2005-01-05T21:32:59Z2005-01-05T21:32:59ZThe Big Five-02005-01-05T21:32:59Z<p>Via <a href="http://www.crescatsententia.org/archives/2005_01_04.html#004884">Will Baude</a> and <a href="http://bamber.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_bamber_archive.html#110477678957981164">Amber Taylor</a>, I see that bloggers are <a href="http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/2005_01.php#003998" title="blog | Reviews index">being challenged to read and review 50 books this year</a>. This may be a bit of a daunting challenge—even for those of us expected to read (and write, not to mention teach) for a living—but since I’m currently ahead of the curve, I might as well participate.</p>
<p>Book the First: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375727523/memphiswatch"><cite>Time Lord</cite></a>. Reviewed (somewhat unfavorably) <a href="http://blog.lordsutch.com/?entryid=2341">here</a>.</p>
<p>Book the Second: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594200203/memphiswatch"><cite>The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America</cite></a>. Mini-review: a brilliant, accessible, non-scholarly look at the contemporary political right (broadly defined) in America. Minor faults: the book is sometimes confused over which left-right axis it’s talking about (for example, it sometimes refers to the political left in Europe as “liberals,” a mistake I wouldn’t expect Britons to make), and it underemphasizes the role of political institutions (aside from the Senate, which is <em>over</em>emphasized) in making the United States a generally more conservative nation than other industrialized democracies—the role of federalism and the Constitution gets about a page of treatment in nearly 400 pages of body text. I strongly recommend this book for either the general reader, or as a supplemental text in an undergraduate course in either political parties or American political culture (if such a beast exists).</p>
<p>Book the Third: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805071342/memphiswatch"><cite>The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the 20th Century</cite></a>. Just bought it; the book got a favorable review by Simon Jackman in <cite>The Political Methodologist</cite> a year or so ago.</p>
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