Snarky Yeti
@snarkyyeti.bsky.social
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Netscape 4, but AI.
December 17, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Netscape 4, but AI.
It's inflatable dinosaur season, motherfuckers.
December 16, 2025 at 11:11 PM
It's inflatable dinosaur season, motherfuckers.
Between them, the Rolling Stones might have done it.
Teamwork!
Teamwork!
December 16, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Between them, the Rolling Stones might have done it.
Teamwork!
Teamwork!
*eliding Grr, autocorrect is killing me.
I'm not qualified to judge everything going on in this book. It would be interesting to have a 50 year retrospective on it, to see how it holds up in view of the work done since. But I suspect Zeldin would come out looking pretty good.
Fin.
I'm not qualified to judge everything going on in this book. It would be interesting to have a 50 year retrospective on it, to see how it holds up in view of the work done since. But I suspect Zeldin would come out looking pretty good.
Fin.
December 16, 2025 at 8:48 PM
*eliding Grr, autocorrect is killing me.
I'm not qualified to judge everything going on in this book. It would be interesting to have a 50 year retrospective on it, to see how it holds up in view of the work done since. But I suspect Zeldin would come out looking pretty good.
Fin.
I'm not qualified to judge everything going on in this book. It would be interesting to have a 50 year retrospective on it, to see how it holds up in view of the work done since. But I suspect Zeldin would come out looking pretty good.
Fin.
The capsule biographies in the third section are wonderful, as are all the observations of the slippage between party ideologies and the motivations of their supporters. Third Republic politics is notoriously weird and slippery, and far from sliding that, he amplifies it.
December 16, 2025 at 8:40 PM
The capsule biographies in the third section are wonderful, as are all the observations of the slippage between party ideologies and the motivations of their supporters. Third Republic politics is notoriously weird and slippery, and far from sliding that, he amplifies it.
But the result is actually quite exciting. Even aside from the places where Zeldin points out areas for further inquiry, this book sends sparks flying in all directions. I would think even today PhD candidate's could mine this work for avenues to explore in a dissertation.
December 16, 2025 at 8:33 PM
But the result is actually quite exciting. Even aside from the places where Zeldin points out areas for further inquiry, this book sends sparks flying in all directions. I would think even today PhD candidate's could mine this work for avenues to explore in a dissertation.
Zeldin is always driving towards a multidimensional view taking in regional traditions and characteristics, local vs. national concerns, fine social differentiation. He's always saying "it's more complicated than that." That can be frustrating if what you were looking for was a distillation.
December 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Zeldin is always driving towards a multidimensional view taking in regional traditions and characteristics, local vs. national concerns, fine social differentiation. He's always saying "it's more complicated than that." That can be frustrating if what you were looking for was a distillation.
Right off the bat he breaks down the concepts of "bourgoisie" and "proletariat", exposing a much richer social reality that escapes simplified class analysis. While that's obviously directed at Marxist historiography, it's not so overt as to seem dated.
December 16, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Right off the bat he breaks down the concepts of "bourgoisie" and "proletariat", exposing a much richer social reality that escapes simplified class analysis. While that's obviously directed at Marxist historiography, it's not so overt as to seem dated.
The best thing I can say about this work is that after 800 pages, I'm eager to read the next 1200.
Zeldin often remarks on some received view on the period in question, then proceeds to show how things are more complicated than they seem.
Zeldin often remarks on some received view on the period in question, then proceeds to show how things are more complicated than they seem.
December 16, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The best thing I can say about this work is that after 800 pages, I'm eager to read the next 1200.
Zeldin often remarks on some received view on the period in question, then proceeds to show how things are more complicated than they seem.
Zeldin often remarks on some received view on the period in question, then proceeds to show how things are more complicated than they seem.
(Despite the problems that caused, it's actually a good thing Brands let the book write itself. We have it and White's.)
So there is precedent for rejecting for such a series even a great work. If this was commissioned, I imagine someone had to have weighed the matter, and decided "let him cook."
So there is precedent for rejecting for such a series even a great work. If this was commissioned, I imagine someone had to have weighed the matter, and decided "let him cook."
December 16, 2025 at 8:06 PM
(Despite the problems that caused, it's actually a good thing Brands let the book write itself. We have it and White's.)
So there is precedent for rejecting for such a series even a great work. If this was commissioned, I imagine someone had to have weighed the matter, and decided "let him cook."
So there is precedent for rejecting for such a series even a great work. If this was commissioned, I imagine someone had to have weighed the matter, and decided "let him cook."
One, Elkins & McKitrick's The Age of Federalism, is a classic, a Bancroft Prize winner and a personal favorite of mine. Great as it is, it didn't fit into the series as planned.
The other became H.W. Brands's American Colossus. Brands says the book became something else in the writing.
The other became H.W. Brands's American Colossus. Brands says the book became something else in the writing.
December 16, 2025 at 7:59 PM
One, Elkins & McKitrick's The Age of Federalism, is a classic, a Bancroft Prize winner and a personal favorite of mine. Great as it is, it didn't fit into the series as planned.
The other became H.W. Brands's American Colossus. Brands says the book became something else in the writing.
The other became H.W. Brands's American Colossus. Brands says the book became something else in the writing.
I don't know if this work was commissioned for the series, or just adopted after the fact. If it was commissioned, I imagine there was some thought as to whether to include it or not. I know the Oxford History of the United States rejected two books...
December 16, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I don't know if this work was commissioned for the series, or just adopted after the fact. If it was commissioned, I imagine there was some thought as to whether to include it or not. I know the Oxford History of the United States rejected two books...
Finished the first volume.
This fits oddly into the Oxford series; the Sheehan and Craig books are the type you expect, books that serve as an entry point.
Knowing this, I read an older textbook (Gordon Wright's France in Modern Times) to lay down a road map before diving into Zeldin.
This fits oddly into the Oxford series; the Sheehan and Craig books are the type you expect, books that serve as an entry point.
Knowing this, I read an older textbook (Gordon Wright's France in Modern Times) to lay down a road map before diving into Zeldin.
December 16, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Finished the first volume.
This fits oddly into the Oxford series; the Sheehan and Craig books are the type you expect, books that serve as an entry point.
Knowing this, I read an older textbook (Gordon Wright's France in Modern Times) to lay down a road map before diving into Zeldin.
This fits oddly into the Oxford series; the Sheehan and Craig books are the type you expect, books that serve as an entry point.
Knowing this, I read an older textbook (Gordon Wright's France in Modern Times) to lay down a road map before diving into Zeldin.
For some reason this line from The Assassination of Richard Nixon popped into my head.
December 16, 2025 at 3:54 AM
For some reason this line from The Assassination of Richard Nixon popped into my head.
Sort of appropriate she looks like a hobbit.
December 16, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Sort of appropriate she looks like a hobbit.
Aaaand followed. 🙂
December 16, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Aaaand followed. 🙂
Is "convivial" derived from Ivan Illich?
December 16, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Is "convivial" derived from Ivan Illich?
Joke's on you: I live here!
Wait a minute...😭
Wait a minute...😭
December 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Joke's on you: I live here!
Wait a minute...😭
Wait a minute...😭
Thank you for sharing this.
December 15, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Thank you for sharing this.
You don't find Soviet Yeti, Soviet Yeti find you.
December 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM
You don't find Soviet Yeti, Soviet Yeti find you.
Despite his limited perspective on the Revolution, he did predict the course of it. And before long even the French (and not just reactionary royalists) were denouncing buveurs de sang.
December 15, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Despite his limited perspective on the Revolution, he did predict the course of it. And before long even the French (and not just reactionary royalists) were denouncing buveurs de sang.