The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an impressive impersonation of Bob Dylan
Out of the frying pan
PAUL DONOVAN assesses an insider account of recent and future US foreign policy
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Here, Vermiglio, William Tell and Wolf Man
New releases from Thorpe and Morrison, Daria Kulesh, and Will Finn and Rosie Calvert
RINA ARYA confronts the brutal operation of Francis Bacon’s approach to portraiture
Emphasising his continuous engagement in labour movement struggles, ALISTAIR FINDLAY salutes John Foster’s contribution as activist, strategist, intellectual and defender of the Morning Star
ANDY MIAH advocates the use of AI to assist people by expanding access to global literature and culture
EWAN KOTZ relishes a veteran Glasgow band that have lost none of their verve for live performance
War
Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, £25
THIS is a fascinating, though rather frightening book from former Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward. The fright value has markedly increased since the publication of the book and the election of Donald Trump to serve a second term as US president.
An Establishment journalist, Woodward had a ring-side seat in the Biden White House as it sought to navigate a path through Russia’s war in Ukraine, and then the hostilities in the Middle East following the October 7 attacks in Israel. Interestingly, most sections on what is going on in the White House are then followed by Trump’s take on the situation.
Biden is shown to be a fairly astute operator, born of a long career at the top of US politics. He is determined not to be pushed around by his own military chiefs, seeing how predecessors in the Oval Office have been to ill-effect. Most notable in this respect was president Barack Obama’s decision in 2011 to send another 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, at the behest of the military.
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