Scrupulous academic account that ultimately fails to do full justice to the chilling fascination of its subject. The bland subtitle that Knight (Senior Research Analyst/Library of Congress) chooses signals both the strengths and weaknesses of this first full-scale biography of Stalin's infamous police chief Laventrii Beria—``My Himmler,'' as Uncle Joe nicknamed him. Exploiting the mass of documentation newly available from former Soviet archives, Knight traces with forensic precision the sometime architectural student's rise, through the bloody ranks of Lenin's Cheka and its Stalinist successors in Georgia during the USSR's formative years, to oversee Stalin's massive edifice of organized state terror from 1938 until the dictator's death in 1953. Implicit in Knight's matter-of-fact account is the claim that Beria was singular less for his ruthless violence than for his adroit negotiation of Soviet internal politics and his canny currying of favor with Stalin. Yet the broader context of the culture of terror in which Beria's ghastly talents flourished remains hazy: Knight supplies no ethical or moral account of Stalinism, and few contemporary figures beyond Beria himself, his grim master, and familiar names such as Khrushchev, Malenkov, and Molotov emerge distinctly. Moreover, those new to the murderous intricacies of Stalinist infighting may find clarity retreating under a mass of initials, patronymics, and organizational acronyms. Knight readily acknowledges Beria's ``evil'' but does too little to help her readers understand it; hence her subsequent heavy stress on his unexpected emergence, in the frenzied power struggle that followed Stalin's death, as a pragmatic reformer—hardly absolution, most readers will feel, for a lifetime otherwise unblemished by loyalty, compassion, or common decency. In avoiding sensationalism or unbridled psychological speculation, Knight forgoes a full apprehension of the pathology of Beria and the system that bred him—without which many may choose not to endure the man's odious company. (Illustrations)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-691-03257-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993
Even though the narrative bogs down in the middle under the figurative weight of bibliomania, overall, this is an enchanting...
A Shakespeare scholar takes on the “biggest enigma in literature.”
Shortly after William Shakespeare died in 1616, friends and scholars began looking for his books, figuring that he must have had many. Shakespeare was notorious for borrowing plots and characters from histories and literary works. Where were these source books? Shakespeare’s brief will makes no mention of them. This is the premise of historian and award-winning author Kells’ (The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders, 2018, etc.) look “through the lens of the searchers themselves,” a search that “bears upon fundamental principles of art, history, meaning and truth.” It’s an engaging and provocative contribution to the unending world of Shakesperiana. On his wide-ranging journey, Kells discovered many intriguing clues, but the mystery of the missing library remains unsolved. The author notes that besides a missing library, there were no manuscripts, letters, or diaries. This leads to his insightful discussion of the “ ‘Shakespeare Authorship Question’—how he worked, what he wrote and, most controversially, whether he wrote at all.” Kells takes on the detractors with gusto, especially those promoting Shakespeare’s contemporary, the diplomat Sir Henry Neville. Along the way, the author entertains us with a fascinating publishing history of the plays and stories of famous book collectors. “To reach something like the truth,” he writes, “we must walk through noxious territory, consort with cranks and rogues.” Kells also provides a revealing assessment of the famous 1623 First Folio, the first collection of the plays. Authoritative? It’s an “unreliable source,” Kells writes. “Posthumous, incomplete, error-ridden; produced by piratical publishers and hidden editors.” He concludes with the tantalizing Littlewood Letter, “arguably the most important Shakespeare letter in the world today—provided, of course, it is genuine.” On the whole, Kells delivers reams of arcane bibliographical information with humor and wit.
Even though the narrative bogs down in the middle under the figurative weight of bibliomania, overall, this is an enchanting work that bibliophiles will savor and Shakespeare fans adore.Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64009-183-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling look at world history during the ``Short Twentieth Century,'' from 1914 to 1991. Hobsbawm (History/Univ. of London; The Jazz Age, 1992, etc.) divides his review of this tumultuous period into thirds: the ``Age of Catastrophe'' from 1914 through 1945, when the world was continually either engaged in vastly destructive wars or preparing for them; the ``Golden Age,'' from 1945 to 1973, characterized by a standoff between capitalist and communist blocs and by increasing wealth and social revolution in the capitalist sector; and the ``Landslide'' after 1973, when the world ``lost its bearing and slid into instability and crisis.'' The author points out that this short span of the 20th century saw the disappearance or diminution of the world's ancient kingdoms, empires, and great powers; the waging of the two most destructive wars in world history and many minor ones; multiplication of world population; a growing threat of ecological disaster; and technologically orchestrated death on a mass scale. At the same time, the author notes, there was unprecedented economic prosperity in the postWW II years, and triumphs of science and technology promised to better the lot of humankind, at least in the richer countries. Reviewing transformations in social mores, global economy, politics, and the arts, Hobsbawm concludes that the world is now radically less Eurocentric than it was before WW I and much more integrated in transport, communications, and economics—so much so that the very term ``national economy'' may be outmoded. At the same time, societies are significantly more anomic and individualistic as ancient patterns of human relationships have disintegrated. The socialist historian concludes that the human race cannot prosper in the face of the continued growth of world capitalism and relentless change. This eloquent, well-written, and depressing review of the folly and tragedy of humankind's recent past is even more oppressive when it looks into what appears to be an unstable future. (32 pages b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Jan. 30, 1995
ISBN: 0-394-58575-5
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1994
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