Author Archives: stuartelden

Alison Bashford, Decoding the Hand: A History of Science, Medicine, and Magic – University of Chicago Press, November 2025 The astonishing story of palmistry—from occultists to the very foundations of modern science and medicine.  Why did Isaac Newton read books on … Continue reading →

David Eltis, Atlantic Cataclysm: Rethinking the Atlantic Slave Trades – Cambridge University Press, February 2025 In this comprehensive work, David Eltis offers a two-thousand-year perspective on the trafficking of people, and boldly intervenes in the expansive discussions about slavery in … Continue reading →

Darya Tsymbalyuk, Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia’s War – Polity, June 2025 Russia’s war on Ukraine has not only destroyed millions of human lives, it has also been catastrophic for the environment. Forests and fields have been … Continue reading →

Jen Rose Smith, Ice Geographies: The Colonial Politics of Race and Indigeneity in the Arctic – Duke University Press, May 2025 Ice animates the look and feel of climate change. It is melting faster than ever before, causing social upheaval … Continue reading →

Graham Harman with a tribute to Alphonso Lingis, who died a few days ago. Thanks also to dmf for a comment on a post with a link to a book about Lingis.

Aimé Césaire, Toussaint Louverture: The French Revolution and the Colonial Problem, trans. Kate Nash – Polity, February 2025 This book is the long-overdue publication in English of Aimé Césaire’s account of Toussaint Louverture, the legendary leader of the revolution in … Continue reading →

James D. White, M.N. Pokrovskii and the Origins of Soviet Historiography – Haymarket, July 2025 How did Soviet historians interpret modern Russian history? Focusing on the career of the Soviet historian M.N. Pokrovskii, James D. White examines the evolution of historical … Continue reading →

Ignacio Mendiola Gonzalo, La Danza de la luciérnagas: Vivir, pasar y morir en la frontera del Bidasoa – Katakrak, 2025 En verano de 2018, el Bidasoa se cierra para las personas migrantes. Vuelven el control, la vigilancia, la batida; se … Continue reading →