I ran across Waldemar Hansens’s The Peacock Throne: The Drama of Mogul India in the Palo Alto library, and decided to re-read it. The majority of the book is about the later years of Shah Jahan’s reign. I think that’s the right emphasis, because it was the failure of the tolerant Dara Shikoh to succeed Shah Jahan that led to the destruction of the Moguls. It’s amazing how quickly Aurangzeb was able to bankrupt and destroy the richest empire in the world. There’s a lesson there for everyone who believes in the “too big to fail” theory of world politics.

Can anyone give me a single, good reason for the existence of Valentine’s day? Other than commemorating St. Valentine, that is.

I finished reading Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire last night. It’s a engrossing look at the building of the Taj Mahal and the events that led to it. The description of how the Taj and the gardens around it were built is the best part of the book. The account of Moghul history that surrounds it, though, is a bit superficial. If you are really interested in the history of the Moghuls, I would still recommend Waldemar Hansens’s The Peacock Throne: The Drama of Mogul India. Although an older work (it was published in 1972), it is still the most approachable general history of the empire.

If you wonder where the economy is going in 2008, you can start here: Too Much Like 1929. It’s going to be a cruel year.

I finished reading Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia last night. It’s a fascinating look at the economic and budgetary problems that destroyed the USSR. Essentially, Gaidar blames the eventual collapse on Stalin’s decision to collectivize agriculture in 1929. The most striking thing, though, is how quickly the USSR unraveled once it’s economic underpinnings collapsed. There’s a lesson here for the USA. Once things start going bad, the end can come quickly. A reversal of foreign investment in the US could be just as dangerous for our future.