online archive
12:00PM
JUL 27 2007
European history
From Harper's, what is, and to what end do we study history? If we adhere rigidly to the truth, to a quest for the truth, Friedrich Schiller tells us, we will move forward. A review of The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo by Sir Edward Creasy. Empire and Its Discontents: A review of The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain by Nicholas B. Dirks; The Roman Predicament: How the Rules of International Order Create the Politics of Empire by Harold James; and Among Empires: American Ascendancy and Its Predecessors by Charles S. Maier.
The history book that has everything: What do you want from a history book? Knowledge, interpretation, style, restraint — and strong opinions. The New Penguin History of the World has it all. From Polis to Imperium: A review of The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian by Robin Lane Fox. A review of Cultural Borrowings and Ethnic Appropriations in Antiquity. A review of Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia and the End of the Golden Age by Robin Waterfield. A review of La "crise" de l'Empire romain de Marc Aurèle à Constantin. Mutations, continuités, ruptures. We're just a flea bite away from catastrophe ourselves: A review of Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe by William Rosen (and more and more and more).
A review of Europe's Reformations, 1450-1650: Doctrine, Politics, and Community by James D. Tracy. A review of The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815 by Tim Blanning (and more). A review of Napoleon: The Path to Power 1769-1799 by Philip Dwyer. A review of Napoleon in Egypt: The Greatest Glory by Paul Strathern. A review of Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna by Adam Zamoyski. A review of A Turn to Empire: The Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France by Jennifer Pitts. A review of William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner by William Hague; Abolition!: The Struggle to Abolish Slavery in the British Colonies by Richard S. Reddie; and The Trade, The Owner, The Slave by James Walvin (and more and more).
A review of World War One: A Short History by Norman Stone. Nine decades ago the Royal Family switched to an English-sounding name because of anti-German feeling, as did some of their subjects. Is there an echo of this predicament today? From The Atlantic Monthly, a review of Europe At War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory by Norman Davies. A review of Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941 by Ian Kershaw. A review of Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War by Chris Bellamy. A review of Hitler's Home Front: Württemberg under the Nazis by Jill Stephenson. A review of The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World by Kati Marton (and more). The introduction to From Guilt to Shame: Auschwitz and After by Ruth Leys. A review of Churchill: The Unexpected Hero by Paul Addison. A review of Austerity Britain 1945-51 by David Kynaston. Graciana del Castillo and Edmund S. Phelps on the road to post-War recovery. A review of The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989 by Frederick Taylor (and more). An excerpt from The Logics and Politics of Post-WWII Migration to Western Europe by Anthony M. Messina. A certain way of being European: A review of In Europe: Travels through the twentieth century by Geert Mak.
12:00PM
JUL 27 2007
Left movements, the environment and sex
From Turbulence, at the end of the 20th century many involved in various movements around the world had the sense that we were winning. In 2007 things appear much more complicated. What would it actually mean to win? Politics in an age of fantasy: If progressives want to be a meaningful political force in the 21st century we need to start dreaming, argues Stephen Duncombe; Sandro Mezzadra and Gigi Roggero on the crisis of the "movement of movements"; how do we engage with existing social struggles without falling back into empty sloganeering? Ben Trott suggests the idea of directional demands might provide a way out of the impasse; if the cell form of capitalism is the commodity, the cellular form of a society beyond capital is the common.
Nick Dyer-Witheford discusses the circulation of commons and the conditions they would create for new collective projects and waves of organising; the demand for a basic income de-linked from wage labour appears to be gaining ground, in parts of Europe at least. But is it really as radical as it sounds?; Euclides André Mance celebrates a new mode of production which is expanding as part of a network revolution, and argues that it could form the material basis for new post-capitalist societies; the crazy before the new: Complexity, critical instability and the end of capitalism; and politicising sadness: After the euphoria of the event, the melacholy of the comedown, as our power-to-act wanes and we sense new possibilities receding.
The threat from outer space: An article on the ultimate environmental catastrophe. A look at why climate engineering is doable, as long as we never stop. James Hansen finds it almost inconceivable that "business as usual" climate change will not result in a rise in sea level measured in metres within a century. Is he the only scientist who thinks so? The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain, Or Does It? Climate change explains shifting rainfall patterns: wet places getting wetter and dry places drier. The localvore's dilemma: Sometimes buying local food helps in the battle against climate change. Sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes, it's just too confusing to decide. Ten Dispatches About Place: As Everywhere becomes Nowhere, we establish private landmarks for the presence of the eternal in daily life.
Married Man Seeks Same for Discreet Play: He has a loving wife, a small child—and sex with men on the side. How the Internet has made it easier than ever to lead a detection-proof double life. Why do men kill their wives? Could some of these murders really be no more than "divorce substitutes"? The upcoming trials of Neil Entwistle and James Keown might provide some answers. Helen Fisher on The Laws of Chemistry: Whom you are most attracted to reflects the biology of your brain as much as the heat of your heart. And it may not have to do with us—it's all about the kids; and Marriage, a History: Long ago, love was a silly reason for a match. How marriage has changed over history. Is monogamy natural? A lifetime of love versus a quick roll with a stranger. It's funny how we can have two seemingly opposite urges at the same time. Ron Jeremy will hit the open highway with Pastor Craig Gross, founder of the anti-porn Web site XXXchurch.com, to debate the issue of pornography. Is it seriously wrong to have virtual sex with a virtual child? Peter Singer on virtual vices.
12:00PM
JUL 27 2007
Population, East and South Asia and globalization
From The Economist, how to deal with a falling population: Worries about a population explosion have been replaced by fears of decline. If a country wants to keep its population up, it should promote IVF. A review of Embryo Culture: Making Babies in the Twenty-First Century by Beth Kohl Sarah and Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Conception is Changing Men, Women, and the World by Liza Mundy. Japan's population is ageing fast and shrinking. That has implications for every institution, and may even decide the fate of governments. In the Ruins of Empire should inform our thinking about calling on Japan to make reparations to "comfort women". China's corpse brides: An article on a lucrative, grisly market for grave robbers and murderers. An interview with Xinran, author of The Good Women of China.
China's Chicago: A giant city in the south-west is a microcosm of China's struggle to move millions from rural to urban areas. Despite its attempt to impose "capitalism with Chinese characteristics" in an effort to preserve the authority of the Communist state, Beijing will soon find that it can no longer silence the many who speak out against tyranny and corruption. Scared of China's economy? You should be. The Sopranos State: How North Korea’s crime empire functions. North Korea's no Mozambique: A review of North of the DMZ by Andrei Lankov. A matter of honour: A row over the UN's record in North Korea gets very close and personal, to everyone's detriment.
A review of Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South East Asia. From The Economist, ten years after Asia's financial crisis, the region is booming again. Has it fully recovered or are economic mistakes being repeated? Left behind by Asia's rise: Nature has dealt Papua New Guinea a tough hand. Even so, reformers have already shown how it could be doing much better. The survivors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia were witness to one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Many cannot bring themselves to speak of it. The French children of these survivors are trying to come to terms with their parents' silence. A review of Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi by Justin Wintle.
A review of The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan by Yasmin Khan. A review of Gandhi: The Man, His People and The Empire by Rajmohan Gandhi. The Gandhis' girl: The election of India's president is a modest boost to the government. The Internet's Spice Route: An excerpt from The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means to All of Us. A review of Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron (and more). A review of Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang by James Millwoard. A review of The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion by Paddy Docherty. A review of Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalisation by Nayan Chanda. Going nowhere: Despite reports in the Financial Times, there's no backlash against globalisation — only against growing inequality and social immobility.
12:00PM
JUL 27 2007
Authors, nature and biography, the Wall Street Journal and journalism
A review of Being Shelley: The Poet's Search for Himself by Ann Wroe. Leading literary firms failed to recognise the work of Jane Austen when it was sent in by a prankster. The opening chapters of three novels were submitted under an invented name, with titles and character names changed. Think you can do better? Try our opening line quiz. From LRB, The Astor Place Riot: A review of The Shakespeare Riots: Revenge, Drama and Death in 19th-Century America by Nigel Cliff. In some ways, one might regard the literary couples whose intimate relationships inspired Katie Roiphe’s Uncommon Arrangements as performance artists. From American Heritage, a look at how Alaska gold formed Jack London. From TLS, a review of Cahiers de la Guerre et Autres Textes by Marguerite Duras. A review of Nancy Cunard: Heiress, Muse, Political Idealist by Lois Gordon. Invisible book: A new biography provides the context for Ralph Ellison's failure to finish a second novel (and more from Bookforum). From The Nation, I'm not the man I used to be: A review of Peeling the Onion by Gunter Grass.
Face Book: A review of The Post-Katrina Portraits: Written and Narrated by Hundreds. A review of Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett. A review of F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the Twentieth Century by Mark Levine. A review of The Obsession: Tragedy in the North Atlantic by John Chipman. A review of Dancing With Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's by Lauren Kessler. A review of Insulin Murder: True-Life Cases by Vincent Marks and Caroline Richmond. A review of Six Feet Over: Adventures in the Afterlife by Mary Roach (and more). From New Statesman, stand-up poet Luke Wright tackle ten existential questions. A review of Failure: An Autobiography by Josh Giddings. A review of Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen.
In the Wall Street Journal deal, the question is when, not if, Rupert Murdoch would take control. Will Rupert Murdoch's play to own and operate the Wall Street Journal have a silver lining for liberals? Eric Alterman investigates. Swept Away by the River of Money: The Wall Street Journal, which the heirs of the Bancroft family are in the process of selling to Rupert Murdoch, is the ultimate symbol of the capitulation of the "American century" to the forces of economic change.
Goodbye to Newspapers? Russell Baker reviews When the Press Fails: Political Power and the New Media from Iraq to Katrina by W. Lance Bennett, Regina G. Lawrence, and Steven Livingston and American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media by Neil Henry. From AJR, A Fading Taboo: Paper by paper, advertising is making its way onto the nation’s front pages and section fronts. Should newspapers become local blog networks? From TAP, how the press workers at the Los Angeles Times bucked the paper's legacy and organized at the notoriously anti-union employer. Have media drunk enviro-Kool Aid? Jack Shafer says reporters and editors are losing their heads by cozying up to environmental cause. He's wrong. Bruce Bartlett on the changing world of commentary. Shut Your Loophole: Add loophole to the list of words that should be banned from journalism.
