This interesting book tries to describe how little things turn into large trends. He writes how Hush Puppy shoes went from almost disappearing into a fashion statement, the success of Sesame Street and Blues Clues and even why Paul Revere was so successful in rousing the militia during his midnight ride.

It gives me a lot to think about. I think advertisers and marketers have been trying to jump start trends for their clients. If you have been blogging for a while maybe you have been contacted by companies who try and get you to pimp various products in exchange for merchandise. I don’t know about you but don’t you get tired of being marketed to, manipulated, and spun? I am not saying that taking the stuff is a bad thing. I have taken free books and reviewed them (and have disclosed that they were free) but I haven’t taken the bait yet on pimping an insurance agency in exchange for free quotes (has anybody out there paid for an insurance quote? Ever, in the history of the world), or a bag of biblical survival seeds to use when O and his evil minions turn us over to the Taliban.

Anyway, interesting book. I give it three stars out of four.

This non-fiction book by Richard Gulliatt and Peter Hohnen is just amazing. It is about a German merchant ship converted over to a disguised warship during World War I. It left Germany loaded with heavy guns, torpedos, and mines in order to prey upon merchant ships and mine harbors.

It was wildly successful. It sunk either by direct action or its mines almost 30 ships. It would come upon ships at sea and force them to surrender, transfer the crew and passengers and anything worth taking off the captured vessel and then sink it. Since it was a merchant ship it lots of room for prisoners. The ship never released any prisoners because they were afraid the prisoners would spill the beans about the ship.

One reason the ship was so successful was because its very existence embarrassed the allies so they kept it a secret. So no merchant ships were ever warned about its presence nor were they warned that many of the harbors of the world were mined by the ship.

The ship was at sea for over a year and made a triumphant return to Germany with over 700 prisoners in its hold.

A side story is just how gentlemanly naval war was back then. When a ship was captured the Wolf’s captain would come over and introduce himself to the captain of the captured ship. A big meal was ordered up for everybody and afterward the prisoners were transferred over to the Wolf and it would take several days to transfer the coal, cargo, food and such and then everybody would gather up on deck to watch the captured ship be blown up.

The captured officers would be provided an orderly and would be given the run of the ship. After the war many of the former prisoners went to Germany to look up the old buddies, the crewmen of the Wolf.

Contrast that with World War II where Germany again had Commerce Raiders as these ships were called but their captains would open fire on unarmed passenger ships and leave everybody, men, women, and children, in the sea as the raider steamed off.

This is a great read. I give it four stars out of four.