Read Everything!!
American Army General John Galvin spoke at my high school graduation from SHAPE American High School in Mons, Belgium. I honestly do not recall much of his speech. I was deep in thought as I sat in the pews of Saint Waudru cathedral (yes our graduation was held in a Gothic cathedral).
I would soon be enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard, sent to the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School (a yearlong high school boot camp), followed by four years of at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (a four year long college boot camp), and then serving at least five years of active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard .
Fortunately, I was paying attention when General Galvin implored to us: “Read Everything!”, “Read History!”, “Read Science Fiction!”, “Read Newspapers!”, “Read Magazines!”, “Read Novels!”, “Never Stop Reading!” I remember being surprised General Galvin was so emphatically telling me that for my own good I needed to “Read Everything!”.
I now consider General Galvin’s two words “Read Everything” to be some of the wisest words of advice ever given to me. I have tried to put General Galvin’s advice into practice. This has made a difference in my work and personal life. Reading broadly has helped me contribute to the development of practical solutions to difficult homeland security problems. It has made me a better homeland security analyst and person. I have a better understanding of the world’s complexities and more importantly developed more empathy for different world views. Finally, reading has helped me better face the personal challenges of life. For me — a world without reading would be a very poor place.
I cannot truly thank General Galvin for the impact his words have had on my well-being. However, I can share his words with you and provide you with some recommendations to begin your journey in “Reading Everything”.
Here are five books from different genres in no particular order that I have enjoyed and hope you might find professionally useful or entertaining:
Caesar’s Legion provides an extremely well written history of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and his Tenth Roman Legion. It is a fascinating read. It tracks history of the Tenth Roman Legion from its establishment by Julius Caesar, its participation in the various Roman military campaigns, and its eventual disappearance from the history books. The cool thing about this book is you learn about Julius Caesar and gain insights in the lives of Rome’s soldiers and citizens. It is the first of Dando-Collins’s eight books on Rome and its legions.
Wild Cards I edited by George R.R. Martin
Wild Cards is a unique and amazing book! It is an alternative history of the world in which super heroes and villains battle each other. It begins with an alien releasing a virus over New York City. The virus turns some its victims into Aces, people with super human capabilities, or Jokers, people with bizarre disabilities. The characters are all unique and are somehow involved with actual historical events. This is a shared universe book in which different authors write the story for a particular character. All of the different character’s stories masterfully integrated into a larger story line. It is an awesome read.
Performance measurement is the use of measures or metrics to monitor or evaluate a program’s or businesses’ effectiveness and/or efficiency. It is an extremely important topic. Unfortunately, people often do not understand it or in rare cases abuse it to hide the truth. Ken Miller in We Don’t Make Widget does an excellent job of simplifying and explaining performance measurement in a way that everyone can understand and apply it.
The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War by Tim Butcher
The Trigger is two stories in one. Tim Butcher retraces the steps of Gavrilo Princip from his childhood village to his assassination of Austrian Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand initiating the human tragedy we now know as World War One. Further, Butcher revisits his days a newspaper reporter during the 1990 Balkan Conflicts. Butcher provides us with keen insights on two historical periods which have shaped the international challenges the world is facing now.
Last Dive details the adventure father and son team of Chris and Chrissy Rouse to provide us a view into the world of extreme scuba diving. We learn about the equipment, challenges, and dangers of wreck diving, cave diving, and the use of mixed gases for breathing. We learn about how the Rouse’s died off the coast of New Jersey trying to enter a sunken WWII German submarine. Further, Bernie Chowdhury , The Last Dive’s author, shares with us how he almost lost his life diving at extreme depths. Last Dive reminds that human life is precious and fragile.
I now as adult understand why General Galvin was so adamant about reading. Once you read a book it becomes part of you and the greater diversity in your reading the more likely you are to learn something that will make a difference in this world.
Now I, like General Galvin, implore you to start “Reading Everything”. It is never too late to start.
