Contemporary Review articles from November 2005

Contemporary Review archives from November 2005

Germany's indecisive election.
November 1, 2005... THE September elections in Germany were unusual if not unique for five reasons that are likely to change the German political landscape. However, this does not necessarily mean a destabilization of Europe's largest democracy nor an end to...

Contrasting monarchies: Britain and Saudi Arabia.
November 1, 2005... THE death of a king, like that of lesser mortals, always brings changes. So, the death of King Fahd in August 2005 raised new questions on the possible development of the Saudi monarchy, or at least indications of development in the future. ...

Art notes: a Fauve on the Thames: Andre Derain at the Courtauld Gallery.(Brief article)
November 1, 2005... A French art-dealer called Vollard dispatched the colour-revolutionary Andre Derain (1880-1945) to London in 1906. Vollard hoped that his protege's townscapes would outdo even the sensation created by Monet's views of London in 1904. Derain was...

The old Lady of Threadneedle Street: the bank of England.(The Bank of England)
November 1, 2005... CENTRE of international finance, symbol of stability, banker to the British Government and nation, custodian of the currency, guardian of the official reserves of gold and foreign currency, the Bank of England, Britain's central bank, can claim...

Cultural life and the road to peace in Northern Ireland.
November 1, 2005... THE 'Good Friday Agreement' was signed in May 1998 and at that point it was heralded as an historic and a momentous event by many commentators. Two veteran politicians, the Unionist David Trimble and the Nationalist John Hume were the chief...

Iceland: the curse of the new conformity.
November 1, 2005... I love Iceland dearly, but it has lost its way. A comment about the road taken by a lump of shifting, explosive northern Atlantic rock with a tiny population and a globally irrelevant economy sounds like pointless self-indulgence. But in fact...

The enduring world of proverbs.
November 1, 2005... EVERY language has a store of short, succinct sayings that cast a light on life and human nature, and strike us by their common sense expressed in verbal felicity. Traditional observation, supple concision and verbal memorability are the...

Actors on Shakespeare.(Players of Shakespeare, vols. 5-6)(Book review)
November 1, 2005... THE latest two volumes in a series that began in 1985, then edited by Philip Brockbank, are Players of Shakespeare 5 and 6 (Robert Small-wood, editor. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]35.00. ISBN 0-521-81131-7 and ISBN...

Eveless in Cuba.
November 1, 2005... WHEN I found my seat on the plane, two elderly gentlemen were between me and it. 'Excuse me.' Nothing. 'Excuse me. That's my seat--by the window.' 'This is my seat.' His companion agreed. They were their seats. 'Yes I know--but...

Understanding terrorism.(Dining with Terrorists: Meetings with the World's Most Wanted Militants)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Dining with Terrorists: Meetings with the World's Most Wanted Militants. Phil Rees. Macmillan. [pounds sterling]18.99. xv + 395 pages. ISBN 1-4050-4716-X. In this compelling work the journalist, Phil Rees, explores the meaning of the word...

The Labour Party between the Wars.(Labour Inside the Gate: A History of the British Labour Party between the Wars)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Labour Inside the Gate: A History of the British Labour Party between the Wars. Matthew Worley. I.B. Tauris. [pounds sterling]45.00. vii + 278 pages. ISBN 1-85043-798-X Histories of British political parties are invariably written from one...

Supermarkets and the British way of life.(Trolley Wars: The Battle of the Supermarkets)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Trolley Wars: The Battle of the Supermarkets. Judi Bevan. Profile Books. [pounds sterling]17.99. xiv + 258 pages. ISBN 1-86197-661-5. Anyone who thinks English social customs like morris dancing and carol singing are dying out should be in...

V.S. Pritchett revisited.(V.S. Pritchett: A Working Life)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... V.S. Pritchett: A Working Life. Jeremy Treglown. Chatto & Windus. [pounds sterling]25.00. xi + 308 pages. ISBN 0-701-17322-X. Anyone with the slightest interest in the short story, as a reader or writer, will know the name of V.S....

The end of the British middle class.(The Great Abdication: Why Britain's Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Great Abdication: Why Britain's Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class. Alexander Deane. Imprint Academic/Societas. [pounds sterling]8.95 p.b. (US$17.90). vi + 107 pages. ISBN 0-907845-975. The 'Societas' series is an attempt to...

D.H. Lawrence redux.(D.H. Lawrence: The Life of an Outsider)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... D.H. Lawrence: The Life of an Outsider. John Worthen. Allen Lane. [pounds sterling]30.00. xxvi + 518 pages. ISBN 0-713-99613-7. Both Penguin Books and Professor Worthen have a long history of supporting the cause of D.H. Lawrence. Professor...

Defending the faith.(In Defence of Christianity)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... In Defence of Christianity. Brian Hebblethwaite. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]16.99. x + 183 pages. ISBN 0-19-27679-X. Reason is not the basis of faith, says the author, but his aim is 'to set out some of the reasoning that can...

The world of paperbacks.(new releases)
November 1, 2005... VINTAGE leads the way in this month's column with a wide variety of new titles in their Vintage Classics series: the first five are novels by Aldous Huxley which cover almost the whole of his literary output. The first, Those Barren Leaves, was...

Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia. Isabel de Madariaga. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]25.00. xxii + 484 pages. ISBN 0-300-09757-3. Prof. Madariaga makes no claim to original research in this biography of Ivan IV but does bring...

Dwin Bramall: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal the Lord Bramall, KG, GCB, OBE, MC.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Dwin Bramall: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal the Lord Bramall, KG, GCB, OBE, MC. Michael Tillotson. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]19.99. xv + 272 pages. ISBN 0-7509-4238-X. The author, who has spent much of his life writing...

The King and the Vice Queen: George IV's Last Scandalous Affair.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The King and the Vice Queen: George IV's Last Scandalous Affair. Tom Ambrose. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]20.00. vii + 248 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3494-8. Among the things for which George IV is remembered is his succession of mistresses,...

The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide. Anthony Majanlahti. Chatto & Windus. [pounds sterling]20.00. xii + 418 pages. ISBN 0-701-17687-3. This is an unusual and fascinating book and is, as its subtitle states, both a history, or...

Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce. Nigel Farndale. Macmillan. [pounds sterling]20.00. ix + 374 pages. ISBN 0-333-98992-9. 'Lord Haw-Haw', the name taken by William Joyce, was notorious as the man who broadcast Nazi propaganda...

The Fall of Toulon: The Last Opportunity to Defeat the French Revolution.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Fall of Toulon: The Last Opportunity to Defeat the French Revolution. Bernard Ireland. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]20.00. 319 pages. ISBN 0-297-84612-4. After Republican France declared war on the United Kingdom the Royal Navy...

The Day Peace Broke Out: The VE-day Experience.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Day Peace Broke Out: The VE-day Experience. Mike Brown. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]12.99 p.b. iii + 188 pages. ISBN 0-7509-4118-9. With the help of hundreds of illustrations--snapshots, music scores, posters, magazine covers,...

Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham. Andy Foster. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]9.99 p.b. x + 326 pages. ISBN 0-300-10731-5. Birmingham is England's second largest city and one with a great deal of 'diversity' due to the...

Oh Joy! Oh Rapture!: The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan. Ian Bradley. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]18.50. xii + 220 pages. ISBN 0-19-516700-7. The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are one of the greatest legacies of...

Beauty and Art: 1750-2000.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Beauty and Art 1750-2000. Elizabeth Prettejohn. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]13.99 p.b. 224 pages. ISBN 0-19-280160-0. This is a book devoted to applied aesthetics, to answering the questions: what is beautiful and what is its...

Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made in France: The Case for St. Florent of Saumer.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made in France: The Case for St Florent of Saumer. George Beech. Palgrave-Macmillan. [pounds sterling]40.00. xii + 142 pages. ISBN 1-4039-6670-2. The first reference to the Bayeux Tapestry (if we exclude Baudri de...

Pompeii: The Living City.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Pompeii: The Living City. Alex Butterworth and Ray Laurence. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]20.00. xiii + 354 pages. ISBN 0-297-64560-9. The aim of this book is to bring together the vast amount of archaeological and historical work...

Iraq's Future: The Aftermath of Regime Change.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Iraq's Future: The Aftermath of Regime Change. Toby Dodge. Routledge for the International Institute of Strategic Studies. [pounds sterling]12.99 p.b. 72 pages. ISBN 0-415-36389-6. This Adelphi Paper (No. 372) accepts that 'it is hard to...

The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement. Arthur Aughey. Routledge. [pounds sterling]60.00. viii + 207 pages. ISBN 0-415-32787-3. Writing about contemporary affairs is notoriously dangerous, especially in Northern Ireland....

Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction. Geraldine A. Johnson. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]6.99 p.b. xiii + 157 pages. ISBN 0-19-280354-9. The author of this latest 'very short introduction' is a Student of Christ Church,...

Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II. Colin Smith. Viking. [pounds sterling]25.00. xxiii + 628 pages. ISBN 0-670-91341-3. Surpassing even Kut and Yorktown, the surrender of Singapore in 1942 stands as the single greatest...

The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. Bryan Ward-Perkins. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]14.99. viii + 239 pages. ISBN 0-19-280564-9. The provocative title is an indication that the historical battle over continuity versus...

Pevsner Architectural Guides: Leeds.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Pevsner Architectural Guides: Leeds. Susan Wrathmell with John Minnis. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]9.99 p.b. x + 326 pages. ISBN 0-300-10736-6. Like other titles in the Pevsner Architectural Guides this volume is 'designed as a...

Mayflower: The Voyage that Changed the World.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Mayflower: The Voyage that Changed the World. Christopher Hilton. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]20.00. xvii + 238 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3654-1. The aim of this book is to describe the voyage of the 'Pilgrim Fathers' to the New World in 1620...

Death, Grief and Poverty in Britain: 1870-1914.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Death, Grief and Poverty in Britain, 1870-1914. Julie-Marie Strange. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]48.00 (US$85.00). x + 294 pages. ISBN 0-521-83857-6. Confining herself to the period immortalised by Ensor, the author sets out to...

Between Genius and Genocide: The Tragedy of Fritz Haber, Father of Chemical Warfare.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Between Genius and Genocide: The Tragedy of Fritz Haber, Father of Chemical Warfare. Daniel Charles. Jonathan Cape. [pounds sterling]20.00. xx + 313 pages. ISBN 0-224-06444-4. This is a biography of 'a forgotten scientist', first published in...

The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The Human Past: World Prehistory & the Development of Human Societies. Chris Scarre, editor. Thames & Hudson. [pounds sterling]29.95 p.b. 784 pages. ISBN 0-500-28531-4. The editor, who is Deputy Director of the Mcdonald Institute for...

The City: A Global History.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... The City: A Global History. Joel Kotkin. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]14.99. xxvii + 218 pages. ISBN 0-297-64685-0. This title was first published in the U.S. in the Modern Library series. Its canvas is a very wide one because by...

Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth. Brigitte Hamann. Prof Alan Bance, translator. Granta Books. [pounds sterling]30.00. x + 582 pages. Winifred Wagner's life story is one of the most remarkable in twentieth century German...