3Rs - Random Reading & 'Riting-1

Ramesh Kumar from Greater Noida 

Over the past fortnight, my focus is on catching up with globalization: trade, travel. Reading fresh or re-reading my collection on this theme.

Peter Frankopan's Silk Road, Timothy Brook's Vermeet's Hat, F Scott's Caravan (all non-fiction);

Also watching the BBC Docu on The Romanovs (Netflix Season 1), triggered by the spoofy film The Death of Stalin... capturing what happened when he died one night. - non-fiction again 

In the course of beginning a series on silk, led to research on silk/silk trade globally. That's where the above historians and authors are coming my rescue.

Trade automatically provides linkage to trade finance. The kind of arrangement traders in the ancient time kindled curiosity. Plus, the slave trade which incidentally began a huge money spinner from time immemorial. 

While on the subject of trade finance, a latest Lex column in Financial Times about the Rothschilds' new acquisition plans after the demise of the chairman in January, made me dig into the Rothschilds. What a story. Began reading Niall Ferguson's authorised business history of the Rothschilds' (600 pages)... Also watching the Hollywood flick on the same family, the pioneers of merchant banking as it is understood in modern times. 

Rothschilds interest clued me into the Midicis of Italy of 15th century. So, waching the Netflix serides on the Midicis (3 seasons). Amazing story. Historical stuff, fictinoalised, of course. Ferguson's reference to David Landes, the renowned economic historian in his Preface, pushed me to read his book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. He again speaks about the Midicis. 

Well, Landes led to De Roover's The Rise and Fall of Medici Bank.... 

Honestly, I am caught in a web of linkages.

Medicis... Italy. Venice. Florence. etc. reminded me of Shakepeare's Merchant of Venice. Yes, I opened up the original text. Just competed Act 1. Scene 1. 

That's not the end.

Reading the Weekend Wall Street Journal (22-23 May 2021), the piece on Miles Davis and the shake up in his university, threw a new Merchant of Venice link.

Davis Miles, the new president of Linfield University, is trying to shift faculty focus to nursing and business oriented courses. This is leading to liberal art faculty members being jettisoned is leading to challenges.

One Mr Pollack Pelzer, a Jewish professor teaching Shakespeare classics, alleged that Davis made some offhand remark about a study about The Merchant of Venice .... measuring the length of JKewish noses vis a vis arab noses...

Hyperlinks, did you say? Very much..