FROM THE FUTURE CITIES ARCHIVE
Lost in Space’ by Greg Klerkx: A review by Martin Earnshaw Neil Armstrong, who died last month, encapsulated humanity’s desire for exploration and discovery, and is believed to have been dismayed at NASA’s diminished ambitions. Here Martin Earnshaw assesses Klerkx’s claim that NASA is the main barrier to realising a human future in space. ‘Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age’...
Emerging Africa
‘Emerging Africa: how 17 countries are leading the way’ by Steven C. Radelet; Center for Global Development, 2010. 169pp Reviewed by Joel Cohen | 22 August 2012 On the 50th anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, Nigerian author Chinua Achebe was asked “Are things really falling apart or are they starting to come back together in Africa?” His reply was incisive: “It’s always happening both of them. It depends on where you...
Chronic Dissentery: Olympic Whingers
‘The Art of Dissent’ edited by Hilary Powell et al Austin Williams | 24 July 2012 British comedian Jimmy Carr was recently heckled with the taunt ‘You don’t pay tax’. Floundering for reply, Carr spat: ‘I pay what I have to and not a penny more’, which was possibly one of the least funny comeback lines ever delivered. This exchange, allied to the growth of the self-proclaimed ‘grassroots movement’ UK Uncut, which campaigns...
The First London Olympics
‘The First London Olympics’ by Rebecca Jenkins; Piatkus, 2008. 278pp Reviewed by Alison Walker | May 2012 This book is a straight history of the fourth modern Olympic Games, held at White City in 1908. It starts with a description of how London was chosen for the games, and the men who were the main organisers, Lord Desborough, a typical English sporting aristocrat, and Imre Kiralfy, a Hungarian who had made a fortune as...
The Power Broker
‘The Power Broker: Robert Moses And The Fall Of New York’ by Robert Caro; Knopf, 1974. 1344pp Reviewed by Michael Owens | 31 March 2012 Robert Caro’s epic account of the life of Robert Moses, the man central to shaping the physical fabric and governance of twentieth century New York, is both scholarly and highly readable. It is considered a definitive account of the play of power in the making of the greatest world city at...
Green Philosophy
‘Green Philosophy: How to think seriously about the planet’ by Roger Scruton; Atlantic Books, 2012. 464pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 2 February 2012 Last year, Green MP, Caroline Lucas launched the “Home Front” initiative, which used the language of the Second World War to hark back to the joys of a war economy. In this rose-tinted world-view of global conflict, “31,000 tonnes of kitchen waste were...
One Million Acres and No Zoning
‘One Million Acres and No Zoning’ by Lars Lerup; Architectural Association, 2011. 322pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 21 November 2011 Henry Ford is reputed to have said that he had to “invent” the motor car in order to escape the crushing boredom of a mid-Western farm. Since then, the freedom of the open road has become emblematic of 20th century America’s size and its population’s desire, and...
Urban Design since 1945
‘Urban Design since 1945 – A Global Perspective’ by David Grahame Shane; John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 360pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 31 August 2011 The world is changing and some of the past certainties, it seems, are not so certain any more. America’s economic woes and Europe’s anticipated double dip exemplify the fear of the future in the Western hemisphere. Similarly, a mere 30 years after the break up of the...
The Energy Report
The Energy Report by WWF, Ecofys and AMO; January 2011, 253pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | February 2011 If you enjoy reading end of year accounts, or poring over corporate brochures, you will love The Energy Report – the eco-equivalent of a BP audit statement. Written by a huge number of people from WWF, together with some from Ecofys (a Dutch renewable energy consultancy), it has been designed by AMO, the consulting arm of...
3,096 Days
‘3,096 Days’ by Natascha Kampusch; Penguin, 2010. 256pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 10 January 2011 The agonising and ultimately redemptive tale of the trapped Chilean miners captured the world’s hearts and headlines. At the time of writing, the 33rd and final miner has just been released into euphoria, and into the spotlight, from their underground entombment. Peter Stanford writing in The Independent said that:...
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