All About - History - Hitler Versus Stain

Reviews
HITE RAGE
timely look at the racial divide and its legacy
uthor Carol Anderson, PhD Publisher Bloomsbury
ice £18.99 Released Out now
so much attention on the
flames, everyone had ignored the
kindling,” wrote Carol Anderson
about the 2014 riots in Ferguson,
“With
the United States of America. This
was the historian’s op-ed in the Washington Post,
which put the notion of what was being broadly
referred to by the media as ‘Black Rage’ into sharp
perspective. The riots in the black communities
of this Missouri town might have been sparked
by the shooting of Michael Brown, but the
shooting itself by white Missouri police officer
Darren Wilson is symptomatic of something far
more insidious that has its roots in the end of the
American Civil War.
In White Rage, Anderson details a US sociopolitical
phenomenon that’s so deep-seated
that it has barely registered in the collective
consciousness of the layman – even this side
of the millennium where the racial barriers
are crumbling and the USA is supposed to be
a land of equal opportunity for all. Anderson
starts with the Thirteenth Amendment, which
abolished slavery in the US, and moves through
post-civil war history showing that, for every
time black Americans have made legitimate
movement towards achieving equal rights, these
opportunities have been sabotaged. Sometimes
this happens through creative application of the
law and, far too frequently, through white-on-black
violence. This is an especially pertinent tome in
the wake of the spate of police shootings across
the United States.
Anderson examines how sentiments of the past,
like the idea that black people were being given
preferential treatment when legislation was drawn
up to afford them basic rights of citizenship, are
being echoed in the ‘All Lives Matter’ movement.
White Rage is a gut-wrenching, compelling read
and will certainly be an eye-opener for anyone
unaffected by this kind of discrimination on the
other side of the Atlantic.
VERSAILLES
Who knew the Sun King was so saucy?
Certificate 18 Creators Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft
Distributor Universal Pictures UK Cast George Blagden, Alexander Vlahos,
Anna Brewster, Stuart Bowman, Noémie Schmidt Released Out now
The arrival of the French-Canadian
co-production Versailles on British
shores was something of a minor
cause célèbre. Offering plenty
of sex, soap and saucy intrigue,
it was bound to catch a fair bit of attention with
viewers desperate for their weekly dose of bodiceripping
in between seasons of Poldark.
Part spicy historical romance and part lavish
Hollywood epic, Versailles doesn’t set out to be a
historically accurate retelling of the formative years
of the Sun King. Although it takes itself remarkably
seriously, the facts are never allowed to get in the
way of its tale of court scheming, Machiavellian
nobles and fabulously glossy hair. There’s plenty
of eyebrow-raising bawdiness, of course, and a
fair bit of swashbuckling too as Louis and his
loyal friends fight against the villains who would
threaten his reign, while still finding time to keep
his moustache groomed and his ladies happy.
Although the cast is made up of not very familiar
faces from a multitude of nations, the real star of
Versailles isn’t George Blagden’s Louis, but the jawdropping
production design. With a £24 million
budget to play with, no expense was spared in
bringing the magnificent Bourbon court back to
glittering life.
The costumes are breathtakingly lush and
location filming at the real Palace of Versailles
in France lends an air of luxurious authenticity
that the script simply cannot match. Some of the
dialogue might raise an unintended smile in more
experienced hands but one or two of the cast are
so stiff that they can’t even manage to make it
accidentally comical.
If you’re hoping for a serious look at the reign
of Louis XIV, this isn’t for you. If, however, you
like your soap opera with the occasional bit of
swordplay, sauciness and swagger, this might be
right up your rue.
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