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Books

The Long View: Little, Big

The book reviewed by John here is now old enough that its fantastical future has become alternative history. Little, Big By John Crowley Perennial (Harper Collins), 2002 First Published 1981 538 Pages, US$15.95 ISBN 0-06-093793-9 "'Paracelsus is of the opinion,' Dr. Bramble told the theosophists,

The Long View: The Future of Freedom

This is a book about the failure of democracy. That is inflammatory language, and I adopt it advisedly. One of John's projects was to show how the best guess we can make, from past experience, is that the world will tire of democracy sometime in the twenty-first century

The Long View: The Perfection of the West

The Perfection of the West is one of John's self-published books, an anthology of the writings on his blog. It is an attempt to build a thematic whole out of his writings, and I think he succeeds. You can still order the book from xlibris. I've

The Long View: Tribe and Empire

This book review probably ought to be read in counterpoint with John' earlier review of The Twilight of Democracy by the same author. The Twilight of Democracy overlaps thematically a bit with Tribe and Empire [Amazon link], but the earlier work has more of a Cold War grand strategy

The Long View: For Want of a Nail

Another counterfactual history, but this time one meant as entertainment. I haven't read this book, but I may get around to it at some point. “I care only if it is effective on the page. I agree with the late Ernest Newman: a great score is more finely

The Long View: Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals

An early book review by John of a collection of alternative history edited by Niall Ferguson. I think alternative history and historical fiction are fun ways to explore the structure of history, and help give you concrete hooks to provide a mental map or structure that will allow you to

Seriously, You Have to Eat Book Review

Seriously, You Have to Eat By Adam Mansbach, Illustrated by Owen Brozman Akashic Books, 2015 $15.95; 32 pages ISBN 978-1-61775-408-1 I received this book for free as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I appreciate the work of Adam Mansbach, and new illustrator Owen Brozman. Mansbach'