Was Homer a Fraud?
You will never appreciate Homer the same way again after reading this book. It deals with alternative readings of the Iliad and the Odyssey, as penned by Sophists some 2,000…
BEST BOOK OF 2022: Magnificent Rebels
This book is so delicious I did not want it to end. Andrea Wulf, who lives in London, has written the best book of 2022: Magnificent Rebels. Wulf is best…
Dictatorial Misrule
As the crimes of the former president become ever more obvious, we are reminded of the words of Shakespeare, who might have been describing the White House from 2017-2021: “Hell…
Demagogues in American Politics
At a recent talk at the University of Texas in Austin, Dr. Charles Zug explained how he was led to a study of a particularly problematic element of American politics.…
EUROMISSILES: The Cold War Gambit
“In a somewhat unusual thing for a book, my central cast of characters are three types of missiles.” So stated Dr. Susan Colbourn in a recent talk at the University…
How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise
“Trump cabinet meetings eerily resembled high-level meetings in Beijing as, one by one, the senior officials praised the wisdom of their leader. The unpredictable interactions between the administrations of the…
MIDWAY: How America won the War in the Pacific
The Silver Waterfall has been written by Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor. McGregor, who gave a talk on the book in Austin (hosted by the Clements Center), is a US…
Reagan the Peacemaker: A Major New Book
When Ronald Reagan was running for the Presidency, many thought he was a warmonger. The fear that he would lead the United States into a bloody conflict was palpably real…
Trail of Lights ends tonite
It’s been a difficult week for Austin’s Trail of Lights. Wet conditions closed it one night, and severe cold closed it last night. It started this year on a very…
Evanovich: Not Literary, but Famous
“I always wanted to be rich and famous, and I am!” Janet Evanovich was anything but subtle in her appearance at the Texas Book Festival, where she declared “I think…