 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
news
archives
reviews
2
 book and other reviews archives1 2 3 index of book reviews by abelard |
|
||||||||||
news
archives
|
||||||||||
| book and other reviews archives 1 2 3 index of book reviews by abelard |
|
| what
sounds like an excellent
book on Einstein and his work A usefully written review:
You are advised to look at the reviews here for a wider feel.
the web address for this article is |
02.12.2003 | ||||||||||||
| a curious-sounding book on mutations
the web address for this article is |
01.12.2003 | ||||||||||||
| General Franco—right-winger or left-winger Franco by Paul Preston Overview Commentary Some few countries have evolved peaceably from aristocracy to various degrees of democracy, others have spilt much blood in that transition. Franco stopped a communist revolution in Spain in the 1930s, again with much blood. Later, he also appears to have presided over a (fairly) peaceful transition to democracy. It was the Spanish Revolution that soured George Orwell’s naïve belief in the left, as he watched them attempt to crush the anarchists so they, the communists, could take over. The split between these two groups, of course, eased Franco’s task in suppressing the revolution. This 800-page book on Franco is written by a standard lefty academic. It contains good research, but is very naïve on psychology and politics. Franco was one of the most successful dictators of the 20th century, he maintained control until the end. On reading the book, I was struck by the enormous effort made in order to tell the reader how awful, stupid and incompetent was Franco. I was also interested to see a considerable list of others saying how brilliant the book is. It is very good on the detailed collection of data, but as analysis I am very unimpressed. Franco is not a sympathetic character, but he was not incompetent by any means. It would equally be possible to present him as highly effective and even beneficial to Spain. He kept (poverty-stricken) Spain out of the war in Europe. He kept communism out of Spain. He allowed the transition to a modern economy and a constitutional democracy. According to the author, all this was accidental and not at all what Franco intended. I am most unconvinced, reading between the lines of the continual ‘telling you what to think’ commentary. Whether you wish to call him ‘left’ or ‘right’, the end result has been steady modernisation, as it is throughout the developed world. For all the dictators and all the rhetoric, what works advances—and that is liberal democracy. In a sense, many of these dictators are dinosaurs, they seem to hold back progress rather than advance it. Further, they have a tendency to go on foreign adventures, killing large numbers in the process. In my view, mostly they are a considerable nuisance. Franco was at the centre of much killing, but many were much worse. He ran a police state in one of the more backward countries of Europe, some are still attempting that in other backward countries. Are such people a necessary part of modernising backward uneducated nations? The British had their dose with Cromwell, the French with Napoleon. These dictators just came earlier. Will you ask whether Cromwell or Napoleon were ‘right’ or ‘left’?
the web address for this article is |
12.11.2003 | ||||||||||||
| riley
at the tate britain Bridget Riley (born 1931) has an exhibition at the Tate from 26 June to 28 September 2003. Highly recommended show for your cultural medicine in this age of ersatz throw away ‘art’. Riley’s work, although not in the top flight, continues to mature as is the way with abstract artists. They almost invariably improve as they gain more experience. For reasons unclear, the main fascination seems to be with her earlier black and white op art work. Perhaps people find it ‘easy’ or ‘startling’, but her later colour work grows ever more interesting and sophisticated to the practised eye. Well, it would, wouldn’t it? Bridget Riley is a very English painter who shows greater discipline than most modern British painters. Like Max Bill, she has never seemed to have the confidence to leave her measuring instruments behind; nor has she embraced his exuberance, instead using a more pastel palette reminiscent of Ben Nicholson. Unlike most recent British artists, who have expressed themselves in any modernist terms, her work shows the greater seriousness and intensity of the substantial artist who works right through a theme wherever it may take her, in order to fully understand it, before moving on to the next stage. In this, she shows personality similarities to Frank Stella. I hope she has many more years painting in her, as I am curious as to where she will go next. There are very few painters, let alone British ones, who interest me that much! Two pages with nine works from various periods, with enlargements available. Four
enlargeable images. A poor repro. of a late mid-period work (approx. 1996). Repros of two paintings from 1999. A small clean repro. of an item from 2001. PDF
in Spanish. related material Ben Nicholson Frank Stella Much of his later work is sculptural and impressively monumental (not easily seen from photographs), but sometimes gives the impression of emanating from a production line that is running too fast. Maybe this page will give you an idea. the web address for this article is |
updated |
||||||||||||
a writer of whom you should be aware Schlosser, fresh from writing on the problems of the junk food industry, has now produced a book covering the pornography industry, marijuana, and illegal mexican migrant labour.
Schlosser catalogues the seamier and more depressing side of the American Dream and the corruption that is becoming known as ‘crony capitalism’: that is, the destructive relationships between money and irresponsible corrupt government. Another clumsy, but easily read, related item may
be found
here, but the problems are better catalogued
in the following books : related material
the web address for this article is |
04.05.2003 related drugs, smoking and addiction (document at abelard.org) america’s great shame (news and comment item) |
||||||||||||
| excellent
article about what remains of hitler’s library This article fills an important and long-standing hole in the study of Adolph Hitler, and does the task well. related material
the web address for this article is |
04.05.2003 related material Did Hitler know about the holocaust? A psychological assessment |
||||||||||||
| William Hogarth: satirist, social commentator, a social activist and .... artist The series, the Four Stages of Cruelty, like so much of Hogarth’s work, is a matter of morality. Careless violence to animals leads to careless violence to people, leads to death, then punishment. Even in the eighteenth century, some had a sensibility to causing pain to defenceless animals (and to humans). For those interested in British eighteenth century society, in fine draughtsmanship,
in art history, in decoding literary references and allegories in pictures,
this
neatly presented site provides material for a short glimpse, or an extended
study, of this British artist and commentator. the web address for this article is |
18.01.2003 | ||||||||||||
|
© abelard, 2003, 17 january the address for this document is https://www.abelard.org/news/review2.htm vaiable words
|
