In brief

FRANCE'S "long 19th century" was just one thing after another: five revolutions, not to mention the odd coup. But, as reconsidered in this absorbing study, it was more a matter of unfinished business, repeatedly returned to. Every action had its reaction, though: if 1830 and 1848 haunted the memory then as 1968 does now, it was as blissful dawn for some but as the barbarian at the gate for others. Not until 1914, suggests Gildea, did the seesawing conflict find a terrible resolution in the mud, blood and suffering of the Western Front.

MUSIC AT THE LIMITS BY EDWARD SAID **** (Bloomsbury, 20)

IT WAS Glenn Gould, thought Said, who of all pianists played most consistently "at the limit where music, rationality, and the physical incarnation of both in the performer's fingers come together". That was the epiphany he was always searching for, as a private music-lover – and, for many years, as a critic for the Nation. Said took his music seriously and it shows: these essays are substantial studies. His judgments are invariably knowledgeable, decent, humane and elegantly argued – if there's a fault, it's that there aren't a few more surprises here.

PLOWSHARES INTO SWORDS BY ARNO J MAYER **** (Verso, 19.99)

MAYER won mainstream plaudits with his Why did the Heavens not Darken? (1989), an investigation into the historical background of the Holocaust. That point perhaps needs underlining given the opprobrium he seems certain to attract for this "critical historical study of Zionism and Israel". Why did the Heavens...? made the point that the "Judeocide" had been viewed through a distorting Cold War prism, hence the skewed perceptions of where a "moderate" centre should be set. All the chapter-and-verse in the world won't change that, perhaps, but this hard-hitting yet scrupulously researched, well-argued book represents an important challenge to the status quo.