Tim Stanley
Man of the Soil
The Life and Times of George McGovern: The Rise of a Prairie Statesman
By Thomas J Knock
Princeton University Press 553pp £24.95
Thomas J Knock describes George McGovern’s political career as ‘a life-long lover’s quarrel with his country’. It’s a beautiful summation. The South Dakota senator and disastrous presidential candidate was a liberal from the conservative heartlands – a politician who consistently disagreed with the people he sought to represent. That he was totally out of step with them on almost every national issue is beyond doubt: he didn’t even carry his own state when he ran for the White House in 1972. McGovern was dubbed the candidate of ‘amnesty, abortion, and acid’ – and those were the words of his own running mate. Yet South Dakota kept on electing him to the Senate, once by a landslide. Why?
It’s a question that hasn’t been properly addressed before. Countless books have been written about that 1972 campaign, the best being Bruce Miroff’s The Liberals’ Moment, but few historians have trudged through McGovern’s background in prairie politics to examine where he came from. Knock’s two-part biography (of which this book,
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
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm