Last Week This Week: 7-17-16

Wrath /ræθ/ noun

            1
:  strong vengeful anger or indignation
 (chiefly used for humorous or rhetorical effect)

            2
:  retributory punishment for an offense or a crime: divine chastisement
        

On WBT

Drew Pham's essay Each Soldier a Thread meditates on the Orlando massacre and how violence effects soldiers long after coming home.

David James reviewed two more recent science books that attempt to answer some of the biggest questions of life, just like the title of Paul Gauguin's masterpiece: Where Do We Come From? Who are We? Where are We Going?

 

Editor’s Recommendations

Military

General Petraeus is too busy to talk to Nick Turse. Turse wonders: How do generals who lose wars get so busy?

For some reason, War on the Rocks is becoming the publication without peer for delivering skeptical reports on NATO’s efficacy, as well as why people won’t participate in it. The latest installment in their series how to bias people against NATO

Politics and American History

John Quincy Adams was the only person to return to Congress after being President. This article shows how his knowledge of history and deeply held sense of morality made him into an effective leader and someone today's politicians could learn something from.

Bush Jr. has been hesitant to leave his beloved ranch and show his face in public life since his term ended. He insists, however, that history will judge him differently. One recent biography shows why that is probably not the case.

Politics and French History

"The Other Paris" by George Packer. French Muslims struggle to place themselves in a society that seems to reserve liberty, equality, and brotherhood only for it's White, native-born citizens. Packer asks the question, are Paris' suburbs incubators for terrorism?

Just because you are a scam artist like Trump, doesn’t mean you have to advocate inhumanity like Trump. Roger Pearson at Lapham’s Quarterly reveals that the iconoclast and champion of liberty Voltaire would flourish on Wall Street today.

Literary Parody

A Zambian woman writes about her frightening gap year in Cornwall.