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Fifteen Eighty Four

Academic perspectives from Cambridge University Press

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Susan Pinkard: French Food History Savante

A Revolution in Taste was profiled in The New Yorker just the other day! Pinkard reveals that before the storming of the Bastille a revolution took place at dinner tables all over France, when ornate,...

Susan Pinkard | 17 Nov 2008

Hexaflexa-what?

With the Martin Gardner books available, I’ve been throwing the word hexaflexagon around a lot. It’s part of the title, after all. For anyone who hasn’t ever seen one, they’re cool....

14 Nov 2008

Patriarchy? Not Dead Yet.

Is the concept of patriarchy still a useful one? Or has it lost its meaning through years of feminist criticism and criticism of feminism? In the latest issue of Bookforum, Feministing blogger and American...

13 Nov 2008

Susan Pinkard: French Food History Savante

If you're like me, you love beets. They're all over restaurant menus lately, which is great. Though delicious and simply done, I find ordering them underwhelming. After all -- they're really easy to make at home, and they keep for ages. I've gotten my wife eating them, and probably do so 2 or 3 times a week. Here, Susan Pinkard, trolling through historical French recipes, has excavated a recipe for a Good Friday dish (totally vegetarian). It's unlike my usual beet routine, so I'm going to give it a whirl. How could one go wrong with 2 sticks of butter?

Susan Pinkard | 13 Nov 2008

David Friedman in Slate

Future Imperfect author David Friedman recently spoke at the Cato Institute in DC. Slate’s William Saletan attended, and he seemed to have enjoyed himself. Anyone who’s watched Friedman lecture...

11 Nov 2008

History, Economics, and Time Reversal

Yikes. First off, congratulations America! Electing the first black US president has to be significant and already puts Obama into the history books, whatever economic and other problems may loom worryingly...

Shahn Majid | 11 Nov 2008

Obama: What now?

Obama may think it safer to keep his sanity intact. But unless he presses on some hotly debated topics, we’ll be left with a world at risk. Barack Obama will want to show that a black President can fill...

James R. Flynn | 10 Nov 2008

Obama the Professor?

Considering Bush’s decision-making style, and what many perceived as a reckless, ham-fisted approach to policy, it’s no wonder that the press is scrutinizing Obama’s style very closely. ...

6 Nov 2008

Gay Marriage Ban Too Close

Proposition 8 still hangs in the balance. Perhaps a more intriguing question: what happens if it passes? Or if it fails? I don’t expect this to end any time soon, and this shows the real allure that...

5 Nov 2008

Recipe from the Early-Modern French Kitchen: Monkfish

Recipe from the Early-Modern French Kitchen If you’re like me, tonight you’ll be parked in front of your TV with your friends, some take-out and a drink. Once this madness dies down, get back...

Susan Pinkard | 4 Nov 2008

I Voted!

My first experience voting in NYC was full of pleasant people. Lots of pleasant people. But don’t take my word for it; read the New York Times’ description of voting lines in my neighborhood...

4 Nov 2008

The Mind of Jihad in the New York Post

“I know of no other book so valuable in helping us grasp the nature of our enemies.” Kind words from “Looking for Trouble” author and New York Post reviewer Ralph Peters for Cambridge...

3 Nov 2008