More books have been written about the Vietnam War than about any other American war. The “official” version of the war lost credibility early and individuals had to make sense of it for themselves. A large number wrote books based [...]
In this thin volume, Lamrabet, a Moroccan pathologist and activist, broaches the controversial issue of women and Islam. Key to her approach is that she does not merely address the “role” of Muslim women or how Muslim women are “perceived.” [...]
“Conspiracy theory” is a term that at once strikes fear and anxiety in the hearts of most every public figure, particularly journalists and academics. Since the 1960s the label has become a disciplinary device that has been overwhelmingly [...]
In “Greatly Exaggerated,” a review of H.L. Hix’s book Morte d’Author: An Autopsy, the late David Foster Wallace discussed the literary fall-out after Roland Barthes declared the “death of the author.” Barthes (among other Derridean [...]
The Rising reviews one of the seminal events (if only symbolically so) in Irish history. The Easter Rising of 1916 not only destroyed much of the center of Dublin – it changed the course of Irish history. But why did it happen? What was the role [...]
In his book, Larry Taunton relates his discussions with Christopher Hitchens during the last months before Hitchens’ death from esophageal cancer. Taunton, an evangelical Christian, “suggests” that Hitchens, a life-long atheist, converted to [...]
In Defense of the Review By Paul Vicary The value of the product of the book review process is evidenced by the extraordinary effort required in balancing the efforts involved in writing a review – paying close attention to the work itself, of [...]
Ancient Greece first coined the concept of “democracy,” yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker-from Plato and Aristotle onwards – was ambivalent towards or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is [...]
At the heart of Al-Nakeeb’s tour de force is the juxtaposition of irreconcilable developments: democracy and what he refers to as “parasitic capitalism.” If the history of capitalism has shown anything, it is that it cannot be anything but what [...]
Combining Woody Allen and Mel Brooks with Anne Frank and Haulden Caulfield gives one an idea of the approach British author and philosopher Christopher New takes in this tragicomic novel. To be sure, there have been many a novel that pokes fun [...]
Cicero (106 to 43 BCE) was one of the last civilian leaders of the Roman Republic. Born into a well-off but obscure country family in the provincial town of Arpinum, he managed to become one of Rome’s leading lawyers and orators in a time of [...]
In April, millions around the world marked the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were systematically slaughtered by authorities in Turkey (what was then the Ottoman government). Among [...]
That this book has a forward by Gordon Chang should give anyone pause to consider the seriousness of Navarro’s book. Gordon G. Chang is a Chinese-American lawyer and author who is considered by some as a “China expert.” Chang was best [...]
Of course, when reviewing anthologies, one is implicitly engaged in two reviews; one of what has been anthologized, and one of the editor. This selection of Updike’s poems was culled by Christopher Carduff and he is not simply one of the legions [...]
Jean Manco has been a building historian since 1986, but has recently turned her attention to European prehistory and early history. This book follows on the heels of her similar work, Ancestral Journeys The Peopling of Europe from the First [...]
While campaigning for president, then Senator John F. Kennedy addressed 5,000 students at the University of Michigan, challenging them to contribute two years of their lives to help people in countries of the developing world. Within weeks of [...]
Author Diana Gordon was a professor of political science and criminal justice at the City University of New York (CUNY) (since retired). Her prior books and articles have concerned issues of public policy in general and, more specifically, [...]
In China Mirage, author James Bradley explains how foreign policy may arise from the secret manipulations of presidents behind the backs of experienced officers of the US State and Defense Departments. By analogy it calls attention to the [...]
Despite the existence of so many books about George Washington, Philip Levy finds a way to make a significant and interesting contribution. His book looks closely at Washington’s childhood years to see the different ways this story has been [...]
The end of the Cold War and the new millennium brought forth a veritable flood of literature in the social sciences and in fiction that has often been put (if inconveniently) under the umbrella of “postcolonial literature”. By stripping the [...]
