions of Italy, Germany and Japan in the 1930s and early 1940s, before descending into the largest and costliest war in human history and the end, after 1945, of all territorial empires,” said the review.
It said that Overy “explains the bitter cost for those involved in fighting, and the exceptional level of crime and atrocity that marked these imperial projects, the war and its aftermath.”
What We Are Reading Today: Blood and Ruins
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What We Are Reading Today: Blood and Ruins
What We Are Reading Today: The West: The History of an Idea
- The need for the use of the term “the West” emerged to avoid the confusing or unwanted consequences of the use of “Europe”
Author: Georgios Varouxakis
How did “the West” come to be used as a collective self-designation signaling political and cultural commonality? When did “Westerners” begin to refer to themselves in this way? Was the idea handed down from the ancient Greeks, or coined by 19th-century imperialists?
Neither, writes Georgios Varouxakis in “The West,” his ambitious and fascinating genealogy of the idea. “The West” was not used by Plato, Cicero, Locke, Mill, or other canonized figures of what we today call the Western tradition. It was not first wielded by empire-builders.
It gradually emerged as of the 1820s and was then, Varouxakis shows, decisively promoted in the 1840s by the French philosopher Auguste Comte (whose political project, incidentally, was passionately anti-imperialist).
The need for the use of the term “the West” emerged to avoid the confusing or unwanted consequences of the use of “Europe.” The two overlapped, but were not identical, with the West used to differentiate from certain “others” within Europe as well as to include the Americas.
Book Review: The AI-Centered Enterprise
What lies beyond ChatGPT for businesses?
In The AI-Centered Enterprise: Reshaping Organizations with Context-Aware AI, authors Ram Bala, Natarajan Balasubramanian and Amit Joshi argue that the next leap in artificial intelligence is not about flashy prompts, but rather perception, reasoning, and organizational transformation.
The book, published earlier this year, introduces the concept of “context-aware AI,” systems that do not just process information but understand it in real-time business scenarios.
These are tools that adjust to their environment, collaborate across teams, and make decisions with nuance; a significant step forward from today’s mostly predictive systems.
The authors, all professors and practitioners in the AI and analytics space, offer a clear roadmap for businesses to prepare.
Their proposed model, the “3Cs” — “Calibrate, Clarify, Channelize” — breaks down how leaders can align AI tools with company values, ensure teams understand how to use them, and direct efforts where they will have the most impact.
For readers in Saudi Arabia, where AI is central to Vision 2030 initiative, this book can serve as a strategic lens.
While it does not focus on the region, its practical insights are useful for decision-makers looking to scale AI responsibly across sectors such as healthcare, logistics, and government services.
More guidebook than manifesto, “The AI-Centered Enterprise” avoids jargon and balances case studies with actionable ideas.
It will not dazzle readers chasing science-fiction futures, but it is a timely read for professionals who want to lead, not just react, in the age of intelligent systems.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Wild Orcas’
Author: Hanne Strager & Catherine Denardo
Of the world’s iconic predatory species, orcas are among the most fearsome. Their awesome physical power combined with their cooperative hunting skills and ability to problem-solve make them uniquely efficient killers. Yet orcas also celebrate births, grieve losses, and maintain lifelong family bonds. This stunningly illustrated book draws on five decades of field research and cutting-edge science to provide an incomparable look at the biology, natural history, culture, and conservation of these awe-inspiring marine animals.
Sudanese novelist Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration
- Acclaimed novelist recognized for exploring themes of faith, migration and Muslim women’s lives
LONDON: Sudanese author Leila Aboulela has been named the winner of the 2025 PEN Pinter Prize, honoring her literary contributions that explore themes of faith, migration and the lives of Muslim women in displacement.
The award was announced at English PEN’s annual summer party on Wednesday at the October Gallery in London.
Judges praised the author for her “nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: Faith, migration and displacement,” calling her work “a balm, a shelter and an inspiration.”
Aboulela, who grew up in Khartoum and has lived in Aberdeen, Scotland since 1990, is known for her six novels including “Minaret,” “The Translator,” a New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year, and “Lyrics Alley,” as well as two short story collections.
Her latest collection “Elsewhere, Home” won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award.
Aboulela’s latest novel “River Spirit,” which was published in 2023, portrays the period leading up to the British conquest of Sudan in 1898, shedding light on the complex human dimensions of the conflict between Britain and Sudan, Christianity and Islam, and the dynamics of colonizer versus colonized.
On receiving the award, she said: “For someone like me, a Muslim Sudanese immigrant who writes from a religious perspective, probing the limits of secular tolerance, this recognition feels truly significant. It brings expansion and depth to the meaning of freedom of expression and whose stories get heard.”
She will officially receive the award at a ceremony at the British Library on Oct. 10, where she will also announce the recipient of the accompanying Writer of Courage award.
This year’s judging panel included poet and author Mona Arshi, novelist Nadifa Mohamed, and English PEN chair Ruth Borthwick, who praised Aboulela’s work for its literary depth and social relevance.
“Leila Aboulela’s writing is extraordinary in its range and sensibility,” Borthwick said. “From jewel-like short stories to tender novels, she tells us rarely heard stories that make us think anew about who lives in our neighborhoods and communities, and how they navigate their lives.”
Arshi said that the author “offers us nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: Faith, migration, and displacement,” while Mohamed praised Aboulela’s work for centring “the lives and decisions of Muslim women.”
“Her work is marked by a commitment to make the lives and decisions of Muslim women central, and to examine their struggles and pleasures with dignity,” Mohamed said.
The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 in memory of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. Previous winners include Arundhati Roy in 2024 and Michael Rosen in 2023.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Birds of the Tropical Andes’
Authors: Owen Deutsch & Michael J. Parr
Spanning much of the western part of South America, the Andes are home to some of the world’s most magnificent birds, from exquisite hummingbirds to fabulous flamingos.
This beautifully illustrated large-format book celebrates the splendor and extraordinary diversity of Andean birds and the habitats they depend on.
It draws on the latest findings from the field and sheds light on the lush alpine and forested terrains that make this avifauna so rich and plentiful.
