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Samuel Moyn

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Samuel Moyn is a professor of law and history at Yale University, which he joined in July 2017. Previously, he was a professor of history at Columbia University for thirteen years and a professor of history and of law at Harvard University for three years.
17 books on the list
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Realigners book cover
Realigners
Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy
Timothy Shenk - 2022-10-18
Goodreads Rating
Explore the history of American political conflict from Alexander Hamilton to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Realigners. Historian Timothy Shenk offers an entertaining and provocative reassessment of the American political tradition, introducing key figures and their impact on American democracy. As the country feels like it's both grinding to a halt and falling to pieces, Realigners offers a guide for a time when radical dreams are becoming political realities. Discover how popular majorities have transformed American life in the past and how we might break free from the doom loop of modern politics.
Samuel Moyn
2022-12-15T13:36:07.000Z
Icymi-no more important book about America’s political future appeared this year that @Tim_Shenk’s study of partisan majority coalitions and their shifts across our history.      source
Come to This Court and Cry book cover
Come to This Court and Cry
How the Holocaust Ends
Linda Kinstler - 2022-08-23
Goodreads Rating
This gripping book tells the little-known story of a Mossad assassin sent to kill a fugitive Nazi in South America. The killer left pages from the Nuremberg trials on the corpse. Years later, a Latvian prosecutor general investigated the possibility of pardoning the Nazi, which led author Linda Kinstler to uncover disturbing family secrets. Come to This Court and Cry explores the distortion of history, the plight of forgotten victims, and the reprieve of the guilty. This is a brave examination of Holocaust denial and how it continues to impact society today.
Samuel Moyn
2022-11-09T15:28:48.000Z
It’s a wonderful book ⁦@lindakinstler⁩      source
The Triumph of Broken Promises book cover
The Triumph of Broken Promises
The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism
Fritz Bartel - 2022-06-28
Goodreads Rating
Discover a pathbreaking study that explores the link between the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism. In "The Triumph of Broken Promises," Fritz Bartel argues that the economic shocks of the 1970s forced governments to impose austerity on their own people, making promises of better living untenable. This book traces the pressure to break promises that spurred the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism around the world. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the forces that shaped our modern political and economic landscape.
Samuel Moyn
2022-07-27T00:07:22.000Z
Great to see @fritz_bartel’s masterful and must-read book out      source
Recommended by
Branko Milanovic
What Should Legal Analysis Become? book cover
What Should Legal Analysis Become?
Roberto Mangabeira Unger - 1996-06-17
Goodreads Rating
This book by Roberto Mangabeira Unger challenges the dominant practice of legal analysis and argues for a reconstruction of the discipline. He demonstrates how a changed approach to legal analysis can help us reshape crucial aspects of society, such as representative democracy, market economy, and civil society. Unger encourages a new way of thinking about the alternative institutional futures of a democratic society through professional specialties like legal thought. A fascinating read that's accessible to those without a specialized knowledge of law or legal theory.
Samuel Moyn
2022-06-28T10:45:42.000Z
@BojanBugaric @Mark_Tushnet @mangabeiraunger Little understood that this is the best book of legal theory in the last half century…      source
In the Forest of No Joy book cover
In the Forest of No Joy
The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism
J. P. Daughton - 2021-07-20
Goodreads Rating
This powerful book delves into the history of the deadly Congo-Océan railroad, one of the deadliest construction projects in history. It explores the experiences of the workers who were forcibly conscripted, separated from their families, and subjected to horrendous conditions, resulting in at least 20,000 deaths. The book draws on exhaustive research to reveal the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.
Samuel Moyn
2021-08-01T11:32:57.000Z
It is a great book      source
Soldiers of God in a Secular World book cover
Soldiers of God in a Secular World
Catholic Theology and Twentieth-Century French Politics
Sarah Shortall - 2021-11-23
Goodreads Rating
Discover the fascinating history of French Catholicism's revitalization in the twentieth century with Soldiers of God in a Secular World by Sarah Shortall. Explored in-depth are the ideas of the nouvelle th�ologie that reimagined the Catholic Church's relationship with the public sphere, inspiring doctrinal changes and encouraging political activism. By recoding political statements in the language of doctrine, priests could enter into debates over fascism, communism, democracy, human rights, colonialism, and nuclear war. Shortall argues that this "counter-politics" was key to the nouveaux th�ologiens' powerful public voice and their vital role in the momentous political shifts of the twentieth century.
Samuel Moyn
2021-04-02T22:41:08.000Z
An excellent book      source
Uncanny Valley book cover
Uncanny Valley
Anna Wiener - 2020-01-14
Goodreads Rating
This memoir offers a first-hand glimpse into the high-flying and reckless startup culture of Silicon Valley during a time of unchecked ambition, unregulated surveillance, wild fortune, and political power. The author, Anna Wiener, left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy in San Francisco. She landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble, where she witnessed a new Silicon Valley emerge; one that enriched itself at the expense of the idyllic future it claimed to be building. A coming-of-age-story and a portrait of a bygone era, Uncanny Valley is a rare and personal narrative that charts the tech industry's shift from world savior to democracy-endangering liability.
Samuel Moyn
2021-01-23T20:29:24.000Z
Maybe adulthood is about reaching this moment no matter your field. Regardless, @annawiener’s book is the best I’ve read in a while.      source
After the Deportation book cover
After the Deportation
Memory Battles in Postwar France (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)
Philip Nord - 2021-01-07
This thought-provoking study explores the memory of the Deportation of 160,000 people from France during WWII. Author Philip Nord delves into the politicization of Deportation memory and the competing narratives told by different groups such as Jews, Catholics, Communists, and Gaullists. This informative book also analyzes the various ways the stories of the deportees were remembered and commemorated through literature, art, film, and ceremonies.
Samuel Moyn
2021-01-21T00:30:43.000Z
Good book      source
The War Lawyers book cover
The War Lawyers
The United States, Israel, and Juridical Warfare
Craig Jones - 2021-01-26
Goodreads Rating
"The War Lawyers" explores the role of military legal professionals in the targeting operations of some of the world's most advanced militaries. The book focuses on how the laws of war are applied, specifically for aerial targeting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza. With interviews from military lawyers, the book sheds light on how lawyers have become integrated into the chain of command for identifying and attacking military targets. The author argues that these legal professionals have played a crucial role in legitimizing and even extending military violence.
Samuel Moyn
2020-11-26T20:02:00.000Z
This book is of extraordinary importance      source
Injury Impoverished by Nate Holdren
This Life by Martin Hägglund
Worldmaking after Empire by Adom Getachew
Human Rights in Africa by Bonny Ibhawoh
Go Back to Where You Came From by Sasha Polakow-Suransky
The Sabbath World by Judith Shulevitz
Separation of Church and State by Philip Hamburger
A Muted Fury by William G. Ross