Magazine Review: Lapham’s Quarterly: A History of Fake News edited by Lewis H. Lapham This is a “special issue” in addition to the four that this magazine normally puts out in a year. The subject matter is topical as there has been an avalanche of “news” that is in fact not truthful, while certain politicians and… Continue reading Magazine Review: Lapham’s Quarterly: A History of Fake News
Tag: history
Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings
Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings by Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States, shepherding the nation through the dark days of the American Civil War. Though mostly self-educated, he had a gift for the English language, making memorable speeches and writing interest letters. Because of his… Continue reading Book Review: Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings
Book Review: The Inkblots
Book Review: The Inkblots by Damion Searls “What do you see?” Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922) was a German-speaking Swiss psychiatrist who developed an interesting experiment involving inkblots. The son of an artist and himself artistically trained, Rorschach was fascinated by visual perception and hoped to use the things people saw when they looked at his inkblots to… Continue reading Book Review: The Inkblots
Book Review: The Minneapolis Riverfront
Book Review: The Minneapolis Riverfront by Iric Nathanson The city of Minneapolis grew up around the Mississippi River, and in particular, Saint Anthony Falls, which provided hydropower for the many flour mills that at one time made Minneapolis the flour milling capital of America. This book, part of the “Images of America” series, tells the… Continue reading Book Review: The Minneapolis Riverfront
Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949
Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949 by Kevin Peraino In 1949, Chen Yong was an idealistic boy in his teens, his military uniform too large for him, cheering in Beijing as Mao Zedong declared that the People’s Republic of China was born. Now, he is an… Continue reading Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949
Book Review: Sex with Kings
Book Review: Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman One of the advantages of being a king is that the rules don’t apply to you the same way as they do to commoners. For centuries in Europe, this also extended to tolerance of extramarital affairs, to the point that many kings had maitresse-en-titre, the “official mistress.” This… Continue reading Book Review: Sex with Kings
Book Review: The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution
Book Review: The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution by Richard Beeman After the last book I reviewed, I felt I needed something a bit more intellectually challenging to recharge my brain cells. Thus this volume, which contains not just the annotated text of the United States Constitution, but the Declaration of Independence, selections… Continue reading Book Review: The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution
Book Review: The History of Opera for Beginners
Book Review: The History of Opera for Beginners by Ron David Opera is one of the great art forms, blending theater and music into a powerful emotional experience. But it also has a stereotype of being incomprehensible melodrama that boring rich people drag their unwilling spouses to. And many of the books about opera are written… Continue reading Book Review: The History of Opera for Beginners
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989 by Shigeru Mizuki This is the final volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s history of Japan and his personal life during the Showa Era. It mixes events that affected the entire country with stories of his struggles as a man and an artist. As noted in the introduction by… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Open Thread: Housing Situation Update
As you may remember, last year I was forced out of my apartment of thirty years residence and required to find a new place on short notice. The expenses involved were considerable, so I reluctantly created a GoFundMe campaign. Thanks to the generosity of the internet, I was able to raise a large portion of… Continue reading Open Thread: Housing Situation Update