Books and Literature – Page 8 – The Scholar's Stage

C. Wright Mills Explains the Decline of the American Congress

26 March, 2013Books and Literature, History, The Legislature

The Capitol Building, c. 1910. Image Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “Detroit Publishing Co. Collection” no. 039985. [Link] The corruption of the United States Congress by monied interests and its eclipse by the other branches of the federal government is a topic we regularly return to. [1] It is not difficult to show that this […]

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Historical Smack-down

02 December, 2010Books and Literature, Culture, Dogs of War, History, Military Affairs

Last month Zenpundit brought to my attention an interesting debate between military historian Lt. Col. Robert Bateman and classicist Victor Davis Hanson. The topic up for debate was Carnage and Culture, the magnum opus of Mr. Hanson’s career. For those unfamiliar with the work, the thesis of Carnage and Culture is stated eloquently on its […]

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One More Website To Waste Your Days Away….

24 September, 2010Books and Literature

I came across the website Five Books today. The gist is this: every day the website interviews one politician, scholar, or pundit by asking them to pick the best five books on their self-selected “specialty subject” and explain why these five books ought to be read by the broader public and how these books influenced […]

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Azar Gat on Narrative Building

18 August, 2010Books and Literature, Narrative

In a previous discussion I mentioned the important part narrative building plays in human cognition. As it turns out, I am not the only person to reach this conclusion. This week’s “intriguing passage” comes from the pen of Azar Gat, excerpted from his awesome War in Human Civilization. It excellently illuminates the human need to […]

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An Independence Day Message

03 July, 2010Books and Literature, On Liberty, To My Countrymen

National holidays are moments of celebration. Independence Day is perhaps the greatest of these, an unparalleled opportunity to celebrate what has made America great. The American experiment deserves more than celebration, however. Each fourth that passes allows us the chance to reflect on and remember what has made this all possible. Along this line of […]

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Addendum onTyranny

30 June, 2010Books and Literature, Political Theory, Tyranny

Recently I wrote a post where I attempted to define “tyranny” as the word is used here on the Stage. I have given the matter some thought since then, and would like to add few points to this earlier effort. I concluded the post with the following operative definition of “tyranny”: Tyranny can be found […]

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My Anti-Library Erodes, Bit by Bit

20 June, 2010Books and Literature

I am happy to announce that my antilibrary is one book shorter. Earlier this week I finally beat my way through Vaclav Smil’s encyclopedic Energy and Nature in Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems. The book was a fascinating one and I imagine that before July comes I will write a post or two on […]

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Lucky Find in the Library

14 May, 2010Books and Literature

Of late this corner of the blogosphere has been quite keen on the ideas of Ibn Khaldun. For the most part those discussing these ideas learned of them not in their work of origin, The Muqaddimah, but through well written intermediaries.* While I find no fault in this (I am far too guilty of this […]

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War and Peace and War

15 April, 2010Books and Literature, History

War and Peace and War: The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations, Peter Turchin’s sweeping application of cliodynamics to the rise and fall of great powers, has been making the rounds recently. Both the Committee of Public Safety and Sublime Oblivion have posted responses to the book. As my past posts on cultural cohesion might suggest, […]

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This Weekend I Will Be Busy…

14 February, 2010Books and Literature, Site Announcements, Things I Do Other Than Blogging

…copying all the notes I have taken over the last few months in a dinky little green spiral notebook and placing them into an electronic format. Consequently, I ask the readership not to expect too much from me over the next few days. I imagine patience here might have its rewards – these notes have […]

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Category Archives: Books and Literature

C. Wright Mills Explains the Decline of the American Congress

Historical Smack-down

One More Website To Waste Your Days Away….

Azar Gat on Narrative Building

An Independence Day Message

Addendum onTyranny

My Anti-Library Erodes, Bit by Bit

Lucky Find in the Library

War and Peace and War

This Weekend I Will Be Busy…

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