February treated me right with three enjoyable books that included The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, and The English Spy. The book categories included The American Revolution, Self-Help, and a Spy Novel. For all of the books covered in my reading list, including my February reading list, you can check out my reading lists here.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones had the most positive impact of the three books in my February reading list. The book offered countless lessons that I carry with me every day. The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution continued my build-out of knowledge on The American Revolution. The English Spy crushed it as expected. Let’s jump into the February reading list.
The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution
Historian Thomas Fleming provides an overview of George Washington’s role in the US Army’s victory over the British in The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution. American independence was nearly lost primarily because military decisions were led by the Continental Congress, not the military. After the victory at Bunker Hill in 1775, independence leaders felt that the key to victory against the British was the local militia. A military is driven by local men defending their homeland and families. The morale turned south after the Bunker Hill victory when the British pummeled the Americans fleeing New York. General Washington knew that the key to victories after Bunker Hill was America’s ability to maintain a professional army. While the Continental Congress delayed making military decisions, Washington waited patiently. Washington’s first opportunity to attack the British after the loss of New York was in New Jersey in 1776 after his army crossed the Delaware River. Victories ensued eventually pushing the British out of New York abandoning America altogether.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
James Clear provides a proven framework for self-improvement in Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. As noted in the book title, Clear shares practical advice on how to form good habits, break bad habits, and master the small behaviors that lead to results. The book argues that habit formation is not about the person but the system. Bad habits perpetuate because the system you are using is bad. Clear argues that you fall to the level of your systems. His system guides you to a system that works to ultimately achieve your goals. One of many areas Clear shines is his ability to distill complex topics into actionable steps to use every day. Clear cities proven ideas from fields like biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create a guide for creating new good habits and removing bad habits. The book does a fantastic job in its storytelling by using stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, leaders in business, physicians saving lives, and comedians who use a small habit operating system to become masters of their craft. Clear outlines how to make time for new habits, the best way to overcome a lack of motivation, how to design your environment to make it easier to form habits, and how to get back on the wagon when you fall off. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones reshaped the way I view progress and added tools to my toolkit on forming good habits in my personal and professional life.
The English Spy
Novelist Daniel Silva ropes you into book fifteen of the Gabriel Allon series with The English Spy. The novel starts out profiling an iconic member of the British Royal Family. This royal family member has the looks to support her charitable work. Separately, she is hated by her ex-husband and his mother, the Queen of England. Silva moves the plot to a bomb exploding on the royal family’s holiday yacht. Soon thereafter, British intelligence contacts legendary Israeli spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon to track down her killer. Allon’s terrorist target is master bomb maker Eamon Quinn who sells his bomb-making expertise to the highest terrorist bidder. Christopher Keller, an ex-British SAS member and professional assassin joins Allon in the hunt to find Quinn. Keller knows Quinn all too well. While not known to Allon at first, Allon is tracking an old foe. A foe who wants nothing more than to see Allon dead.
