America
Daniel Juckes reviews 'Call Them by Their True Names: American crises (and essays)' by Rebecca Solnit
On the first page of her book Hope in the Dark (2004), Rebecca Solnit quotes from Virginia Woolf’s diary: ‘The future is dark, which is on the whole, the best thing the future More
Prudence Flowers reviews 'Civilizing Torture: An American tradition' by W. Fitzhugh Brundage
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791, prohibits the use of ‘cruel and unusual punishments’. General Order No. 100 (the Lieber Code of 1863) declares More
Ben Vine reviews 'These Truths: A History of the United States' by Jill Lepore
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama declared that the story of American history is of countless people striving toward ‘a more perfect union’, that most utopian of goal More
James Ley reviews 'The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime' by Harold Bloom
As he reminds his readers on numerous occasions in The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime, Harold Bloom is now well into his eighties. He has spent a lifetime teaching and writing about literature at Yale University, where he has long claimed to constitute a 'department of one'. The claim is part lament, part affectation, part boast. ... More
