A review of On Seamus Heaney by Roy Foster Although known for his active support of the South African anti-Apartheid movement and for his open opposition to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Irish poet and Nobel-prize winner Seamus Heaney was not famous for his politics. This has led some sceptics to dismiss the […]
The best revolutionary film of all time?
A review of Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and Queimada If you are looking for a recommendation for socialist or revolutionary cinema, then you should start with The Battle of Algiers and Queimada by Gillo Pontecorvo, both of which are contenders for the best revolutionary film of all time. He’s the most dangerous kind […]
David Graeber’s Politics, An Appreciation
“Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics,” declared anthropologist David Graeber in 2013, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate and catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska […]
Review: Reading ‘Capitalism in the Web of Life’ by Jason W. Moore after COVID19
A few weeks into the current lockdown, as fatalities and reported cases of COVID19 were continuing to rise, news from the frontlines of Ireland’s food production and agri-sector began to arrive, casting an unsettling light on the many – and now overtly dangerous – levels of exploitation on which this cornerstone of the national economy […]
Review: The Retreat by Conor Kostick
Conor Kostick’s new novel, The Retreat, is a thrilling tale set in the Middle Ages during the crusades. It is narrated by Guibert of Rocadamour, a naïve aristocratic youth, who joins a crusade expedition having soaked up the propaganda of the chansons and the chronicles. He is swiftly disabused of his illusions when the expedition is derailed at the outset, with the would-be crusaders sacking the castle of Devinium and stealing […]