Jeremy Paxman offers a view of the first world war that has its insights but avoids important questions that need answeringThe battle to carve up the 100th anniversary of the first world war began early this month with education secretary Michael Gove accusing historians and Blackadder – he didn't appear to make much distinction between the two – of peddling leftwing myths that the conflict was "a misbegotten shambles, perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite", while arguing himself that the Germans were entirely to blame for starting it. Cue outrage from every serious historian apart from Max Hastings, with Jeremy Paxman getting in on the act by adding that he didn't think Gove's concept of a "just war" was terribly helpful. Tit-for-tat, David Cameron responded by saying he didn't rate Paxman's history books very highly and reiterating Gove's position that "the first world war was a war fought in a just cause, that our ancestors thought it would be bad to have a Prussian-dominated Europe". A hundred years on, the in-fighting shows no signs of letting up.There has been one clear winner, though, in the race to be first off the mark with what promises to be four years of intensive programming to commemorate the war, and that is Paxman himself, whose Britain's Great War (BBC1) beat the centenary gun by the best part of eight months. Surprisingly, though, Paxman's version of history is one that neither Gove nor Cameron could have any objection to being used as part of the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
The editor and essayist Joseph Epstein looks back on his life and career in two new books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-22 09:03:39 UTC ]
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According to data released by Spotify, users aged 18-34 make up 57% of the platform's audiobook listeners, while television adaptations such as 'Shōgun' and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' have prompted a surge in demand for specific titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN America has faced an enormous amount of criticism from the literary world for, among other things, failing to call Israel’s six-month assault on Gaza a genocide, and is now facing a wave of withdrawals from two of its signature events, the literary awards and the World Voices Festival. In... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-18 14:26:32 UTC ]
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In the debut novel “The Band,” a burned-out pop idol meets a disillusioned professor, raising the question: What if the dangers of fame resemble white-collar ennui? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-13 09:02:30 UTC ]
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Elegant, luxurious, catlike … Netflix’s Andrew Scott-starring series is devastatingly unhurried – although not all viewers agree• Don’t get the What’s On TV newsletter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe reviews for Netflix’s elegant new Patricia Highsmith adaptation, Ripley, have been... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-09 11:00:06 UTC ]
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As expected, this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair is itself touched by and reflective of the global political scene, particularly the wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-04-04 19:00:07 UTC ]
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The YA novelist talks about her early love of Tomb Raider, true crime and fangirling the cast of the BBC adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to MurderA few minutes into our conversation, bestselling author Holly Jackson is convinced she’s spotted the American singer Nick Jonas. It would be... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-03-30 11:00:08 UTC ]
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Marilynne Robinson’s Reading Genesis, Tessa Hulls’ Feeding Ghosts, and Kristine S. Ervin’s Rabbit Heart all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-29 08:55:59 UTC ]
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James L. Swanson's bestselling book is the basis for Apple TV+'s "Manhunt," but the cast and creator also turned to historical documents from the real people depicted. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-03-15 10:00:15 UTC ]
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In Andrew Boryga’s debut novel, a young writer creates a career for himself by exaggerating, or sometimes completely manufacturing, stories of tragedy. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-09 10:00:20 UTC ]
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Britain’s youngest code-breakers, brought to life in a new nonfiction book by Candace Fleming, were normal teenagers: playing pranks, attending dances. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-08 10:01:52 UTC ]
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In his eighth book, the best-selling author Cal Newport offers life hacks for producing high-quality work while working less. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-06 10:03:11 UTC ]
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Chronicling the high-heeled path to drag-queen superstardom, the new memoir also reveals a celebrity infatuated with his sense of a special destiny. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-05 10:00:18 UTC ]
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In the audiobook oral history “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of ‘Airplane!,’” a cast of dozens fondly revisits a now-classic film. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-01 14:12:30 UTC ]
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“A Woman of Pleasure,” Kiyoko Murata’s first novel to be translated into English, explores the world of sex work in early-20th-century Japan. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-26 10:00:14 UTC ]
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In Streisand’s new audiobook recording for her chatty, brick-size memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” the superlative diva adds a little freestyling. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-23 12:45:40 UTC ]
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From cancelled books to ‘review bombing’, it might seem as though the website can make or break a career. But how influential is it really?Something dramatic happens on a social media platform every day. On Goodreads, the anachronistically designed website for logging, rating (out of five) and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-17 09:00:10 UTC ]
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His charming memoir “What Have We Here?” traces the path from a Harlem childhood to “Star Wars,” while lamenting the roles that never came his way. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-13 10:00:45 UTC ]
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