Overview

Timothy Garton Ash is well known as an astute and penetrating observer of a dazzling array of subjects, not least through his many contributions to the New York Review of Books. This collection of his essays from the last decade reveals his knack for ferreting out exceptional insights into a troubled world, often on the basis of firsthand experience. Whether he is writing about how “liberalism” has become a dirty word in American political discourse, the problems of Muslim assimilation in Europe, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, Günter Grass’s membership in the Waffen-SS, or the angry youth of Iran, Garton Ash combines a gimlet eye for detail with deep knowledge of the history of his chosen subjects. Running through this book is the author’s insistence that, whatever some postmodernists might claim, there are indeed facts—and we have both a political and a moral duty to establish them. By practicing what it preaches, Facts Are Subversive shows why Timothy Garton Ash is one of the world’s leading political writers.

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Reviews

<i> Facts Are Subversive</i>covers a decade of upheaval, disaster and disillusionment, in Iraq, in Washington and elsewhere. It s remarkable how sane and wise Garton Ash remains, even in the heat of events...This grounding in the solid world helps explain how Garton Ash has been able to remain that rare and essential thing, a reasonable man. George Packer, <i>New York Time Book Review</i>--George Packer New York Times Book Review

If you want to know how important something really is, you have to look a little bit further than just its surface appearance. This is exactly what Ash has been doing for decades... the range of Ash's interests is remarkable... The result is a little like taking a whistle stop tour of the world in the presence of a seasoned and erudite companion who never gets over excited, but is full of shrewd and well-judged observations. ... the best articles, however, both get to the hearts of theri subjects and leave you wanting to know more--always a good sign./i>--Andrew Lynch Sunday Business Post (12/10/2009)

Facts Are Subversive covers a decade of upheaval, disaster and disillusionment, in Iraq, in Washington and elsewhere. It s remarkable how sane and wise Garton Ash remains, even in the heat of events...This grounding in the solid world helps explain how Garton Ash has been able to remain that rare and essential thing, a reasonable man. George Packer, New York Time Book Review --George Packer New York Times Book Review

Author Information

Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European studies at Oxford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of eight previous books, including The Magic Lantern, History of the Present, and The File, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.

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