The Ancient Germans

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  “For their drink, they draw a liquor from barley or other grain; and ferment the same, so as to make it resemble wine. Nay, they who dwell upon the bank of the Rhine deal in wine. Their food is very simple; wild fruit, fresh venison, or coagulated milk. They banish hunger without formality, without curious dressing and curious fare. In extinguishing thirst, they use not equal temperance. If you will but humour their excess in drinking, and supply them with as much as they covet, it will be no less easy to vanquish them by vices than by arms.” —Tacitus (56 - 120 AD)  Germany

Finished Reading: Midnight in Chernobyl

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 Even before the nuclear facility at Chernobyl was built, it was a disaster waiting to happen, and once it happened, it just wouldn’t stop. It still hasn’t stopped. The explosion was the result of human error—but which human? And which error? Everyone played their Communist-party assigned roles and read from their scripts so well. This powerful, sleepless, relentless page-turning account perfectly mirrors the 2019 HBO limited series, and fills many gaps left by the show. It is the story of what happens when pride collides with fear under pressure and blooms into a mushroom cloud of lies. It’s the end of an era.



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