Building Resilience
‘The Everyday Resilience of the City: How Cities Respond to Terrorism and Disaster’ by J. Coaffee, D. Murkami-Wood and P. Rogers; Palgrave/Macmillan, 2008. 304pp Reviewed by Alastair Donald | 28 September 2009 Whether through ecological breakdown, terrorism, pandemics or crime, cities are now widely perceived as permanently ‘under threat’. Consequently, creating ‘resilience’ has become a key concept in public policy, and...
THEATRE: A New World
‘A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine’ by Trevor Griffiths, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London. September 2009 Reviewed by Thomas Gartrell | 25 September 2009 In 1791, Tom Paine began the Rights of Man – his defence of the ongoing French Revolution – with an address to George Washington, the first President of the newly founded United States of America. Paine presents him with “a defence of those Principles of...
Feelbad Britan
‘Feelbad Britan: How to make it better’ edited by Pat Devine, Andrew Pearmain and David Purdy; Lawrence & Wishart, 2009. 250pp Reviewed by Martin Earnshaw | 03 August 2009 The times we live in call for bold new ideas, a frank discussion of how we got into the current crisis, and an experimental approach to solving longstanding social problems. In short, we need books with the scope and ambition of Feelbad Britain....
FILM: Milk
‘Milk’ directed by Gus Van Sant, 2009 Reviewed by Thomas Gartrell | 20 February 2009 Hands up… until the film opened, I didn’t know what Milk was about – let alone who Harvey Milk was and what he stood for. So I was annoyed when a friend gave away the ending just before I went to see it. But rest assured, it takes nothing away from Milk to know in advance that its main character, American gay-rights...
THEATRE: A New World
“A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine” by Trevor Griffiths, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London. September 2009 Reviewed by Thomas Gartrell | September 2009 In 1791, Tom Paine began the Rights of Man – his defence of the ongoing French Revolution – with an address to George Washington, the first President of the newly founded United States of America. Paine presents him with “a defence of those Principles of Freedom which...
Selling out the 'bottom billion'
‘The Bottom Billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it’ by Paul Collier; Oxford University Press, 2007. 224pp Reviewed by Daniel Ben-Ami Africa evokes strong emotions. In many ways it shows humanity at its poorest and most wretched. Every year millions of Africans die needlessly of easily preventable or curable diseases. Many more are locked in seemingly pointless but bloody conflicts. It...
EXHIBITION: Andrea Palladio
‘Andrea Palladio: His life and legacy’ at the Royal Academy of Arts, London Reviewed by Austin Williams | 5 February 2009 Palladio is one of those figures of architectural history generally known more by name than output, and so it is interesting – and curious – that there is currently such a concentrated focus on his work. Two exhibitions: one online and one gallery-based, explore his life and work and have...
Storm In Chandigarh
‘Storm In Chandigarh’ by Nayantara Sahgal; Penguin, 2008 (1st Edition, 1969); 248pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 5 February 2009 The province of Haryana was carved out of the Indian state of the Punjab in 1966 to form the Hindi-speaking 17th state of India. Even though it became independent, Haryana continues to be allied to the Punjabi-speaking Punjab… or what is left of it after it was divided almost in half....
Nudging: The very Antithesis of Choice
‘Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness’ by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein; Penguin, 2008. 224pp Reviewed by Martyn Perks | 19 December 2008 Organ donation is a contentious issue. As it stands in the UK, losing a close relative can suddenly mean a difficult decision on whether or not to donate their organs, especially if they did not indicate any prior consent. There are moves towards...
A World History of Architecture
‘A World History of Architecture’ (2nd Edition) by Michael Fazio, Marian Moffett and Lawrence Wodehouse; Laurence King, 2008. 692pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 3 August 2008 This is a scholarly work that is thoroughly researched, beautifully presented and genuinely fascinating. The authors pull off a difficult balancing act: presenting highbrow ideas in a readable manner while ensuring that it is neither an academic text book nor a...
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