NB: The Rev Daniel O’Connor was pastor of St Stephen’s College during the years I was there, in the 1960’s. He and his dear wife Juliet befriended me and my comrades, at a time we were considered trouble-makers. They did not agree with our politics, but for all that, never withdrew their affection. One of… Read More India and the End of Empire. Selected Writings of Daniel O’Connor
First posted May 27, 2012 Out of the mass experience of pointless death, a new way of speaking and writing, devoid of euphemism, arose, a plain style we associate with Hemingway.. The Great War chronicles the loss of the old rhetoric, of high pieties, of sacrifice and roseate dawns, in favor of “blood, terror, agony, madness, shit,… Read More Paul Fussell, ex-soldier, literary scholar & critic of war (1924-2012)
First posted May 22, 2015 The historian Antony Beevor tells Keith Lowe why his next book will confront one of the last taboos of the Second World War Antony Beevor has sleepless nights. When I met him recently at his west London home, he confessed this in a matter-of-fact way, and neither of us sees… Read More Antony Beevor on the history of the second world war: ‘There are things that are too horrific to put in a book’
First posted September 24, 2017 By DOUGLAS KERR One of the most acute chroniclers and critics of the 19th-century European empires of the East was neither a historian nor a political scientist, but a Polish mariner. Douglas Kerr examines how Joseph Conrad mastered the narratives of empire in a language that was not his own.… Read More Joseph Conrad and the East
Whatever their GCSE results, students should be told the whole story: understanding languages and cultures is a huge advantage in the workplace Xaymaca Awoyungbo I reflect on GCSE results day with a sense of pride tinged with sadness. Proud because this year’s cohort achieved fantastic results, given the challenges they have faced since the pandemic,… Read More Study arts and humanities because you love them (and so do employers, by the way)
First posted December 31, 2018 By Maria Popova “There is no insurmountable solitude. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance…” By… Read More Against the Illusion of Separateness: Pablo Neruda’s Beautiful Nobel Acceptance Speech (1971)
First posted October 15, 2019 In the winter of 1930, the father of Ding Ling’s child and 23 other Communist activists and writers were executed by Chiang Kai-shek. Her response was swift and irrevocable: she joined the revolutionary struggle I MYSELF AM A WOMAN: Selected Writings of Ding Ling. Reviewed by Susan Brownmiller (1989) (Scroll… Read More I myself am a woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling (1904-1986)
Neither Confirm nor Deny: How the Glomar Mission Shielded the CIA from Transparency by M. Todd Bennett; Reviewed by Chuck Steele Despite the centrality of the ocean research vessel Glomar Explorer to this fascinating story, this is not a book intended for an audience of environmental historians. It is, however, a first-rate account of the… Read More Neither Confirm nor Deny: How the Glomar Mission Shielded the CIA from Transparency
Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Aug 10, 2024 On Violent Political Transition in Bangladesh | Arup Kumar Sen Palashi 2.0 at Dhaka, Dhanmondi | Kazi Tanvir Hosen Bangladesh: Hope for a New Future? | Papri Sri Raman Bangladesh, A time to recall the most tragic events of 1975 | Bharat Dogra Bangladesh’s next leaders face a daunting task | Shahab… Read More Mainstream, August 10, 2024
First posted April 25, 2012 NB: Over the past four months, the Deoband Ulema has contributed to the climate of intolerance and religious bigotry in India. First by opposing Rushdie’s presence at the Jaipur Literature Festival, and now by sabotaging a perfectly legitimate subject for research. In the first instance they succeeded by riding on the… Read More Academic research on Rushdie’s literary work sabotaged by Deoband Ulema / Resist the Climate of Intimidation in Academics
