It starts with the title itself—Dayo Olopade’s challenge to the prevailing sentiment that sub-Saharan Africa today is little different in its essence from the “dark continent” perceived by nineteenth century colonialists. In The Bright Continent, Olopade catalogs an impressive...
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Authors of historical fiction often pluck their characters from the historical record, imagining how they might have spoken and acted in life. Other writers, probably those with an aversion to the drudgery of documentary research, avoid using historical figures as characters, other than for cameo...
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If you’ve never been to India, you’ll find it hard to imagine what it’s like. For starters, the country’s 1.4 billion people are crowded into an area approximately one-third the size of the United States (which is home to one-third the number of people). Walk the streets in any one of India’s five...
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When Americans think of Israeli history, we fasten on a handful of names: Chaim Weizmann. David ben Gurion. Golda Meir. We think of kibbutzim, the Israeli Defense Force, the country’s great universities, and its legal system. All these people, and many others whose names are prominent in the...
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How much do we owe yesterday’s literary greats? Enough to forgive them the racism, sexism, and homophobia that so often crops up in some of their work? I for one am inclined to be tolerant, since I recognize how much our culture has evolved in recent decades. But it’s sometimes hard to...
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Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review,
with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review,
with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.