Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism.

Stephen Kotkin, John P. Birkelund Professor in History and International Affairs at Princeton University and a research scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, has won for Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 (Penguin Press), a history of the world during the build-up to its most fateful hour, from the vantage point of Stalin’s seat of power.

Hierarchical structures such as states dominate our understanding of history. But even as rulers asserted their power from the towers of palaces, real power often resided in the town squares below, within constantly shifting networks of people. The age of the world wide web has illuminated the power of networks but, Niall Ferguson argues, this is an age-old phenomenon. The event is on March 23, 2018 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

I first came to know Victor Davis Hanson reading The Western Way of War (1989), which explained the reason for the lethality and effectiveness of Western armies throughout history.