Issue No.
37
August 2010
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| Welcome to August’s review of books |
 Tim Black
From the severe restrictions on experi-menting on primates to the demand that they be granted human rights, the fashion for treating apes as people-like is spreading. Ape and man share DNA and both use tools and live in groups - so we must be similar, right? In fact, argues Tim Black in his review of Helene Guldberg’s new book Just Another Ape?, there is a chasm separating mankind from the entire animal kingdom. The trend for lumping man with monkeys, as if we are all on a comparative scale of tool-use and lingo-skills, really springs from contemporary disdain for the idea that humanity is special and unique. Also this month we have Mick Hume arguing that sporting talent is not innate but developed through training, sweat and tears. James Woudhuysen explores why liberals love to hate the ‘filth’ of modern China. Francis Phillips solves the riddle of who wrote Shakespeare’s plays (it was Shakespeare). Emily Hill finds Lord Mandelson’s tragedy laughable. And there’s much more besides. Enjoy. [Cover illustration by Jan Bowman.] |
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