Not only does Allardice bring to the fore the lives of these men, but, he clarifies the procedure for achieving rank during the period including that the procedure of becoming a general was often filled with prompting carried out by the man himself, or his friends, or men with whom he served, and the like; as well as unassuming coincidence of time and place with need leading to the ranking General brevetting to brigadier as well as maneuvering, politics, simple chance, or his service in state militia with accomplishment of rank there and carry over to Confederate records, politics, and even mismanagement.
Strange Culture, a documentary: On Government and Critical Art Ensemble artist Steve Kurtz, featuring Tilda Swinton and Thomas Jay Ryan
Strange Culture is an intelligent and useful film, demonstrating how several cultures acquire and disseminate knowledge, specifically the art world and the justice system. It allows experts to speak, and it presents evidence. We even see some art—some of which is expectedly odd, and some of which is obvious tribute to tradition. The center of the film is Steve Kurtz, a long-haired blond, blue-jeaned artist and teacher, with dark circles under his eyes and a soft, humorous manner.
Vanessa Berry on Ninety 9
The author of Ninety 9 reads from and talks about her new book, about band t-shirts, growing up in the 1990s (and what has and hasn’t changed), on the joy of ‘zines, on the conjunction of the mythical and the…
A review of The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Ignore this kind of stuff and unless you win some kind of book lotto, your book will almost certainly fall into the obscurity that is an ever-present risk of modern authordom. What I like best about Howard-Johnson’s book is the simple, informal prose which is both warmly reassuring (‘of course you can do this’), and deceptively intelligent. The reader is encouraged and reminded of his or her own innate capabilities even as they’re goaded onto to raising the bar.
Some of the Art Notes of A Solitary Walker: On Richard Powell’s Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century and Other Great Artists
I think that when I first began to visit galleries and museums regularly, I would spend as much time reading as looking at the art: the art descriptions, whether in sheets of descriptions and lists or wall labels, were read for whatever information or insight they might give. I could spend three hours or more at a museum, seeing each thing, reading about each thing, and leave exhausted, my eyes red, my legs stiff. It took time—maybe years—for me to begin to relax, and just look at the art, allowing what was interesting to hold my attention, and what was not as something I could pass quickly and guiltlessly.
Interview with Tim Smith
The author of Warning Shot talks about his novel, how he became a writer, his style, his themes, his challenges, his writing process, his characters, his mentors, his new project, and lots more.
A review of 88
88 is a documentary that eloquently conveys that white Australia in 1988 largely did not have the sensitivity to understand the provocative nature of what they were doing by spending millions to celebrate the beginnings of colonisation.
Aron Nimzowitsch, 1928-1935 Annotated Games & Essays Edited by Rudolf Reinhardt
The book contains pretty much all the games Nimzowitsch played in the principal tournaments of the period (Bad Kissingen 1928, Carlsbad 1929, San Remo 1930, Bled 1931, Zurich 1934), some games from minor tournaments and from Nimzowitsch’s matches with Stahlberg and Stoltz, some training games and games played in simultaneous displays. Most games are annotated by Nimzowitsch.
Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt
The book is pretty comprehensive, covering topics ranging from the centre and king safety to prophylaxis and overprotection; from the relatively straightforward to the more advanced and (in the case of overprotection, perhaps) the problematic. As well, Adam Hunt discusses the skills involved in strategic play: evaluating a position, being resilient in defence and forming a plan. A final chapter looks at psychology and practical play.
A review of The Future Happens Twice: The Perennial Project by Matt Browne
Browne, a talented writer of fiction, developed his main characters in considerable depth. Parts of his book read like a detective mystery with many twists and turns as his main characters try to unravel some inexplicable events in their lives. The plot starts with one of the sixty-year-old clones seeing a young man that looked exactly like the sixty-year-old when he was that age, and the plot really gets interesting when the main characters discover that the government is behind this mystery in their lives.