Nation & Nationalism

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The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero (2016), by American author and journalist Timothy Egan, is a biography of Thomas Francis Meagher, an Irish revolutionary and American Civil War hero who later became the governor of the Montana Territory. Egan's narrative captures Meagher's tumultuous journey, from his fight for Irish independence to his contributions in America, focusing on broader themes of exile, resilience, and identity. Egan contextualizes Meagher’s life against the... Read The Immortal Irishman Summary

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“Their Finest Hour” is a speech originally given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 18, 1940, in the House of Commons to members of Parliament and his ministerial cabinet. Churchill delivered the speech following the disastrous campaign of the Battle of France and the hasty evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. In June 1940, Nazi boots marched in Paris, and the surrender of the French government seemed imminent. The speech... Read Their Finest Hour Summary

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The Joke is a novel by Czech author Milan Kundera. Released in 1967, it tells the story of Ludvik Jahn and his life under the Czech communist regime. The novel has been celebrated as one of the most important literary works of the 20th century. A 1968 film adaptation by director Jaromil Jires was banned in Eastern European cinemas. The Joke was Kundera’s first novel in his long and distinguished career. He received the Jerusalem... Read The Joke Summary

“The Jolly Corner” is a short story written by American British writer Henry James. It is one of his most famous ghost stories, along with The Turn of the Screw (1898). It was first published in December of 1908 for The English Review magazine. “The Jolly Corner” is told from a third-person limited point of view and explores themes of The Discontinuity of Identity and The Fear of Missed Opportunity as the protagonist struggles to... Read The Jolly Corner Summary

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The Labyrinth of Solitude is a nine-part philosophical and historical essay on Mexican identity and culture. Octavio Paz, a famous Mexican poet and career diplomat, began writing The Labyrinth of Solitude during his time as the Mexican ambassador to France in the late 1940s. Originally published in 1951, the first edition of Paz’s work appeared in Spanish under the title El labertino de la soledad, and it is widely considered to be Paz’s masterpiece. This... Read The Labyrinth of Solitude Summary

The Lacuna (2009) is Barbara Kingsolver’s sixth novel. This work of historical fiction was a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2010 Women’s Prize for Fiction. The novel traces the life of Mexican American Harrison Shepherd from the 1920s to the 1950s. The son of a dissolute flapper who chases rich men, Shepherd begins to make his way by landing a job working for the famous Mexican visual artists Frida Kahlo and Diego... Read The Lacuna Summary

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The Lies of Locke Lamora, written by Scott Lynch and published in 2006, is the first entry in the Gentleman Bastards series. These novels mix caper stories and fantasy stories and include adventure, violence, dark humor, and intimate friendships. The Lies of Locke Lamora is an international best seller and was nominated for multiple awards. The other entries in the series are Red Seas Under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves, and The Thorn of... Read The Lies of Locke Lamora Summary

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Published in 2012, The Mark of Athena is the third novel in Rick Riordan’s young adult fantasy series The Heroes of Olympus, his second series in the Percy Jackson universe inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies. The Mark of Athena picks up the narrative where The Son of Neptune left off, with a Greek warship from Camp Half-Blood approaching Roman Camp Jupiter in hopes of collaborating to stop Gaea from waking up and destroying the... Read The Mark Of Athena Summary

The Memory Police is a science fiction novel by Yoko Ogawa. The Japanese edition debuted in 1994 and was translated into English by Stephen Snyder in 2019. Under the sci-fi umbrella, the novel more specifically belongs in the dystopian, or Orwellian, speculative fiction subgenre in that the story explores the quiet, quotidian results of scientific experimentation. In doing so, it considers themes like Memory and Manufacturing the Uncanny as well as Alienation Within a Police... Read The Memory Police Summary