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Tag Archives: history
There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray
Posted in Read in 2012
Tagged anchor books, capitalism, economics, history, nonfiction, philip dray, politics, recommended, usa
One Writer Led to Another
Ellen McCarthy of the Washington Post profiles Kim Roberts and Dan Vera, curators of an online literary tour of the capital.
Posted in Writing
Tagged dan vera, ellen mccarthy, history, kim roberts, profile, washington dc, washington post
A Thing to Deplore
At Harper’s Thomas Frank gives a brief history of the capital strike.
Posted in Reading
Tagged ayn rand, capitalism, harpers, history, john boehner, politics, thomas frank, usa
Questionable Generalizations
As in his previous books, Mr. Ferguson does little to mute his own strong ideological views: He denounces Marx as “an odious individual”; disdains what he calls “a lumpenproletariat with vices” like drinking gin and engaging in street fights; and emphasizes what he sees as the positive aspects of colonialism.
Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times reviews Niall Ferguson’s Civilization.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, history, michiko kakutani, new york times, niall ferguson, nonfiction, politics, uk, usa
Elephants and All
The New Republic has Christopher Carroll’s review of Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization by Richard Miles.
Given the dearth of evidence about Carthage, Miles’s reserve is understandable. Still, he can be overcautious. One wishes for more speculation—however tentative—in his discussion of child sacrifice. About its persistence in Carthage long after it had ceased to be practiced elsewhere, Miles comments only that the ritual “was a symbol of the vibrancy and coherency of a western Phoenician world that was beginning to emerge from the shadow of its beleaguered Levantine cousins.”
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, christopher carroll, history, nonfiction, richard miles, the new republic
That Was the Trigger
Kershaw, 68, was knighted in 2002 for services to history, and his two-volume biography of Hitler, published a decade ago, is likely to remain the standard life for a generation. But he doesn’t have an ounce of grandeur. He tells me his wife had to stand over him and virtually force him to sign the letter accepting a knighthood. “I didn’t really like the idea very much, and dillied and dallied,” he says. “I dislike the neo-feudal title, and have always been a bit embarrassed by it.”
In the Guardian Stephen Moss interviews Sir Ian Kershaw.
Posted in Writing
Tagged biography, germany, guardian, history, ian kershaw, interview, nonfiction, stephen moss, uk
More Likely Benumbed Than Spellbound
Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post reviews Hugh Thomas’s The Golden Empire: Spain, Charles V, and the Creation of America.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, history, hugh thomas, jonathan yardley, nonfiction, spain, washington post
Labor Lost
The Washington Post has Michael Kazin’s review of Philip Dray’s There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, history, michael kazin, philip dray, usa, washington post