22 June 1941: the 85th anniversary of the invasion of the Soviet Union

Adam Tooze Chartbook 453 Today marks the 85th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa – the opening of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Twenty years ago I published the following passage on the first months of that unprecedentedly bloody campaign, in Wages of Destruction: On 22 June 1941, the Third Reich launched not only the most… Read More 22 June 1941: the 85th anniversary of the invasion of the Soviet Union

LASZLO LADANY: The Communist Party of China and Marxism 1921-1985: A Self-Portrait (1988)

Presented below is the Foreword by ROBERT ELEGANT. And this is an excellent review: Simon Leys: The art of interpreting non-existent inscriptions written in invisible ink on a blank page. Book review As his seventieth year approached, Laszlo Ladany decided to retire from the strenuous tasks of periodical scholarship to which he had voluntarily subordinated himself since… Read More LASZLO LADANY: The Communist Party of China and Marxism 1921-1985: A Self-Portrait (1988)

Book review: Souls in the Kalyug

Beyond remittances: A rare insight into the everyday lives of migrant workers Social anthropologist Shankar Ramaswami’s ‘Souls in the Kalyug’ is a rich, multi-layered text that provides a window into workers’ lives in India, including some hopeful strands within the destructive churnings of global capitalism.  Sapan BookshelfSouls in the Kalyug: The Politics and Cosmologies of Migrant… Read More Book review: Souls in the Kalyug

Tyrants: A History of Power, Injustice, and Terror

Review by Patrick Malcolmson “In a time when tyranny is resurgent all over the globe, in a bewildering variety of forms – military and civilian, theocratic and kleptocratic, ideological and tribal – this book provides a synoptic historical and philosophic perspective that does full justice to the manifold phenomenon in all its range and complexity.”… Read More Tyrants: A History of Power, Injustice, and Terror

Dancing on a Volcano

Ian Buruma on Berlin during World War II Bryn Stole n December 1944, amid the bombs and wartime wreckage of Berlin, acclaimed conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler led the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms and Beethoven in a frigid variety theater—since Royal Air Force bombing raids had already wrecked most of the city’s grand concert… Read More Dancing on a Volcano

Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger

John Boersma Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger By Waller R. Newell; 2022 Waller Newell: Interview: The Characteristics of Tyranny Today’s political discourse is rife with the prognosis that liberalism is in trouble, evidenced by the rise of anti-liberal and post-liberal thought, each of which maintains that a politics based on material self-interest is incapable… Read More Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger