Tag: Margot Metroland

3,242 words

Deborah Cohen
Last Call at the Hotel Imperial:
The Reporters who Took on a World at War
New York: Random House, 2022 (more…)

3,355 words

Ian Kershaw
Personality and Power:­­­­ Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe
New York: Penguin Press, 2022

This book caught my eye when it came out a few months ago because its format reminded me of Standardbearers: British Roots of the New Right, which I reviewed here some seasons back. That is to say, a collection of short critical biographies of a dozen or so worthies, assembled together on a common theme. (more…)

1,585 words

Three years ago I did a semi-humorous, shaggy-dog piece about Pinocchio and the Fascisti (“Pinocchio: The Face of Fascism“). Its jumping-off point was talking about several Pinocchio films in the works, particularly a long-awaited stop-motion animation feature directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson. (more…)

2,045 words

Lisa Birnbach, Ed.
The Official Preppy Handbook
New York: Workman Publishing, 1980

The Official Preppy Handbook was originally published in late 1980. It spawned many imitators and at least one quasi-sequel (True Prep, 2010), as well as various updated and deluxe editions. It also helped to launch a genre of humor books that mixed faux sociology and sartorial fun. I touched on that trend a year ago in my supercilious takedown of 1984’s The Yuppie Handbook. (more…)

1,800 words

Hannes Wessels
PK van der Byl, African Statesman
Johannesburg: 30º South Publishers, 2010

If you need a useful and practical hero in the field of race politics and statecraft, you might take a good look at a colorful and headstrong eccentric named Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl (1923-1999).

When it comes to the story of independent Rhodesia, most people only remember Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith. (more…)

2,272 words

Jessie Daniels
Nice White Ladies: The Truth about White Supremacy, Our Role in It, and How We Can Help Dismantle It
New York: Seal Press, 2021

Having cash flow problems? Trouble making ends meet? Perhaps you should try selling your children into prostitution. It’s easy, it’s profitable, and many Progressive people are doing it! As an added bonus, you will be helping to dismantle “White Supremacy.” (more…)

674 words

Commander John Irving, Royal Navy
Royal Navalese: A Glossary of Fo’csle Language
London: Focal Point Publications, 2020 (originally published 1946)

Somebody recently gifted me with this trim, entertaining little book. Perhaps because of the season, I immediately identified it as one of that peculiar species of “Christmas books”: small volumes, usually elegantly designed, illustrated with line drawings, and often found stacked near the bookseller’s cash register in December. (more…)

Kdo zabil Orwella? Nejstudenější člověk, „Bába“ Gow?

1.871 slov

English original here

Jistá pověst tradovaná o smrti George Orwella se už posledních více než 20 let usilovně snaží prodrat na povrch hlavního proudu. Pokud vím, nebyla zatím nikde otištěna, což je poněkud zvláštní, protože všechny její hlavní součásti jsou už dlouho veřejně dostupné a známé: v životopisech, memoárech i novinových titulcích. Kdokoliv, tedy skoro kdokoliv, koho celá věc zajímá, si dávno mohl dát dvě a dvě dohromady. (more…)

Rolleiflex selfie of Philip Larkin and Monica Jones in Paignton, Devon, circa 1957. (From Andrew Motion’s Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life, 1993.)

1,575 words

The writer Philip Larkin (1922-1985) was born on August 9, 1922, and this essay is part of a commemoration of his centenary. — Ed.

He’s been dead for 37 years, but the Philip Larkin literary industry keeps burbling along, fueled by a seemingly inexhaustible supply of titillating tales, spicy correspondence, and uncollected reviews, diary scraps, and photographs. (more…)

2,303 words

The following is a commemoration for Willis A. Carto, who was born 96 years ago today.

About a year ago I stumbled across the online Willis A. Carto correspondence archive. It’s a source of never-ending delight. (more…)

Lothrop Stoddard

1,746 words

This review is published in commemoration of Lothrop Stoddard’s 139th birthday. Stoddard has often been written about and referenced at Counter-Currents; to see these other essays, click on his tag.

Lothrop Stoddard
Master of Manhattan: The Life of Richard Croker
New York/Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., 1931

Our subject today is “The Lighter Side of . . . Lothrop Stoddard.” I’ll be focusing mostly on the delightful Master of Manhattan, his 1931 biography of Tammany Hall boss Richard Welstead Croker. (more…)

Céline . . . and Houellebecq.

1,511 words

This essay is being published today to commemorate Céline’s 128th birthday. You can find all of Counter-Currents’ resources on Céline here.

You don’t have to dig too deep through the past two decades of reviews to find that the French novelist-critic Michel Houellebecq is often compared to the late Louis-Ferdinand Céline. (more…)