Take off
Historians are unanimous: the work of the British David Abulafia will mark the discipline. For the first time, a “human history of the oceans” is drawn up. The Cambridge professor focuses his work on the interactions between different maritime civilizations. By looking at period archives or archaeological works, he eruditely shows that globalization is several millennia old. Certainly, the book is around 1000 pages and some passages are complex. But this does not prevent the reader from plunging into an unknown and new universe.
In this world, Iron Age Scots trade with the civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, African slaves work in Java from ancient times, Romans settle in India, Andalusian caliphs correspond with mandarins, Melanesians easily connect Polynesia to New Zealand centuries before our era… Implicitly, we find a trait specific to the human species, that of constantly pushing the limits of the possible.
The Limitless Sea: a human history of the oceansby David Abulafia, Les Belles Lettres, 992 pages, 39.50 euros
Private preserve
Two hours from Paris, the forests and ponds of Sologne are a hunter’s paradise. For several decades, the great fortunes of French capitalism have acquired luxurious residences there, square kilometers of woods which they grill and privatize for their own leisure activities. Imprisoned, the wildlife is hunted down in a sophisticated manner in bloody hunts that leave it no chance. As under the Ancien Régime, a handful of privileged people monopolize the right to shoot and unceremoniously push aside walkers and Sunday hunters. Woe to the elected officials, the old local noble families, the environmentalists and the associations who are sounding the alarm. They are dragged to court by packs of lawyers, slandered, threatened. This book highlights practices that do not honor those who like to declare themselves exemplary. His goal? Change things by exposing certain facts in public. Let’s hope that the media coverage it generates allows for changes.
The New Lords, how the ultra-rich colonized Sologne and distorted huntingby Jean-Baptiste Forray, Les Arènes, 288 pages, 20 euros
To say is to do
In business, those who speak first and most are often better considered, monitored and promoted than others. Some stir things up while others appear eloquent and legitimate. What is certain is that speaking out should not be a burden imposed on others. Rhetoric can help everyone improve the way they address an audience and, more generally, strengthen their reputation.
Constructing a speech, mastering the art of conciseness and that of non-verbal language or even networking conversations are the many themes addressed by Matthieu Wildhaber. The author also returns to the use of rhetoric to manipulate or even to the myth of “the open door”. You know those managers who tell you their door is always open? However, no one dares to cross it because of their poor way of communicating. To learn more about neurological studies on this subject, figures of speech or Aristotle’s rhetoric, immerse yourself in this very convincing work. QED.
A brief guide to business rhetoricThe rule today? Speak, or die, by Matthieu Wildhaber, Éditions Eyrolles, 176 pages, 22 euros
The terroir put on notice
Each region has its architectural particularities. Specificities due to the ways of life of its inhabitants, to local know-how, but perhaps also, and above all, to the environments in which the houses were built. Very often, builders relied on nature to build housing; whether by taking into account climatic characteristics, such as strong winds or the need to protect oneself from extreme heat, or by using local materials, such as stones and rocks available in the landscape. What were gables used for in Flanders? Why do mountain chalets have low slopes? How was land used for construction in the marshes? Uplifting answers in Building with Nature.
Building with natureFrom rock to building, under the direction of Patrick de Wever, Belin, 336 pages, 24 euros
White House
What brings the White House to life? The president who lives and works there? The journalists who report on his presidency? Both my general! Jérôme Cartillier and Karim Lebhour were accredited to Washington during the mandates of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. With designer Aude Massot, they take us behind the scenes of the most powerful place in the world.
A building that is surprising to say the least: it is open to the public, hardly resembles an entrenched camp, the president is close to the accredited journalists whom he all knows by their first names, the gold of power seems less flashy than elsewhere. This temple of democracy is above all a place of exchanges and juicy anecdotes which deserve attention. A timely comic strip with the whole world looking towards Washington
White House, behind the scenes with Obama, Trump and Bidenby Jérôme Cartillier, Karim Lebhour and Aude Massot, Delcourt Encrages, 123 pages, 18.50 euros
