Shooting prize-dispensing fish in literary barrels
Edward St Aubyn’s new novel is a jauntily malicious satire on literary prizes in general, the Man Booker Prize in…
Churchill was as mad as a badger. We should all be thankful
The egotistical Churchill may have viewed the second world war as pure theatre, but that was exactly what was needed at the time, says Sam Leith
Management consultancy! Sculpture park! Sports stadium! The many faces of the Delphic Oracle
Sam Leith finds the most sacred site of Ancient Greece still a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
The Artist Formerly Known As Whistler
Sam Leith on the exasperating, charismatic painter who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee
Reviewing reviews of reviews — where will it all end?
Sam Leith reviews the reviews of David Lodge — and wonders where it will all end
How honest was Bernard Berenson?
Sam Leith suspects that even such a distinguished connoisseur as Bernard Berenson did not always play a straight bat
Look! Shakespeare! Wow! George Eliot! Criminy! Jane Austen!
Among the precursors to this breezy little book are, in form, the likes of The Story of Art, Our Island…
England’s 100 best Views, by Simon Jenkins - review
Sam Leith is transported by the finest scenery in England
Signifying Rappers, by David Foster Wallace - review
Since his suicide, David Foster Wallace has made the transition from major writer to major industry. Hence this UK issue…
Danubia, by Simon Winder - review
The inbred Habsburg monarchs, who for centuries ruled without method over a vast, ramshackle empire, managed to leave an indelible mark on modern Europe, says Sam Leith
Glorious Misadventures, by Owen Mathews - review
The brutality and folly of Russia’s bid to conquer America has the makings of grand tragicomedy says Sam Leith
Disraeli, by Douglas Hurd; The Great Rivalry, by Dick Leonard - review
Sam Leith finds shades of Jeffrey Archer and Boris Johnson in the 19th-century prime minister
Losing firepower
Man, I love the Flaming Lips. Psychedelic rock sublimity. They movingly address the deepest human concerns without a whiff of…
Losing firepower
Man, I love the Flaming Lips. Psychedelic rock sublimity. They movingly address the deepest human concerns without a whiff of…
