Contemporary Review articles from April 2005

Contemporary Review archives from April 2005

Chechnya: the achilles heel of Russia--part one.
April 1, 2005... Editor's Note: The death of the Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov on 8 March makes the following article all the more important. It is the first part of a series that will examine the long conflict between Chechnya and Russia. In the last two...

A democratic Iraq?
April 1, 2005... If one makes a close study of a society different from one's own, one finds that institutions the very opposite of one's own are defended by the people to whom they belong with as much fervour as we defend ours. They do not seek to be delivered...

American Marines are guided by an old manual in Iraq.
April 1, 2005... IT is just two years since the end of major combat operations in Iraq but this period has turned out to be the greatest challenge for the Coalition troops. 'This is a different kind of conflict. War fighting is just an element of it', stated...

Schools and innovation in Africa.
April 1, 2005... AFRICAN parents make huge financial sacrifices in order to send their sons and daughters to school. In the straggling townships, children will work after school hours and at weekends selling trite goods on the streets in order to scrape...

Experiencing universities in Britain and the United States.
April 1, 2005... THE joke is old. If Purdue is such a good university for engineering, why do the lifts take so long to arrive? At least they do work, no small convenience when one is living on the ninth floor. This time last year I was having to explain to...

The Tories have a future.
April 1, 2005... THE general public who may be excused and the political commentators (particularly the BBC) who ought to know better seem to have no doubt that the Labour Government is assured of a third term by a big majority. They have argued that the...

The 1923 Tokyo earthquake: implications for today.
April 1, 2005... THE December 26, 2004 Asian tsunami is a reminder of the dangers presented by the Ring of Fire around the South Pacific (see 'After the Tsunami' in last month's issue). Japan is an important part of that hazardous region. The Japanese...

Shakespeare and the Catholic network.
April 1, 2005... IF anything can change our understanding of Shakespeare's life, it is likely to be a massive research project that has gained momentum of recent years. The usual shorthand for this project is 'Shakespeare's Lancashire Connection', stemming from...

TONY BLAIR AS GEORGE BUSH'S WATCH DOG.(The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... TONY BLAIR AS GEORGE BUSH'S WATCH DOG The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency. James Naughtie. Macmillan. [pounds sterling]18.99. xvii + 251 pages. ISBN 1-4050-5001-2. Perhaps the holders of television licences ought to...

ORIENTALISM, THE U.S. AND THE MIDDLE EAST.(Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... ORIENTALISM, THE U.S. AND THE MIDDLE EAST Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism. Zachary Lockman. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]40.00. 308 pages. ISBN 0-521-62080-5. There is an...

WASHINGTON'S PLANS FOR THE IRAQ WAR.(Plan of Attack)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... WASHINGTON'S PLANS FOR THE IRAQ WAR Plan of Attack. Bob Woodward. Simon and Schuster. [pounds sterling]18.99. xii + 467 pages. ISBN 0-7432-5547-X. Bob Woodward rose to prominence in 1974 as a leading investigative journalist after...

A SOBER LIFE OF PABLO NERUDA.(Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... A SOBER LIFE OF PABLO NERUDA Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life. Adam Feinstein. Bloomsbury. [pounds sterling]25.00. ISBN 07-4757-192-9. In his Memoirs Pablo Neruda recounts how during his first consular posting he befriended an...

STANLEY BALDWIN IN HIS OWN WORDS.(Baldwin Papers: A Conservative Statesman, 1908-1947)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... STANLEY BALDWIN IN HIS OWN WORDS Baldwin Papers: A Conservative Statesman, 1908-1947. Philip Williamson and Edward Baldwin, editors. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]75.00 (US$130.00). xxii + 526 pages. ISBN 0-521-58080-3. ...

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.(Shakespeare and the Origins of English)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... SHAKESPEARE AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Shakespeare and the Origins of English. Neil Rhodes. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00. viii + 260 pages. ISBN 0-19-924572-X. 'And' is the prime suspect. In titles, it can yoke...

THE WORLD OF PAPERBACKS.
April 1, 2005... THE WORLD OF PAPERBACKS W.W. NORTON has recently released four new titles in its long established 'Critical Edition' series. The first is Milton's Paradise Lost ([pounds sterling]8.99) edited by Prof. Gordon Teskey of Harvard University....

Great Tales from English History.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Great Tales from English History: Chaucer to the Glorious Revolution 1387-1688. Robert Lacey. Little, Brown. [pounds sterling]14.99. xvi + 271 pages. ISBN 0-316-72716-4. This second volume of essays is, like the first, devoted to traditional...

Kafka.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Kafka: A Very Short Introduction. Ritchie Robertson. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]6.99. ix + 136 pages. ISBN 0-19-280455-3. As Mr Robertson says perceptively in his opening pages, 'the sombre Kafka is for the 20th (and so far the...

The Command of the Ocean.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815. N.A.M. Rodger. Allen Lane in association with the National Maritime Museum. [pounds sterling]30.00. lxii + 907 pages. ISBN 0-713-99411-8. In this second volume of the author's...

Wilhelm II.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888-1900. John C.G. Rohl. Sheila de Bellaigue, translator. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]95.00 (US$150.00). xxi + 1287 pages. ISBN 0-521-81920-2. This biography is definitive by being...

Phiz.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. Valerie Browne Lester. Chatto & Windus. [pounds sterling]20.00. xvii + 269 pages. ISBN 0-7011-7742-X. One of the most important developments in Victorian literary history was the emergence of illustrations in...

The Birth of Industrial Britain.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Birth of Industrial Britain: Social Change, 1750-1850. Kenneth Morgan. Pearson Longman. [pounds sterling]11.99 p.b. viii + 171 pages. ISBN 0-582-30270-6. This volume follows the usual format of Longman's Seminar Studies in History series...

Contemporary Novelists.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Contemporary Novelists: British Fiction since 1970. Peter Childs. Palgrave-Macmillan. [pounds sterling]14.99 p.b. v + 287 pages. ISBN 1-4039-1120-7. In this survey Prof. Childs concentrates on twelve novelists born after 1940 to illustrate his...

Warfare in Ancient Greece.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great. Tim Everson. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]20.00. xvi + 231 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3318-6. This widely researched and clearly written study covers the...

The Goldfish Bowl.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister 1955-1997. Cherie Booth and Cate Haste. Chatto and Windus. [pounds sterling]18.99. 256 pages. ISBN 0-7011-7676-8. This survey covers the period from Clarissa, Lady Eden to Norma Major. Cherie...

Religion in History.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Religion in History: Conflict, Conversion and Coexistence. John Wolffe, editor. Manchester University Press and The Open University. [pounds sterling]9.99 p.b. 335 pages. ISBN 0-7190-7107-0. The ten essays in this collection are concerned with...

Josiah Wedgwood.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Josiah Wedgwood: Entrepreneur to the Enlightenment. Brian Dolan. Harper Collins. [pounds sterling]25.00. xii + 480 pages. ISBN 0-00-713901-2. The great Wedgwood company was a product of Josiah Wedgwood who had been born into a Burslem pottery...

Bomber Crew.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Bomber Crew: Taking On the Reich. John Sweetman. Little, Brown. [pounds sterling]17.99. viii + 280 pages. ISBN 0-316-72771-7. Mr. Sweetman is a recognised authority on the Second World War and in this book he tells the story of Bomber Command...

Dictionary of British Politics.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Dictionary of British Politics. Bill Jones. Manchester University Press. [pounds sterling]9.99. ix + 401 pages. ISBN 0-7190-4958-X. The author avoids constitutional matters (such as the destruction of the House of Lords) as these are treated in...

Penicillin Man.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution. Kevin Brown. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]20.00. xi + 300 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3152-3. Alexander Fleming has either been hailed as one of mankind's greatest benefactors or...

Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century: Parts I and II. Norman Davis, editor. Oxford University Press for The Early English Text Society. Part I: 1xxxvii + 671 pages. [pounds sterling]50.00. ISBN 0-19-722421-0. Part II: xxxiii + 618...

Sheffield.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Sheffield. Ruth Harman and John Minnis with contributions by Roger Harper. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]9.99 p.b. xii + 324 pages. ISBN 0-300-10585-1. This latest number of the Pevsner Architectural Guides traces its origins to...

The Cambridge Companion to Byron.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Cambridge Companion to Byron. Drummond Bone, editor. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00 (US$65.00). xx + 305 pages. ISBN 0-521-78676-2. Because Byron appeals and repels from so many different angles this collection of...

Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase & Fable.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase & Fable. Sean McMahon and Jo O'Donoghue. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]25.00. xv + 867 pages. ISBN 0-304-36334-0. The Irish language, or at least its speakers, are world famous for a certain...

Tales from the Tower of London.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Tales from the Tower of London. Daniel Diehl and Mark P. Donnelly. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]20.00. xvii + 205 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3496-4. The Tower, a mighty for-tress built by William the Conqueror to over-awe his Anglo-Saxon...

The Carlyles at Home and Abroad.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Carlyles at Home and Abroad. David R. Sorensen and Rodger L. Tarr, editors. Ashgate. [pounds sterling]47.50. xiii + 255 pages. ISBN 0-7546-0387-3. This collection of twenty-one essays by Carlyle scholars in Britain, the U.S. and France aims...

A Textual History of the King James Bible.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... A Textual History of the King James Bible. David Norton. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]55.00 (US$95.00). xii + 387 pages. ISBN 0-521-77100-5. This meticulously researched and clearly written book was commissioned to accompany the...

Jacquard's Web.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age. James Essinger. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]14.99. xii + 302 pages. ISBN 0-19-280577-0. The hand-loom in question was a device which wove silk threads...

1914-1918: The History of the First World War.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... 1914-1918: The History of the First World War. David Stevenson. Allen Lane. [pounds sterling]25.00. xliii + 729 pages. ISBN 0-713-99208-5. To Prof. Stevenson the war was a 'disaster... a cataclysm... a man-made catastrophe... a colossal...

13: The World's Most Popular Superstition.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... 13: The World's Most Popular Superstition. Nathaniel Lachenmeyer. Profile Books. [pounds sterling]13.00. xiii + 212 pages. ISBN 1-86197-628-3. This title, first published in the U.S. by Thunder's Mouth Press, is an investigation of...

Mao.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Mao. Michael Lynch. Routledge. [pounds sterling]10.99 p.b. xviii + 265 pages. ISBN 0-415-21578-1. This new title in Routledge's Historical Biographies series follows the career of the man who established the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 and...

European Universities from the Enlightenment to 1914.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... European Universities from the Enlightenment to 1914. R.D. Anderson. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]55.00. viii + 338 pages. ISBN 0-19-820660-7. In this well written and informative survey, Prof. Anderson's aim is to introduce...

Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III. Flora Fraser. John Murray. xix + 476 pages. ISBN 0-7195-6108-6. Having written a biography of Queen Caroline the author has now turned her attention to that Queen's sisters-in-law. They were known as...