The opening pages of this book by one of America’s greatest writers were a shock both to Richard Wright’s agent and publisher. They were so violent and painful to read that the book could not…Read more…
Review: Making History, by Stephen Fry
I must be the last person in England to have never read anything by “national treasure” Stephen Fry, but this book came up in conversation recently, so I have now done so. The book had…Read more…
Review: Character in Georgia, by Aka Morchiladze with Peter Nasmyth
This short book feels like a much longer one, as it covers some of the long history of Georgian culture, focussing on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a book about poets and…Read more…
Review: The Blind Spots, by Thomas Mullen
Thomas Mullen is an author I’d never come across before, but his other books have gotten rave reviews. And this one had an intriguing premise: imagine a world where in the course of a few…Read more…
The dark side of IKEA
As a company based in Sweden, which is home to some of the world’s most powerful unions, you would think that IKEA would be an employer that understood the importance of workers’ rights. And if…Read more…
Review: Everyday Hate: How Antisemitism Is Built Into Our World And How You Can Change It, by Dave Rich
This is a very good and important book, and it deserves a wide audience. I read a lot about this subject and I still managed to learn things I didn’t know before. (I didn’t know,…Read more…
Review: Medea, by Euripides
I bought this book and read it just before seeing the play in London last week (starring the amazing Sophie Okonedo). Reading it and then seeing it made it absolutely clear to me why a…Read more…
Review: Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, by David Graeber
Five years after buying this book, I finally sat down to read it. It is very good. Unfortunately, the author passed away in the meanwhile and we will hear no more of his incisive —…Read more…
The tragedy of Clara Zetkin
As International Women’s Day approaches (8 March) some mainstream media will run their usual articles about the day and its history. Some may point out that the original name was International Working Women’s Day and…Read more…
Arming Ukraine: Lessons from history
Everyone knows that the only way to end the war in Ukraine — to really end it — is to ensure a Ukrainian military victory over the Russian aggressor. A decisive victory by the Ukrainians…Read more…
“Delilah” and domestic violence
The Ed Sullivan Show was a weekly television programme which was watched by millions. It helped define popular culture for decades to come by introducing groups like the Beatles to an American audience. In 1967,…Read more…
Review: Final Girls, by Mira Grant
Mira Grant has written post-apocalyptic books about zombies, a couple of novels about killer mermaids, and the like. Her stories are often (always?) about empowered women, contain lots of blood and gore, and healthy doses…Read more…
A spectre is haunting Putin
A spectre is haunting Vladimir Putin — the spectre of Andrei Sakharov. Sakharov was a physicist and the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. He later became a world-famous campaigner for peace, democracy and human…Read more…
Review: Just One Thing: How simple changes can transform your life, by Dr Michael Mosley
Dr Michael Mosley’s latest best-seller (or soon-to-be bestseller) is one of a number of new books that promise massive improvements in your life — if you just do one tiny little thing. And yet —…Read more…
The Tories, Russia and Lord Palmerston’s Ghost
Nearly 170 years ago, Britain was at war with Russia and Karl Marx was convinced that the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, was colluding secretly with the enemy. During his research in the British Museum Marx…Read more…
Review: Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper – Case Closed, by Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a very good writer of crime fiction. I have enjoyed several of her novels featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta. But I think she should have stuck to the fiction. This 365-page tome is…Read more…
The Israeli Opposition – from Politics to Protest
I had the opportunity last weekend to do something I’d rarely done during the years that I lived in Israel. I got to speak directly to leaders of the Israel Labour Party and Meretz. The…Read more…
And just 11 years later …
I have learned that an article of mine from The Guardian appeared in this book, which was published in 2012. It might have been nice to have heard that from the publisher, but …
Review: The East German Rising – 17th June 1953, by Stefan Brant (K. Harpprecht)
Barely eight years after the end of the Second World War, and with much of Berlin in ruins, workers in the Soviet Zone launched an extraordinary uprising. The trigger was an increase in the demands…Read more…
Qatargate: What the scandal reveals about the global trade union movement
In early December, the newly-elected leader of the International Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, was arrested in Brussels as part of a major police operation targeting members of the European Parliament. Visentini was released conditionally…Read more…