Liam Conway reviews The Trial of Bukharin, by George Katkov. Nikolai Bukahrin remains one of the Soviet Union’s most intriguing figures over 70 years after his demise. An exceptionally gifted writer and intellect Bukharin’s life was both eventful and tragic at the same time. From his youthful days as a leading member of the left-wing ...
Nick Jones reviews N Klein, The shock doctrine London 2007, pp576, £25 Naomi Klein largely came to prominence during the early 2000s within the context of an anti-capitalist movement broadly characterised by its militancy, if not its political coherence. Described by the New York Times as a "movement bible", Klein's book No logo highlighted the role ...
John Jo Sidwell looks at another radical hip-hop outfit, The Coup, and their struggle for radical politics in the face of adversity Over the backdrop of laid-back, funk-driven West Coast hip-hop, Boots Riley, The Coup's front man, delivers a biting and polemical attack on the American establishment and the capitalist system it enforces. Boots is joined ...
All students should read Bertell Ollman’s How to take an exam and remake the world (Black Rose Books), says Benjamin Edgar Klein I first opened this book last summer term. Faced with the daunting prospect of writing about 15,000 words and taking a seemingly endless stream of exams, I found Bertell Ollman not only provided some ...
First published in Communist Student no.3 Hip hop and radical politics make unlikely bedfellows these days. Ted North looks at one exception to the rule, the band Dead Prez Mainstream hip hop is dominated by hyper-commercialised sell-outs, whose subject matter revolves around topics as important as who has the biggest diamonds, who has had the most girls ...
James Turley reviews Alex Callinico's Universities in a neoliberal world (Bookmarks, 2006, pp41, £2) Within the small pond of the British left, Alex Callinicos is something of a big fish: undoubtedly the most prolific and prodigious theorist in ...
Tina Becker reviews Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis (Jonathan Cape, 2006, pp343, £12.99) If you haven’t yet got round to reading this highly original look at a young woman’s life in Iran, go and get your copy immediately! The 2006 edition encompasses two separate books: ‘The story of a childhood’ and ‘The story of a return’. Both ...