From New Statesman, a special issue on 1989: The year of the crowd. From Standpoint, how I rewrote Polish history: Adam Zamoyski on how Poland used to be written off as a failed state, but it has survived Nazism and communism to become a model for Europe; and from Treblinka to Tannenberg, a tour through Eastern Poland uncovers the wreckage of German military might. Few regions have been hit harder by the financial crisis than Eastern Europe, with its exposed economies and young democracies; here are five of the region’s worst basket cases. Stefan Wagstyl on how to annoy someone from central or eastern Europe. From TNR, Danielle Allen reviews Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens by Josiah Ober; and a review of Augustine and the Jews: A Christian Defense of Jews and Judaism by Paula Fredriksen. A review of Judaism in Biological Perspective: Biblical Lore and Judaic Practices. Colin Fleming reviews The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. From New Scientist, a special section on Tactile Illusions: Seven ways to fool your sense of touch. Terror begins at home: Right-wing militias make handy scapegoats for Democratic presidents. Though the Bacardi distillery is now in Puerto Rico, the family company was Cuban for nearly a century, and the Bacardi family is thinking about making rum there again.
