From Bryn Mawr Classical Review, a review of The Unity of Plato's Gorgias: Rhetoric, Justice, and the Philosophic Life, and a review of Ancient Philosophy and Everyday Life. A review of The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law. A review of Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe.
Partying and politicking: A review of Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna (and more). A review of Napoleon in Egypt: The Greatest Glory. A review of The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics. Joseph O'Connor's civil war novel Redemption Falls is a wonderful polyphonic monster of a book, says Terry Eagleton.
From New English Review, Hugh Fitzgerald on Karen Armstrong: The coherence of her incoherence. A review of God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens (and more and more). A review of Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America by Matthew Avery Sutton. A review of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion. Rite Turn: Can the Latin Mass make a comeback?
From Opinion Journal, will DePaul, America's largest Catholic university give tenure to anti-Semite Norman Finkelstein? Alan Dershowitz wants to know. Is there disdain for evangelicals in the classroom? From Writ, can universities take adverse actions against students based on their MySpace profiles? It depends. For the students who have always known the internet, the first place to channel grief was online. And the best online forum was facebook, where everyone had always gathered. Seeing no progress, some schools drop laptops. Is PE a waste of time?
How much energy children expend may be determined by their genes, a study suggests, implying that they find their own activity level no matter what we tell them to do. A review of The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier.
From The Hindu, monumental blend: The mural has evolved gracefully merging tradition with contemporary rhythms. There was Cool Britannia, Britpop, the dome, plus plenty of flourishings, fall-outs and full-on revolts. Stuart Jeffries asks: what did Tony Blair do for the arts? Erran Baron Cohen, brother of Sacha, has composed a 16-minute musical piece, "Zere,'' which is debuting at St. James's Church in London. Here's the kicker: It will be performed by The West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra. And this column offers a round-up of recent articles in the scholarly periodicals, and the chance to amaze your friends with your erudition
