Books and Ideas

Frontier Injustice Frontier Injustice

In Andrew Jackson: A Life and Times, the frontier president is cast as a one-man beacon for democracy. But Jackson's core belief was a fervent defense of land.

Oct 12, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Anatol Lieven

The American Political Tradition The American Political Tradition

The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln expertly balances the roots of a political revolution: the impact of a few key leaders and the lives and aspirations of ordinar...

Oct 12, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

Rearranging the Furniture Rearranging the Furniture

For prose scholar Viktor Shklovsky, who lived by the code of style and studied its depths, an unhappy love affair can be as much a personal tragedy as a plot device for more writin...

Oct 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Elif Batuman

A Hero for Our Time A Hero for Our Time

Critics have been trumpeting Benjamin Kunkel as the voice of his generation. But his first novel, Indecision, about a 28-year-old empty vessel, is little more than an empty vessel...

Oct 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Mark Lotto

Why Is Africa Still Poor? Why Is Africa Still Poor?

As Asian countries grow in economic power, Africa lags behind the developed world. Can it ever catch up? Will corruption, geography and disease continue to hold it back?

Oct 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Andrew Rice

The First Time Was Tragedy… The First Time Was Tragedy…

As the Bush Administration's incompetence turns Iraq into a terrorist training camp, Americans should look to FDR, who waged war for unavoidable threats, not ideology, while still ...

Oct 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

Blacklist=Blackmarket Blacklist=Blackmarket

Hollywood

Oct 3, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Dalton Trumbo

Fighting the Abyss Fighting the Abyss

Although The Aesthetics of Resistance delves into leftist notions of art and class struggle, this account of an anti-Nazi youth group in Germany seems outdated now.

Sep 29, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg

A Devil’s Dictionary of Business A Devil’s Dictionary of Business

Had your fill of spin and flimflam about the greatness of corporate America? Here's the real truth about money, high finance and low, commerce, clever tricks, globalism and globalo...

Sep 27, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas von Hoffman

The Blank Verses The Blank Verses

A Rick Moody novel is generally about one thing and that is Rick Moody's ability to write very long, occasionally graceful sentences.

Sep 22, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Christine Smallwood

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