Reviews for Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Culture, History and Politics

The average rating for Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Culture, History and Politics based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-31 00:00:00 Kevin Colligan Interesting reflections on the base-superstructure dialectic, as well as the basic of historical materialism in general; useful especially for Labriola's emphasis on employing historical materialism, laying guidelines and suggestions for Marxist historians to apply historical materialism and contribute to theory. His brief foray and comments on "peasant stupidity" are disheartening, certainly discounting the progressive aspects of the peasantry more than necessary; I have read of influence from Labriola on Trotsky, I find this to be a possible connection. Labriola's comments on the nature of the state in Chapter 8 are also interesting, positing that the state "creates around itself a circle of persons interested directly in its existence." While Labriola does not specify a socialist or capitalist state, but the nature of the state itself, this holds important consequences for the nature of a socialist state, something I think can be seen in "state of the whole people" as advanced by the Khrushchevite revisionists, the reaction against the Cultural Revolution in Mao's China, as well as the "Three Represents" theory advanced by the reactionary Jiang Zemin in the immediate post-Deng era; these revisionist (reactionary, even) theories seem to be direct manifestation of this "circle of persons interested directly" in the existence of state, finding ideological justification in the pause of socialist development or even a "Great Leap Backward" as posited by Bettelheim.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-11-15 00:00:00 Tim Hawes Book Review 3 of 5 stars to Henry VIII, a play written in 1613 by William Shakespeare. This play originally had a different title and there is also some suspicion that it was co-written with another person at the time. It was towards the end of Shakespeare's career where while his brilliance had grown quite impressive, his fame and fortune was also being thrust more and more into the spotlight to the point of being accused of some level of crimes against the government. Similarly, the battles between the different churches of England were in full swing. When you read this play, you sense a bit of disconnect. It's not a comedy or a tragedy in my opinion. It's about reality, i.e. what King Henry VIII had been previously going through with this divorces, six wives, etc. The focus is on Katherine of Aragon and the church's position on Henry's request to re-marry. There are lots of good lines and passages in the play, but it isn't one of his better plays. I'm also not one for propaganda-type literature, instead preferring something to take me away from reality. About Me For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at , where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.