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Book Reviews
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C Copland24 January 2009
It is very much because of the addictive qualities of understanding the complex workings of the economy often obfuscated during life by our lack of knowledge that reading 'fun economics' books such as 'The Undercover Economist' has become a hobby of mine. Although little greater than a layman's, my economic knowledge serves to influence my everyday life, pointing out the unusual instances and very often providing an answer in terms of well-constructed logic. Tim Harford's book has influenced me the most. Its fluent style, comprehensive explanations and remarkable content all contribute to create an easily accessible yet knowledgeable perspective of the economics behind our everyday activities.
Tim Harford has successfully employed his apparently strong writing ability to bring the often complex subject to a level of general comprehensibility, without losing the magic of the content underneath. The Undercover Economist is a great read for anyone with even a remote interest in the subject of economics and should therefore be read by everyone. -
Erin Britton23 January 2009
Written in 1920 during the infancy of the Soviet Union and quickly banned on publication, Yevgeny Zamyatin's We was the one of the first great novels prophesising the world's dystopian future and greatly influenced the classics, such as George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Ayn Rand's Anthem, which followed it. For his allegory of Soviet politics Zamyatin created One State, a regimented totalitarian society, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor", where the citizens live in a condition of mathematically infallible happiness. D-503 is a loyal citizen of One State. A mathematician working on the world's first rocket, he keeps a journal of his days working for the collective good of a society where nature, privacy and individual liberty have been eradicated. After a chance meeting with the mysterious I-330, D-503 becomes mixed up in two illegal activities - love and rebellion - and, in becoming a slave to love, briefly finds out what it means to be a free man. We is a biting satire of totalitarianism, a great prose poem detailing the inevitable fate of humanity if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and advancement.
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Erin Britton22 January 2009
Dreams from My Father, is an unforgettable read, illuminating not only Obama's personal journey of discovery but also the universal desire of people to understand their history and what makes them into the people they are. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Barack Obama was only two years old when his parents separated and his father returned home to Kenya. Many years later, Obama received a telephone call from Nairobi informing him of his father's death. This distressing and unexpected news sparked an emotion odyssey for Obama, leading him to set out to discover the truth of his father's life and reconcile his divided inheritance. With "Dreams from My Father" Obama has produced an unusually candid biography for a politician, quite possibly because it was first published well before Obama launched his presidential campaign, but, although it concentrates on his childhood and life up to his enrolment at Harvard Law School, it does set the scene for his future lofty ambitions. Dreams from My Father is an inspiring journey towards the understanding of race, culture, social responsibility and family and really is an excellent read.
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Erin Britton21 January 2009
While Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father, was a highly personal account of his relationship with his father and his struggle with understanding and accepting his cultural identity. The Audacity of Hope is a far more political affair and something of a manifesto for his future as President. With The Audacity of Hope, Obama updates the reader on his life since publication of Dreams from My Father, focusing on the themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and offering his dream of reforming the political process so that people's faith in their government is restored. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama covers a wide range of topics, including those that many politicians might have steered clear of, and comes across as being very forthright and sincere. He spends a great deal of time discussing racial issues; talks about America's international relationships and reputation; discusses issues such as education, morality, faith and family; considers the theoretical and practical divides between the Democrats and the Republicans; and even mentions the stresses and strains of being a highly scrutinised political figure in the 21st century. Barack Obama has an excellent, almost poetic, writing style which makes The Audacity of Hope a far more enjoyable reading experience than most other political autobiographies. Obama writes authoritatively and engagingly on vital topics and provides the reader with a clear picture of the kind of country that he hopes and believes the United States can be. Given the role that Barack Obama now has in shaping world history, The Audacity of Hope has certainly become vital, not to say inspirational, reading for anyone interested in politics, current affairs and international relations.
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Jo Leddington19 January 2009
Back in a time before Pooh and set in a world far, far away from the Hundred Acre Wood, The Red House Mystery is A.A. Milne's only detective story and, having been out of print for many years, is a real lost gem. Located in the tranquil English countryside, Red House is the retreat of rich bachelor Mark Ablett. In keeping with the tradition mystery novel conventions, Ablett is hosting a party over the weekend of the murder and so Red House is packed with an intriguing and disparate collection of guests, including an army major, a self-centred actress and a successful athlete. Also expected to be joining the party for the weekend is Ablett's estranged brother, Robert, the black sheep of the family who had been packed off to Australia years ago. As the guests are scattered around the house and grounds, shots are heard coming from Ablett's locked study and Robert is found murdered. Ablett himself has vanished and, since the police are your token bumbling Bobbies, guests Tony Gillingham and Bill Beverley decide to play Holmes and Watson and solve the murder. The Red House Mystery is a classic of the cozy murder genre complete with secret passages, uninvited guests, baffled policeman, red herrings aplenty and even a potential haunting. It's certainly not the most taxing mystery but is a real pleasure to read on a cold, rainy winter's evening.
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Participatory Citizenship: Identity, Exclusion, Inclusion
Ashwini K Swain12 January 2009
The edited volume emphasises on participatory citizenship as opposed to the conventional notion of citizenship. While the conventional notion of citizenship treats it as a 'universal legal status', participatory citizenship offers 'an extended connotation, from the vantage point of the excluded people' (p. 10). It also entails an extended notion of active participation beyond electoral and passive participation. It raises and attempts to answer a set of questions regarding possibilities and potentials of participatory citizenship. While contributing to the literature of participation and inclusion, the book raises a set of issues for further investigation.
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kapil saini10 January 2009
Brilliant book with excellent activities, definitely worth looking at and trying these in your classroom.
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Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick
feathers mcgraw01 January 2009
Not the usual sporting autobiography.Trescothick's tale is one of outstanding success against a back drop of burn out, stress and the curse of depression that appears to have been part of his life from a very early age - eventually causing his inability to complete or even contemplate overseas tours; hence his premature retirement from international cricket.
Obviously the book highlights the key moments in his cricketing life from the constant demanding of his mother to bowl at him in the back garden from the tender age of 2 and his realisation that a talented but portly teenager was never going to make an international cricketer. The real cricketing aficionado will love and re-live the Jerusalem chapter where the glorious story of the 2005 Ashes victory is re-told from the perspective of one of its main protagonists. But that is to miss the point of the book...If facing the world's fastest bowlers is not enough to prove one's courage, Trescothick's now public battle with mental illness is even more heroic.
In the end he had achieved the vast majority of his ambitions in the international game and seems to have run out of steam; the birth of his own chidren providing a further catalyst for his heart breaking decision to give up playing for his beloved England.
Read this and weep - it had my lip quivering from the first sentence of the first paragraph of the acknowledgements. -
Anthony Carter01 January 2009
This is an excellent book for any actor wanting to get a handle on putting up a monolouge for an audition or class exercise. Finally, someone has written a book with information I can use!
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Jo Leddington29 December 2008
Although its monastic setting and murderously twisting plot have understandably raised comparisons, sometimes unfavourable, with Umberto Eco's classic The Name of the Rose, C.J. Sansom's Dissolution is a masterwork of fiction in its own right, rich in historical detail, full of intense and intriguing characters, and with a deviously mysterious plot that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Dissolution begins in 1537, a time of immense religious and political upheaval in England, with Henry VIII having proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is in turmoil, its people subjected to draconian laws, show trials and the constant fear that they may be being spied on by royal informers. Henry VIII is hungry for money and power and so, under the command of Thomas Cromwell, a network of commissioners have been sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries and pave the way for dissolution. In general the process has been far from smooth but in the monastery of Scarnsea events have spiralled out of control. Commissioner Robin Singleton has been killed, his death accompanied by shocking acts of sacrilege. A lawyer and long-term supporter of Cromwell, hunchbacked Matthew Shardlake is dispatched to Scarnsea to solve the murder as quickly and quietly as possible. As his investigation progresses, Shardlake's findings shock him to the core and cause him to question all that he had previously believed. Dissolution is a fantastic mystery novel with Samson having expertly brought the sights, sounds and, indeed, smells of Tudor England to life. Matthew Shardlake is a wise, engaging and sympathetic guide to the events at Scarnsea and their wider political implications while the murder that originally brought him to the monastery is a truly intriguing crime.
