Jurek Martin
Insistent Reasonableness
The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama
By David Remnick
Picador 657pp £20
Comparing presidents is an old game. It is often played as soon as the new one sets foot inside the Oval Office or does almost anything. One venerable Washington pundit, even before the dust had settled on the Twin Towers in New York, put George W Bush in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, which seemed excessively sycophantic even by local standards.
Barack Obama was inviting comparisons even before he started running the country. The most frequent, and to a degree persuasive, was with Woodrow Wilson. Both had rocketed to the White House from academia at warp speed, with brief interim stops in elected politics, Wilson as governor of New
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Under its longest-serving editor, Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair was that rare thing – a New York society magazine that published serious journalism.
@PeterPeteryork looks at what Carter got right.
Peter York - Deluxe Editions
Peter York: Deluxe Editions - When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter
literaryreview.co.uk
Henry James returned to America in 1904 with three objectives: to see his brother William, to deliver a series of lectures on Balzac, and to gather material for a pair of books about modern America.
Peter Rose follows James out west.
Peter Rose - The Restless Analyst
Peter Rose: The Restless Analyst - Henry James Comes Home: Rediscovering America in the Gilded Age by Peter Brooks...
literaryreview.co.uk
Vladimir Putin served his apprenticeship in the KGB toward the end of the Cold War, a period during which Western societies were infiltrated by so-called 'illegals'.
Piers Brendon examines how the culture of Soviet spycraft shaped his thinking.
Piers Brendon - Tinker, Tailor, Sleeper, Troll
Piers Brendon: Tinker, Tailor, Sleeper, Troll - The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker
literaryreview.co.uk