MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Crimea scene investigation
JOHN GREEN recommends a history of the Black Sea peninsula, situated at a crossroads between Europe and Asia
DOOMED: William Simpson’s depiction of the Charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade, 25th Oct. 1854. Lord Cardigan leads the charge toward Russian artillery on the left, in the foreground, and on the right flank; Russian cavalry wait in readiness to engage the British or to counterattack.
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
The Crimea - a History
Neil Kent, Hurst, £16.99
THIS fascinating history through the ages is essential reading for all those wishing to understand the background to the present conflict in Ukraine. In this ongoing war between Ukraine as a Nato proxy and Russia, the Crimea has played a key role.
It shapes the headlines much as it did some 160 years ago, when the Crimean War pitted Britain, France and Turkey against tsarist Russia. Yet few books have been published on the history of this peninsula. For many readers, Crimea seems as remote today as it was when colonised by the ancient Greeks.
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