Archive for books
Battle for future of books hots up as Kindle goes international
Both Amazon and Google have unveiled major developments in their plans to dominate the future of e-books. These moves will not only see the two internet giants compete head-to-head but will also see the traditional book publishing industry and authors face the dilemma of whether to see these developments as a welcome new outlet for [...]
Flash Forward: book comes to TV
By coincidence, shortly after the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, I read a novel written a decade earlier – about what happens when the Large Hadron Collider is switched on for the first time. In that novel, Flash Forward by Robert J Sawyer, the world’s population blacks out and gets a view of what [...]
Is "What Would Google Do?" the right question?
The title of Jeff Jarvis’s What Would Google Do? book is a deliberate echo of the American phrase, “What would Jesus do?” Whilst for Christians asking what Jesus would do in particular situations makes sense, does Google have a similar role of authority over everyone’s business lives for Jeff Jarvis’s question to make sense? At [...]
Tim Farron’s book likes and dislikes: CS Lewis and Richard Dawkins
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron features in the ‘Brought to book’ column in the current edition of Total Politics, answering questions such as:
What is your least favourite book?
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I’m a Christian, but I don’t object to people criticising my faith or even trying to ‘disprove’ it. However, I do object [...]
Book review: The Decline of British Radicalism
This review of The Decline of British Radicalism 1847-1860 by Miles Taylor (1995) first appeared in 1996 in the Journal of Liberal History Issue 11. Miles Taylor’s book is an examination of the failure of British radicalism in the 1850s. For many the mere appearance of a book that concentrates on the 1850s in their [...]
Book review: How to win an election
Paul Richard’s book How to Win an Election was published in a new edition in 2004, as was this book review in the Journal of Liberal History Issue 45. Taken at face value, this new edition of Paul Richards’s book is a failure. The blurb promises a guide to winning elections, yet a novice reading [...]
Book review: The Liberal Democrats, edited by Don Maciver
This review of The Liberal Democrats, edited by Don Maciver (1996) was published in 1996. The book is still a significant and interesting source of information for people wanting to know more about the history of the party. This book is the first major book-length study of the Liberal Democrats, comprising eleven chapters written by [...]
Book review: Tony Blair – In His Own Words
This review of Tony Blair: In His Own Words by Tony Blair and Paul Richards (2004) first appeared in 2004. This collection brings together forty-three of Blair’s speeches, articles and similar items stretching from 1982 to 2004. The quote on the inner flap is typical Blair: “I want us to be a young country again. [...]
George Savile, Lord Halifax: biography
This biography was written in 2006 for the Dictionary of Liberal Thought. George Savile, Lord Halifax (11 November 1633 – 5 April 1695), was a politician and writer who started out as a respected supporter of the English monarchy but became one of the architects of the 1688 “Glorious Revolution” which replaced the Catholic James [...]
Charles James Fox: biography
This biography was written in 2006 for the Dictionary of Liberal Thought. Charles James Fox (1749 – 1806) was leader of the Whigs during the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. He was the first acknowledged “leader of the opposition” in Parliament and repeatedly argued in favour of the preservation of individual liberties at [...]
