Tom Watson was, until very recently, the deputy leader of the British Labour Party. A few years ago, he was diagnosed as suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. At the time, he was 50 years old…Read more…
The “Bernie Blackout” is now over
This article appeared on the website of Workers Liberty. A few weeks ago, the mainstream media narrative about Bernie Sanders ran like this: Sanders appeals to a very limited audience in the…Read more…
Review: Talking to Strangers, by Malcolm Gladwell
I think I read a negative review of this book somewhere. And for that reason, I delayed buying it. Which is odd because I think I’ve read — and really enjoyed — all his other…Read more…
Review: Foe, by Iain Reid
This is a seriously creepy book. It takes place sometime in the near future, though we learn very little about it. The narrator gives little away, and often seems to understand even less than we…Read more…
Review: It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past, by David Satter
First of all, that’s a great title for a book. And this is a very good book. Veteran journalist David Satter explores the difficult terrain of historical memory in post-Communist Russia. He…Read more…
Sanders and Soleimani
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. The drone attack ordered by US President Donald Trump has shaken up the entire Middle East, raising fears of a regional conflict – or worse,…Read more…
Review: A Forgotten Hero: Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish Humanitarian Who Rescued 30,000 People from the Nazis, by Shelley Emling
Count Folke Bernadotte is largely forgotten today, but his murder in Jerusalem in 1948 made headlines around the world. The first UN peace mediator in the Middle East, he was targeted by members of…Read more…
Review: The War in the West, A New History: Volume 1: Germany Ascendant 1939-1941, by James Holland
This is history on a grand scale. James Holland has limited himself to the war in the west, covering the period up to the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941. So in terms…Read more…
Sanders, Corbyn and Anti-Semitism
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. Click here to download as a PDF. Bernie Sanders has a proud record both of supporting Israel and of being critical of its government. He…Read more…
Review: 17 Church Row, by James Carol
I enjoyed James Carol’s Jefferson Winter novels. It was a guilty pleasure, I admit that. My life is not richer for having read them. So I had high hopes that I’d enjoy this…Read more…
Sanders, Debs and the Lessons of 1920
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. Earlier this year, a photograph made the rounds on the Internet. It showed Bernie Sanders meeting a young supporter in Iowa. Bernie is smiling…Read more…
Impeachment? What impeachment?
This article appears in this week’s issue of Solidarity. Something strange is going on with the Democratic presidential candidates and the impeachment of Donald Trump. All the candidates…Read more…
Sanders and Warren: What’s the difference?
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. American politics has made a sharp turn to the left in recent years – a turn that few anticipated, but that underpins much of what is…Read more…
Review: Which Side Were You On? The American Communist Party During the Second World War, by Maurice Isserman
“The history of communism in America is bitterly contested terrain,” writes Maurice Isserman on the first page of his 1982 book. Nearly four decades later, it remains bitterly contested….Read more…
Review: SAS Shadow Raiders – The Ultra-Secret Mission that Changed the Course of WWII, by Damien Lewis
One thing I loved about this book is that it tells a much bigger story than one might imagine. At the heart of Lewis’ tale is the heroic raid by British paratroopers in early 1942…Read more…
Bernie Sanders, the Jewish socialist who has won the heart of America’s Muslims
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. In recent months, Bernie Sanders has become an enormously popular politician among Muslim Americans. He was one of only two Democratic…Read more…
Can Sanders win?
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity (30 October 2019). Click here to see the whole issue (PDF). According to most polls, Americans have had enough of Donald Trump. A majority…Read more…
Review: Agent Running in the Field, by John le Carré
When I learned that John le Carré had a new book coming out, I ordered it in advance and began reading it the day it arrived. I did so because his last book, A Legacy…Read more…
Bernie Sanders: The road to Iowa
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity (23 October 2019). Click here to see the whole issue (PDF). Bernie Sanders has 100 days to change American politics forever. In a little more…Read more…
Review – Target: America, Hitler’s Plan to Attack the United States by James P. Duffy
What a great idea for a book: a review of the all the German plans, some completely bonkers, some plausible, to strike back at the United States during the Second World War. One of the…Read more…