A revolution can be taken to mean a change in the economic power structure of a society but, as Donald Sassoon points out in “Revolutions”, this hardly applies to the American War of Independence.   Sean Sheehan   It does, however, serve to describe the spirit and the substance of […]

Heidegger, despite his troubling allegiance to Nazism, is one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century and a new translation of his classic text makes it more approachable than before for readers without a knowledge of German.   Sean Sheehan   It has been said that reading Heidegger, […]

James Joyce’s “Finnegans wake” has long been studied but learning how to read the book is a different if complementary matter. A good way to begin is by listening to its unique soundscapes and rhythms.   Sean Sheehan   With a copy of the novel’s opening pages before you– the […]

John Berger was a household name amongst the British literati in the three decades before the end of the twentieth century. A biography, published this week, invites a fresh appraisal of his life and his work.   Sean Sheehan   Berger shot to instant fame in 1972 for two reasons. […]