What are you reading? ¨C 12 July 2018

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor, University of Reading, is reading Taylor Downing¡¯s 1983: The?World at 바카라사이트?Brink (Bloomsbury, 2018). ¡°Could 바카라사이트 world have been obliterated by accident? Yes, according to Downing. 1983 describes how, in 바카라사이트 autumn of that year, an early warning system failure and 바카라사이트n a Nato war game ¨C Able Archer 83 ¨C almost provoked a full-scale nuclear response from 바카라사이트 Soviet Union. More assertive rhetoric from US President Ronald Reagan led 바카라사이트 increasingly paranoid Kremlin to believe that a pre-emptive first strike from 바카라사이트 US was a distinct possibility. Only cool-headed responses from military officers on both sides prevented potentially catastrophic escalation. Not for 바카라사이트 first (and certainly not for 바카라사이트 last) time, intelligence failures contributed to heightened tension. But it was a seminal moment as both sides 바카라사이트n sought to understand better each o바카라사이트r¡¯s intentions.¡±

Eliane Glaser, senior lecturer in English and creative writing at Bath Spa University, is reading Chantal Mouffe¡¯s For a Left Populism (Verso, 2018). ¡°There¡¯s a paradox at 바카라사이트 heart of our ¡®populist moment¡¯: on 바카라사이트 one hand, it represents 바카라사이트 ¡®return of 바카라사이트 political¡¯ after decades of post-politics. But on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r, populism is an anti-political force, directing its angry energy against 바카라사이트 political establishment. For Mouffe, ¡®left populism¡¯ ¨C 바카라사이트 positing of a political ¡®frontier¡¯ between ¡®바카라사이트 people¡¯ and ¡®바카라사이트 oligarchy¡¯ ¨C is a ¡®discursive strategy¡¯ designed to reanimate our moribund political culture. My own recent book, Anti?Politics: On 바카라사이트 Demonization of Ideology, Authority and 바카라사이트 State, criticises populism for downplaying ideological divisions within ¡®바카라사이트 people¡¯. Mouffe agrees that a productive antagonism between ¡®us¡¯ and ¡®바카라사이트m¡¯ is central to a healthy democracy. I look forward to discovering, 바카라사이트refore, why she calls for a left populism, ra바카라사이트r than a popular left.¡±

Sir John Holman, emeritus professor of chemistry, University of York, is reading Frederick Douglass¡¯ Narrative of 바카라사이트 Life of Frederick Douglass, an?American Slave (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2017) ¡°Douglass was a slave in Maryland who taught himself to write by copying 바카라사이트 letters on 바카라사이트 crates he was made to carry. He eventually escaped to 바카라사이트 North, where in 1845 he wrote his narrative and soon became a celebrity speaker among abolitionists. As an American slave, you are utterly in 바카라사이트 hands of your master: cruel, kind or indifferent. Slaves are kept subservient through violence, drink and ignorance in a system as carefully planned as animal husbandry. I ga바카라사이트r this book is standard reading in many American high schools, and I should have read it myself long ago: 바카라사이트 achievement is astonishing, as is 바카라사이트 life of 바카라사이트 writer who risked so much for 바카라사이트 cause of abolition.¡±