Category Archives: People

Nicolas Guilhot, Conspiracy: The History of a Political Obsession – Harvard University Press, October 2026

Nicolas Guilhot, Conspiracy: The History of a Political Obsession – Harvard University Press, October 2026 Pundits, scholars, and the general public alike have argued that conspiratorial thinking is the greatest threat to liberal democracy. Nicolas Guilhot, however, challenges us to … Continue reading

Posted in Alexandre Koyré, Hannah Arendt, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Georges Redard and the Linguistic Atlas of Iranian Speakers

After Émile Benveniste suffered a major stroke in late 1969, his former student and friend Georges Redard planned to publish some of Benveniste’s incomplete projects. Redard was by this time teaching at the University of Bern in Switzerland. One volume … Continue reading

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A Scholarly Edition of Leibniz’s Philosophical Papers – first three volumes, Oxford University Press, April 2026

A Scholarly Edition of Leibniz’s Philosophical Papers – first three volumes published by Oxford University Press on 30 April 2026, edited by Lloyd Strickland. They are very expensive, over £400 for the first three volumes: Leibniz: Philosophical Papers, 1677–1686 – … Continue reading

Posted in Gottfried Leibniz | 1 Comment

Two dedications from Georges Dumézil – to Alfred Ernoux and Luc Estang

With only rare exceptions, I’ve not tended to buy second-hand books with a view to the edition or dedications. Generally, I’ve been getting hold of copies because of the content, and the relatively few times I’ve looked for a first … Continue reading

Posted in Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Clémentine Fauré-Bellaïche, A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity –  Cornell University Press, June 2026

Clémentine Fauré-Bellaïche, A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity –  Cornell University Press, June 2026 A Protestant Air focuses on the Protestant connection linking three intellectual giants of twentieth-century French thought: André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Roland … Continue reading

Posted in Jean-Paul Sartre, Roland Barthes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Maurice Blanchot’s Politics and His War-Time Reviews of Georges Dumézil

The philosopher, literary theorist and novelist Maurice Blanchot’s politics have come under periodic scrutiny. Leslie Hill describes the source of the controversy:  As early as 1931 and 1932, while starting out with the Journal des débats, Blanchot was writing political articles … Continue reading

Posted in Albert Camus, Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Maurice Blanchot, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Story of Capital: Book Launch with David Harvey in Conversation with Adam Tooze

The Story of Capital: Book Launch with David Harvey in Conversation with Adam Tooze – discussing The Story of Capital: What Everyone Should Know About How Capital Works (Verso, 2026), via Reading Capital with David Harvey

Posted in Adam Tooze, David Harvey, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Henri Lefebvre wasn’t a fan of previous missions to the moon

Henri Lefebvre wasn’t a fan of previous missions to the moon, describing it as “the sacrifice of a considerable part of the earth’s resources in order to gain possession of one of the ghastliest of all the piles of pebbles … Continue reading

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Foucault’s lectures in Buffalo – audio recordings of the 1972 course and part of the 1970 course online

Foucault’s lectures in Buffalo – audio recordings of the 1972 course and part of the 1970 one are now available online. The 1972 course has recently been transcribed as Histoire de la vérité, edited by Henri-Paul Fruchaud and Orazio Irrera. … Continue reading

Posted in Michel Foucault, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Foucault’s 1972 visit to Attica prison

In April 1972, during his second teaching visit to SUNY Buffalo, Michel Foucault visited Attica prison. The two visits to Buffalo are important for his teaching, which I discuss briefly here and in more detail in a piece in Foucault Studies. Leonhard Riep discusses … Continue reading

Posted in Foucault: The Birth of Power, Michel Foucault, Sunday Histories, The Archaeology of Foucault, Uncategorized | 1 Comment