Notes on the Big Picture

In Sarah E. Bond, "Erasing the Face of History," NYT, 14 May, the UNC, Chapel Hill, classicist argues that attempts to eradicate the public face of the past are common, but they may be folly.

David Runciman reviews Francis Fukuyama's The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution for the Guardian, 12 May.

Roger Crowley, "Take a Dip," Literary Review, May, and Tom Holland for the Guardian, 15 May, review David Abulafia's The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean.

Roy Williams, "Do all wars end in ruin?" The Australian, 30 April, reviews Ian Bickerton's The Illusion of Victory: The True Costs of War and David Rieff's Against Remembrance.