>129 English-bookseller: As much as it could be fun to engage in a game of cut-and-paste from various magazines or papers, biased one way or the other, I honestly don't see the point :) Looks to me as though democracy in parts of Europe (but note not in the UK) is under dire threat. Paris and Rome are not likely to block any of that and the new German chancellor won’t have the authority to stand in its way even if he wants to. In the absence of national politicians to stand up to it, the bureaucracy is steadily increasing its power - as bureaucracies inevitably always will. And ‘rule of law’ disputes with Hungary and Poland are paving the way for the EU to have oversight of constitutions. The Coronavirus Rescue Fund is steadily allowing the Commission to take control of fiscal and industrial policy, monitoring budgets and deciding on how money is spent in each country. The Commission has already used the pandemic to hijack health policy, which, as we now know, can be incredibly powerful in controlling the whole of society. Although no one has bothered to consult any electorates or tried changing any of the treaties, the EU has quietly been increasing its powers at a rate that has not been witnessed since it launched the single currency. Next, a power vacuum in Berlin will be filled by a hyper-active, ambitious Commission, encouraged by President Macron in France, and Prime Minister Draghi in Italy, both of whom are enthusiastic federalists. With the German election results not producing an obvious winner, this week's Spectator has an excellent article about the EU. >127 cronshaw: What an interesting and provocative post you make! The Munich Conference raises some very challenging questions that are still pertinent for governments around the world.įor example, how should the US, the UK, India, Japan, Australia or Vietnam respond to the varied challenges raised by China's rise and confrontational policies: Appease? Compete? Combine? Talk? I wonder whether the Folio Society could seek to buy the rights to publish their own edition of the 'Munich' and failing that a really good non-fiction history book about it. It is due to go on General Release in early 2022 (to stand a chance for the Oscars) and will then be placed on Netflix for subscribers to watch.Īssuming it's a good film, then we can expect to see much media discussion of the film and of 'Munich' the actual historical event. It just so happens that Netflix are going to make a feature film based on the Robert Harris novel. If you want to understand what happened in the immediate run up to Munich and the motivations of the key political figures taking part I recommend the Robert Harris thriller 'Munich'. For some, the key event - after Germany had started to rearm, to 'expand' its national borders and to prepare for a major European war - was the Munich Conference of 1938. I am not going to rehearse the timetable here but the 1930s had a number of really crucial turning points. There is an enduring and a serious debate as to how the UK might better have dealt with Germany in the years 1933 to 1939. This may be the wrong thread to post this recommendation for The Folio Society to publish the historical fiction bestsellers of Robert Harris, but it is about an important event of 20th century history. Penguin published an abridged version years ago and NYRB just published two volumes of his Kolyma Stories and it's up there with the best of Russian literature. Solzhenitsyn wanted him to co-author Gulag (I think Shalamov spent 15+ years in the gulag,) but Shalamov declined. Also, and sorry for the rant, if you haven't read Varlam Shalamov, he's a must. Highly doubt Folio would publish any of his works other than Gulag (3-6 volume edition would be amazing and I would pay pretty much anything) and One Day in the Life (I'm surprised they haven't), but one can hope! I've been tempted with Folio's Gulag in the past when it was selling for $50-60 but for such an incredible book I don't see how anyone can make an abridged version - quite a shame. I've never come across Two Hundred Years Together, but it looks wonderful. I really hope after The Red Wheel they publish The First Circle, and, one of my favorites, The Cancer Ward.
FOLIO WATCH PENDULUM SERIES
It's an amazing 4000 page series but my biggest problem thus far is having a mediocre knowledge of Russian history and at times more is required. I've read the first node last year but needed to take a break.
If you want I can take a few pictures and send them your way in a few days. They're quite lovely for the $25ish price tag. >51 ultrarightist: Just took a quick peek and they appear sewn with no glue.
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