Book Reviews
Thursday, 10 May 2012 08:14
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Richard Wolin provides a fascinating account of the intellectual confusion that followed May '68, but takes an ambivalent attitude towards the revolutionary potential it generated, argues Feyzi Ismail.
Henry Heller’s Birth of Capitalism is a lucid and comprehensive introduction to a range of central debates concerning Marxist arguments and interpretations of recent history.
A wide-ranging book of essays, Defending Multiculturalism is a very welcome resource, debunking anti-immigrant myths, challenging the current Islamophobic agenda, and relating present racisms to those of the past, argues Kabir Joshi.
Ilan Pappé exposes the undemocratic and racist character of the Israeli state, not only providing shocking detail of the persecution of Israeli Palestinians, but also a history of that community’s strategies of resistance.
Robin Blackburn offers an exciting new perspective on Marx's interpretation of the American Civil War that puts the question of slavery back at its heart, argues Katherine Connelly.
The News International crisis has shone a light on the close relationship between politicians and media. A new book explains how politics became distorted by an obsession with appeasing the right-wing press.
A tightly-argued book on the oppression of Palestinians living in Israel reveals the imperialist background of the Israeli style of apartheid, argues Joe Glenton.
Paul Mason’s latest book is a vivid yet impressionistic examination of three years of global revolt and is a welcome starting point for a discussion of revolution today, argues Dan Poulton.
The concluding volume of Social Structure and Forms of Consciousness is an important defence of the Marxist dialectical method applied to history, showing that only this approach leads to revolutionary possibilities.
Black History, Black Struggle, a recent issue of the journal Race and Class, offers an important opportunity to reassess past struggles against racism in the UK and the US, argues Faduma Hassan.
The last decades’ resurgence of the radical left has been cut short in recent years. Tom Whittaker assesses a collection of articles discussing the experiences of a range of parties across Europe.
Paul Mason’s first novel is pitched as an exciting entertainment set in the complex world of capitalist China, but has some serious things to say about both China and the nature of capitalism.
Why Noise Matters explores noise pollution, an important but often ignored environmental problem, both intertwined with consumer capitalism, and a class issue.
The rapid pace and intensity of emotion during last years’ revolutionary 18 days in Egypt is reflected in this collection of tweets from key activists of the time, who became known internationally as a result.
This collection ranks as one of the great denunciations of war. In taking the notion of ‘humanitarian’ military intervention to pieces, it is a handbook for radicals today, argues Chris Nineham.
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions is an important and lucid argument in favour of the measures to be taken against the Israeli state; all those concerned with the future of Palestinians should take note.
Sherard Cowper-Coles is an unrepentant, twenty-first century imperialist who longs for the days of the British Raj. His new book reveals his inability to accomplish anything in Afghanistan except help the US reestablish its hegemony in the region.
Nimako and Willemsen’s The Dutch Atlantic opens a window on the less explored but important Dutch participation in the slave trade. Even today, this has not yet been properly acknowledged in the Netherlands.More Articles...
- Tony Cliff: A Marxist for his Time
- Who Killed Che? How the CIA got away with murder
- The Assault on Universities: A Manifesto for Resistance
- Afghan women: the story behind the propaganda
- The Political Economy of NGOs
- Capitalism’s New Clothes
- Britain’s Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt
- Class Dismissed: Why we cannot teach or learn our way out of inequality
- The origin of our species
- The People’s Lawyer: the Centre for Constitutional Rights
Events
Books
The People Demand: A short history of the Arab revolutions
By John Rees and Joseph Daher
Strategy and tactics: how the left can organise to transform society
By John Rees
Capitalism and Class Consciousness: the ideas of Georg Lukacs
By Chris Nineham