All the History That Fits a Narrative

All the History That Fits a Narrative

The Final Act: The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War by Michael Cotey Morgan, Princeton University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 424 pages, $35. Reviewed by Francis P. Sempa People have a tendency, when they expend much time and energy working on a...
A District in Play

A District in Play

Spitalfields: The History of a Nation in a Handful of Streets by Dan Cruickshank. Random House, (2016) 2018. Paperback, 763 pages, $24 Reviewed by Derek Turner Every morning, I would be awakened by the cockerel across the road, and open the curtains to see an array of...
The Doctor as Moralist

The Doctor as Moralist

The Proper Procedure and Other Stories by Theodore Dalrymple. New English Review Press, 2017. Paperback, 162 pages, $19. Reviewed by Scott Beauchamp The phenomenon of the literary doctor presents an interesting case in reading biography into a literary oeuvre. They...
The Doctor as Amoralist

The Doctor as Amoralist

Under the Knife: A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations by Arnold van de Laar, translated by Andy Brown. St. Martin’s Press, 2018. Hardcover, 357 pages, $30. Reviewed by Karl C. Schaffenburg In his entertaining and readable review of the history of surgery,...
Dropouts from a Mercenary Society

Dropouts from a Mercenary Society

The Bump on Brannigan’s Head by Myles Connolly with an introduction and notes by Stephen Mirarchi. Cluny Media, (1950) 2018. Paperback, 252 pages, $18. Dan England and the Noonday Devil Myles Connolly, with an introduction and notes by Stephen Mirarchi. Cluny Media,...
An Artist in History

An Artist in History

A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley. by Jane Kamensky. W.W. Norton and Company, 2017. Hardcover, 544 pages, $19.95. Reviewed by James Baresel Much as honesty forces the admission that they are not of equal aesthetic quality, the works of John...