Yet More Modern Notes

Anthony Tommasini,"A Musical Battle Flag, Waved by All Sides," NYT, 17 June, and Michael Dirda for the Washington Post, 17 June, review Harvey Sachs's The Ninth: Beethoven and the World of 1824.

Alexandra Mullen,"The artful Dickens," New Criterion, June, reviews Michael Slater's Charles Dickens.

James Longenbach,"Ardor and the Abyss," The Nation, 5 July, reviews Lyndal Gordon's Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds.

Harold Evans,"Bloody Sunday: How the Truth Came Out," Daily Beast, 16 June, recalls the Times's investigative journalism.

On Afghanistan:

William Dalrymple,"The British Army overwhelmed by Afghan warriors - in 1842. So can we learn the lessons of history before it happens again?" Daily Mail Online, 17 June, looks at the history.

Tariq Ali,"Obama's War," Guernica, June, sees withdrawal as the only path for the United States in Afghanistan.

Anthony H. Cordesman,"Realism in Afghanistan: Rethinking an Uncertain Case for the War," CSIS, 16 June, argues for an exit strategy that works with existing power structures and aims at leaving in place something better than the Taliban rule.