In Machiavelli’s The Prince, the author discusses the path to effective leadership through a combination of cunning, controlled violence, balance of the respect and fear of subjects, and other routes to maintaining power. One of the most striking features of →
In this first volume of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s biography, historian Robert A. Caro explains Johnson’s trajectory that led him to the highest office of executive power in the United States. “The Path to Power : The Years of Lyndon →
In his recently published book, “The Trojan War: A New History”, author and historian Barry Strauss takes a subject that has been written about extensively, both in history books and in literary narratives, and attempts to breathe new life into →
Given the pervasiveness and intensity of violence in Michael Ondaatje’s novel, “In the Skin of a Lion”, it may seem to be a foregone conclusion that the writer is advocating aggressive action as a means of political change. Violence, after all, →
One of the most effective techniques an author can employ to engage the reader is the use of satire, which, with its blend of humor and social commentary and criticism, typically makes for interesting reading. Two novelistic examples in which →
There are a number of modern-day adages which are still used to describe the ways in which children of past generations were regarded with respect to their position in society and in relationship to their families. These sayings include, among →
When considering three major movements in world civilization and history; Romanticism, the Enlightenment, and the Renaissance, one theme that runs throughout is that of rebellion. More specifically, this rebellion in all three movements was against past traditions and each of →
War, like love, is one of the most persistent features of human life, and so it is natural that this subject would be a popular one for poets. Indeed, war poetry is probably as old as poetry itself, and there →
The critic’s reading of Adam’s fall in “Paradise Lost” by John Milton is problematic and flawed; however, his very conceptualization that Adam’s actions represent the most important element of Milton’s narrative is even more troubling. The critic contends that Adam’s →