About us
We meet at the Draught house English pub and imbibe some beer and food while discussing history.
Titles range from more rigorous and scholarly works to lighter, more journalistic writing. Genres tend to include foreign policy, history, culture, science, politics, and area studies (e.g. The Middle East, Europe, South Asia, etc.) See our "Past Reads" page for titles.
Note to avoid scams: We will never contact you asking for money to read or review your book. If you have received an email claiming to be from us, please be aware that this is a scam. Please report it to your email provider.
Upcoming events
12
History Book Club: Jazz Social Hour at Nica on 4th
Nica Jazz Bar, 117 West 4th Street, Suite 101A, Austin, TX, USHistory book club is hoisting a social hour at the Nica on 4th Jazz club in downtown Austin. No reading required for this book club meeting. Join us for drinks, food and conversation. Feel free to bring your favorite history book.
https://www.nicaon4th.com/Extra credit if you bring a book on the history of jazz.
There are only a limited number of spots so please only RSVP if you intend to attend the event.
12 attendees
Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously” by Olúfemi Táíwò
Draught House Pub & Brewery, 4112 Medical Pkwy, Austin, TX, USJoin us over drinks and food to discuss the book, “Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously” by Olúfemi Táíwò
Description of the book:
Decolonisation has lost its way. Originally a struggle to escape the West's direct political and economic control, it has become a catch-all idea, often for performing "morality" or "authenticity;" it suffocates African thought and denies African agency. Olúfemi Táíwò fiercely rejects the indiscriminate application of 'decolonisation' to everything from literature, language and philosophy to sociology, psychology and medicine. He argues that the decolonisation industry, obsessed with cataloguing wrongs, is seriously harming scholarship on and in Africa. He finds 'decolonisation' of culture intellectually unsound and wholly unrealistic, conflating modernity with coloniality, and groundlessly advocating an open-ended undoing of global society's foundations. Worst of all, today's movement attacks its own cause: "decolorisers" themselves are disregarding, infantilizing and imposing values on contemporary African thinkers. This powerful, much-needed intervention questions whether today's 'decolonisation' truly serves African empowerment. Táíwò's is a bold challenge to respect African intellectuals as innovative adaptors, appropriators and synthesizers of ideas they have always seen as universally relevant.
Lecture with author:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfi90cae_CU&t=397s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trl6oFvp9hY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpSk8Y6uRBQ
Look for the group with lights and a sign.4 attendees
The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History
Draught House Pub & Brewery, 4112 Medical Pkwy, Austin, TX, USJoin us over drinks and food to discuss the book, “The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History.” By Odd Arne Westad
Description of the book:
From a renowned Yale historian comes a chilling look at the looming threat of the next Great Power war and the urgent interventions necessary to avoid it in the twenty-first century. The vast majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two Superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has, to a great extent, been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers jostle for regional supremacy, as well as competitive advantage in nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, space exploration, and trade, our world has become more fragile, unpredictable―and combustible. The outbreak of global war among today’s Great Powers seems increasingly likely. Such war, as Odd Arne Westad powerfully argues in this urgent book, would be of a magnitude and devastation never before seen. To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the past, and especially the late nineteenth and early twentieth century―a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them; a time when tariffs increased, immigration and terrorism were among the biggest issues of the day, and a growing number of people blamed the citizens of other countries for their problems. A time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own.
Lecture with the author:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-FAEM5dYEE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wWMtatXtnw
Look for the group with lights and a sign.10 attendees
Past events
328
Group links
Members
1,575
