The World's Best Book Summaries
Who are the Zulu and Xhosa? What is the history of the tension between the two communities? When comedian Trevor Noah was growing up in South Africa, the Zulu and Xhosa rivalry was strong and potentially deadly. We’ll briefly cover the history of the Zulu-Xhosa feud and look at how it affected Noah’s childhood.
Today, Trevor Noah is a famous comedian and host, but his first careers involved selling pirated CDs and DJing. What was Trevor Noah’s DJ life like? Learn how Trevor Noah turned a high school lunch delivery business into a business selling pirated CDs, and how that business turned into Trevor Noah’s DJ career and three years engaged in a life of petty crime.
What was apartheid? Was Trevor Noah alive during apartheid in South Africa? And what was Trevor Noah’s apartheid experience? How did it shape who he is today? Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racism in South Africa. It began in 1948 and lasted for 46 years. The laws delineated different rights to citizens based on race, with the white race reigning supreme. Trevor Noah spent the first five years of his life in apartheid-era South Africa. Learn what apartheid was, how it shaped Noah’s life particularly, and the impact it’s had on post-apartheid South Africa.
What’s it like to study at the University of Cambridge? What’s it like to study there when you’ve had little formal schooling and you hadn’t heard of the university until you applied? This was Tara Westover’s Cambridge experience. Tara Westover’s Cambridge experience is entirely unique, but it also conveys the culture shock many people experience when they go to a new place. Learn how Tara Westover’s experience in Cambridge changed her life, as depicted in her memoir Educated.
Who was Lawrence of Arabia? How did he manage to defeat the powerful Turks with his untrained band of nomads? Lawrence of Arabia (T.E. Lawrence) was a British officer and archaeologist who led various military activities in Arabia during the First World War. Learn what Lawrence of Arabia can teach us about winning as an underdog.
What were the Troubles? What caused the situation to escalate so quickly? What actions and attitudes could have changed its course? The Troubles was a time of violence in Northern Ireland rooted in ethnic, political, and religious conflict. During the Troubles, the Catholics were the Davids (underdogs) and the British Army was the Goliath (the powerful giant). We’ll discuss two aspects of Goliath’s power that actually make him less powerful: the limits of authority and the negative effects of the overuse of power.
Who was Konrad Kellen? And is it possible that he could have shortened the Vietnam War? Konrad Kellen was a German political analyst who served in various roles, including U.S. Army Intelligence, during his long career. Learn what Konrad Kellen knew about the Viet Cong and the Vietnamese people that could have ended the Vietnam War earlier and saved many lives…if only the U.S. government had taken his opinion seriously.
Who is Brer Rabbit? And why is he so important to the history of the Civil Rights Movement? Brer Rabbit is a popular character in Southern lore who uses his wits to outsmart characters who are stronger and more powerful than he is. We’ll cover how the Brer Rabbit stories inspired the leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement, and what you can learn from both the stories and the movement.
What is Project C? Why was it so important to the American Civil Rights Movement and America’s history? And what can we learn from it? Project C (“C” for confrontation) was a series of Birmingham sit-ins, marches, and boycotts organized by civil rights leader Wyatt Walker. Learn how Project C made the fight for equality in America so visible and urgent that the government could no longer ignore it.
How did the first Impressionist exhibition come about? And what made it so extraordinary? The first Impressionist exhibition, April 15th – May 15th, 1874, was a Paris exhibition of the works of Monet, Renoir, and Degas, among others. Despite being rejected by the prestigious Salon, the Impressionists made history with their exhibition. We’ll cover how the first Impressionist exhibition came to be, why it was a turning point in the history of art, and how the Impressionists benefitted from being Big Fish in a Little Pond.