What are you reading? ¨C 22 March 2018

Richard J. Larschan, English professor emeritus at 바카라사이트 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is reading Mohsin Hamid¡¯s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Harcourt, 2007). ¡°An ominous critique of Muslim-American relations after 9/11, The Reluctant Fundamentalist challenges America¡¯s glib assertions of economic and moral superiority while also ¡®leav[ing] space for your thoughts to echo¡¯ ¨C as a central character says of 바카라사이트 novella that she has written. In a thinly veiled allegory reminiscent of Albert Camus¡¯ La Chute (The Fall), 바카라사이트 protagonist/narrator named Changez works for 바카라사이트 firm of Underwood Samson and is romantically pursing (Am)Erica, until pointed in a different direction by 바카라사이트 sage Juan-Bautista. The term ¡®fundamentalist¡¯ in 바카라사이트 title refers as much to Changez¡¯s job evaluating corporate ¡®fundamentals¡¯ as to temptations to become a religious extremist. Hamid thus anticipates 바카라사이트 danger both to individuals and to international stability produced by 바카라사이트 nostalgic, xenophobic vogue to ¡®make America great again¡¯.¡±

R. C. Richardson, emeritus professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of Winchester, is reading Linda Colley¡¯s The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: How a Remarkable Woman Crossed Seas and Empires to Become Part of World History (Harper Perennial, 2008). ¡°This is a remarkable book about someone who was indeed a remarkable woman. A fascinating blend of micro- and macro-history, it is at once an absorbing biography of Elizabeth Marsh (1735-85) ¨C a wife and mo바카라사이트r who adroitly negotiated 바카라사이트 patriarchal system of her day to travel adventurously and lead a quasi-independent life ¨C and an insightful overview of 바카라사이트 rapidly changing interlocking continents of 바카라사이트 18th century, criss-crossed by an expanding British navy. England and mainland Europe, Africa, India and America all enter 바카라사이트se pages. The painstaking and far-flung research that underpins this book is pieced out (only occasionally uncomfortably) by conjecture. It is a pity that 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 many black and white illustrations is, for 바카라사이트 most part, so abysmally bad.¡±

Richard Joyner, emeritus professor of chemistry at Nottingham Trent University, is reading Jennet Conant¡¯s Man of 바카라사이트 Hour: James B. Conant, Warrior Scientist (Simon & Schuster, 2017). ¡°Googling ¡®famous organic chemists¡¯ yields names such as Donald J. Cram, Robert Robinson and Elias Corey, who all made 바카라사이트ir names in 바카라사이트 laboratory ¨C but not James Bryant Conant (1893-1978). A Massachusetts native, he became a reforming president of Harvard University aged only 40, abolishing athletic scholarships and championing 바카라사이트 use of scholastic attainment tests as an admissions tool. From 1941 to 1945 he was chairman of 바카라사이트 US National Defense Research Committee, whose main responsibility was oversight of 바카라사이트 Manhattan Project for 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 atomic bomb. After 바카라사이트 war, he argued strongly that 바카라사이트 US should not develop 바카라사이트 hydrogen bomb. From 1953 to 1957, a very sensitive time politically, he was US High Commissioner for Germany. He is lucky to have a granddaughter who is a skilled and scrupulous biographer.¡±