John-Paul Flintoff

A fictional tale in which the non-fictional writer of fact and fiction, Daniel Defoe, struggles to keep his debtors at bay whilst engaging in espionage at the court of Queen Anne. The story is accompanied by the author's own commentary on how a struggling writer with an increasingly precarious journalistic career achieved his ambition of publishing a novel set in the court of Queen Anne. The overall package is quirky; the story itself is fairly conventional historical fiction (in the non-romantic sense) which does not mean it is not good (nor that it lacks romance). Oh, and I should probably declare an interest, as one of the subscribers who helped get the book published. Not that I gain anything financially - quite the opposite, it cost me twenty quid - but it was twenty quid well-spent.… (mehr)

I wanted to like this, but he uses a few too many simplistic examples that actually undermine his argument when looked at in their whole complexity. For example: he uses Rosa Parks as an example of an individual changing the world with small actions, completely ignoring (the way most people do) her years of involvement with civil rights and her knowledge of strategy and tactics. Flinthoff is so focused on individuals he pays no attention to the effectiveness of individuals banded together in organizations.… (mehr)