Reaktion Books

Book Review: An Expert Biography of a Bold and Anxious Literary Giant — Ford Madox Ford

July 20, 2023
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Anthony Burgess considered Ford Madox Ford to be the greatest of 20th century English novelists.

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Book Review: “Leon Battista Alberti: The Chameleon’s Eye” — Not Your Classic Renaissance Man

January 23, 2023
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This splendid biography of Leon Battista Alberti, beautifully produced, with a rich selection of well-placed and well-reproduced illustrations, vividly portrays one of the most complex and fascinating figures in a complex and fascinating time, one whose preoccupations are entirely relevant today.

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November Short Fuses — Materia Critica

November 3, 2022
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

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Book Review: “Divine Images” — William Blake’s Imagination as Mankind’s Saving Grace

July 6, 2021
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The author’s aim is to render William Blake’s complex vision understandable to novices. It is a lucid effort, though the book presents a disappointingly conventional overview of the artist’s achievement.

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