Ode to Reading - Non Fiction 2024 (July - September)
I attacked two provocative and disturbing works of non fiction this quarter. A wide range of human frailties on display. Hubris, bad judgement, greed, avarice- with a touch of brutality. Very different books but both focus on how misuse or abuse of authority can lead to disaster.
1. Challenger by Adam Higginbotham
Mr Higginbotham does not shy away from technically difficult subject matter. His massive opus on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union was one of the most outstanding and important books of the last decade. Midnight in Chernobyl, published in 2019 is a “Must Read.” It was a dramatic tale and exposed why the Soviet Union in the 1980’s was in irreversible decline. The Chernobyl tragedy was in April of 1986 and three years later the Soviet Union was in the dustbin of history. Chernobyl and its aftermath vividly highlighted the sclerotic nature of the Soviet Union- poor design and execution, low morale, abandonment of the search for the truth, intentional disregard of the welfare of its own citizens, and a corrupt Communist Party. In retrospect Gorbachev and his reforms never had a chance. Higginbotham mastered the scientific and engineering issues that led to the nuclear meltdown. He also was very skillful in charting the frequently courageous nature of the response- ill equipped and ill trained workers entering the reactor in desperate attempts to contain the fallout. The workers were better than their leadership. The Soviet government lied to everyone, their own people, the international community and ultimately themselves. Bureaucrats threw each other under the bus. The long term impact of the disaster is still being calculated and the Chernobyl area, now part of Ukraine, is dead zone. So- although I intend to review Challenger, I have taken the opportunity to recommend Midnight in Chernobyl to all of you!
I downloaded Challenger with the high hope that it would match the pure excellence of Midnight in Chernobyl. It does not, but is a good read. Challenger never manages to pack the intellectual and emotional punch of Chernobyl. Again, it is a scientific tour de force- detailed description of the Challenger’s design and the engineering failures which ultimately lead to disaster. It starts slow and you need to be patient. We learn much about NASA, its history and the politics in the agency. NASA survived an earlier disaster, the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts during training but the organisation recovered and eventually landed men safely on the moon and retuned them to earth. Expertise in spades and also keen sense of the importance of public relations. I have an clear recollection of the day of the Challenger explosion. It was January 28, 1986 and the Bears had won their only Super Bowl two days before. It was freezing in Chicago but a group of diehard fans from my law firm were heading to the victory parade downtown. As we were exiting the office, word spread the the space shuttle had crashed. We rushed to a TV screen and watched the tape of the launch and the explosion 73 seconds into flight. We also watched President Reagan’s tribute to the astronauts- which included the first civilian in space- schoolteacher Christa MaCauliffe. The event sticks in the memories of those who were alive then- not to the level of Kennedy assassination or September 11, but it was a seminal moment and generated national mourning.
What went wrong? There aren’t a lot of heroes in the book. We learn the backstories of the crew and they are competent, professional and likable people. However, they would have faded into historical memory if the flight had been successful. Not a ton of drama, although you certainly are saddened by their fate. The Challenger itself is a complex character- the most complicated machine ever designed and constructed. Lots of moving parts, thousands of tiles, two huge boosters- all manufactured by the low bidder! The book is a story of organisational incompetence, sustained system failure, choosing schedule over safety and a lack of courage at the leadership level. The explosion was not a surprise to many at NASA and their corporate suppliers. Earlier missions had shown the risk of joint failure and the risk was magnified in cold weather. January 28,1986 was the coldest day on record for any NASA launch. NASA leadership ignored and overruled whistleblowers who lobbied hard to cancel the launch. There was poor internal communication, succumbing to political and budgetary pressures- all pushing for a “go” on the launch decision. The shuttle had been flying for 5 years and the politicians and public were losing interest- Americans have short attention spans! Dissent was discouraged and NASA needed a win. Higginbotham expertly details the entire decision tree and the reader is somewhat shocked by the level of negligence . If anything, the post explosion commission was easy on the leadership. Many lessons here. The shuttle program regrouped and started flying missions again in 1991. the missions became rather routineuntil a second shuttle (Columbia) did not survive reentry in 2003. Experts continue to debate the scientific merits of the entire program and we have been very slow in returning to an aggressive manned space program. Maybe Musk will fly us to Mars. I wonder what Mr Higginbotham is researching now!
2. The Rape of Europa by Lynn Nicholas
This is an award winning book detailing the Nazi’s systematic program to pillage the artistic heritage of Europe during WWII. The general topic has received more attention in recent years with the production of the movie Monuments Men and frequent lawsuits and news coverage regarding Jewish families attempting to recover art work from leading museums and private collections. If you are interested in art generally and the curious role it played during a brutal war, this is the book for you, I recommend it. It is superbly researched, brilliantly profiles some heroic people who battled the Germans every step of the way and is a cliff notes version of Europe’s cultural heritage. You learn a ton.
Hitler was a monster, but he considers himself an art expert. He painted as young man and was always bitter that he was turned down by the elite art schools in Austria. He blamed the Jewish elite for his failures. However, he read about art treasures constantly and had a working knowledge of European art history- he admired classic and renaissance works. He also appreciated the Impressionist movement. However, he hated modern art- including post impressionism, cubism, surrealism, German expressionism and ALL works produced by Jewish artists who he considered decadent and degenerate. Hitler’s fascination with the art world had real consequences. First, he ordered the confiscation and destruction of degenerate art. Hundreds of works by Picasso- Matisse etc were destroyed in the early years of the war. Lesser Nazi officials were less enthusiastic about the purge, seeing a profit opportunity in looting and stealing the art owned by Jews and then selling it at a steep profit. Hitler authorised the design of a new grand Nazi Museum of Art in his hometown of Linz and spent hours with consultants identifying what works should be acquired for display there. He would actually end briefings with his Generals on the eastern front to review plans for the Museum. Very weird guy! Another twist is that the No 2 Nazi- Herman Goering was a demonic and calculating collector of art. He purchased thousands of pieces at severe discounts from the leading museums in occupied Europe. He shipped them all to his estate. The Allies were astounded by the extent of his art theft when they captured him at his home at the end of the war. He wasn’t a shrewd collector. Post war reviews confirmed he had purchased many fakes. Hitler was aware of Goering’s art fixation and always knew where to find works intended for the Linz Museum that were somehow missing. He would just call Goering and tell him he needed to come clean and return the piece to Adolf.
The scale of the German theft is staggering. 138 caves were filled with art at the end of the war. 4174 cases were shipped out of France alone. There are heroes. Rose Valland deserves her own movie. She worked at Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris and that museum became the German collection point for all French art. She gained the confidence of the Germans and used her access to painstakingly record all the works stored there, when it was shipped out and to whom and where. She was phenomenal source for the Allied art team charged with locating and returning the stolen art in the closing days of the war and the early post war period. These fellows, mostly Brits and Americans with some connection to the art world did an incredible job, particularly since they had no real budget and were often viewed as irritants by generals who just wanted to finish the war- preserving works of art be damned!
Overall, a well written treatment of a unique component World War II.
