Books
Instruments of war
Drum Major Henry Barnes Jackson was 40 years old, had served in the Great War in the British Army, and…
How Sweden has kept communism at bay
In 1949, as Russia’s expansionist aspirations became obvious, a secret committee was formed in Sweden to resist invasion at all costs – which remains in force today
The end is nigh: Switzy, by Emma Cline, reviewed
A retired businessman with dementia prepares to make the final journey to Zurich
Dark, dank and mysterious: the haunting strangeness of boglands
The ecologist Merritt Turetsky tells many arresting stories – of fugitives seeking sanctuary, of rare treasures surfacing and murder victims vanishing
Alternative universes: Exit Party, by Emily St John Mandel, reviewed
An unsettling tale of doppelgängers and shadow worlds has all the qualities of a recurring nightmare
‘There’s a 50-50 chance I’ll get bumped off’: an American scholar foresees his death
Even before Malcolm Kerr took up his post at the American University of Beirut in 1984, he warned his daughter of his potential murder
The intellectual passions of J.R.R. Tolkien
There was something remorseless about Tolkien’s spiritual beliefs, as there was about his love of Old Norse and his obsession with privacy
Homesick for Tennessee: The Newer World, by Sebastian Barry, reviewed
After many adventures touring with the Fisk Jubilee singers, the former slave Tennyson Bouguereau longs to return to his roots
‘We think you’re the best’ – the actors’ tribute to Michael Gambon
Contradiction was the essence of Gambon’s art – a unique blend of coarse sensitivity, dishevelled elegance and grotesque grace
A history of Napoleon’s marshals has all the dash and vigour of a cavalry charge
Andrew Roberts analyses the campaigns and battles, from Italy in 1796 to Waterloo in 1815
Priceless
The Bee Gees were a popular trio of singers in the 1960s and 1970s, so named because their lives were…
Homage to the two drama kings who ruled British television for decades
From the glories of Pride and Prejudice to Doctor Who and Queer as Folk, Andrew Davies and Russell T. Davies have contributed significantly to the national happiness
A matter of life and death: Afternoon Hours of a Hermit, by Patrick Cottrell, reviewed
Five years after his brother’s supposed suicide, Dan Moran receives a puzzling anonymous letter, plunging him back into full investigative mode
Where have all the children gone? A demographic winter sweeps the world
Decreased fertility, housing shortages and prohibitive childcare costs are all contributing to an ‘extraordinary wave’ of childlessness unrivalled since the Black Death
The dark finale of the second world war
Max Hastings’s kaleidoscopic history oscillates from the vast, strategic canvas to individual acts of treachery and heroism in the closing months of the conflict
Rifts and reconciliations: Adam and Eve, by Jeffrey Archer, reviewed
Fans will delight in Archer’s final doorstopper saga – of ambition, betrayal and sacrifice set against the backdrop of war
An examination of current trade policies leaves us a bit short-changed
No one disputes that globalisation has created dependencies; but Ed Conway could have dug deeper into the tensions between free trade and mercantilism
Must Charles Spencer keep harking back to his address at Diana’s funeral?
Ostensibly a tribute to his sister, Spencer’s latest book is really as much about himself – his brotherly kindness and speech-making talents
The arts in Britain are now joyless vestiges of their former selves
The modern obsession with politicising every art form seems guaranteed to put anyone off music, painting or literature for life
When botanists resembled a worldwide intelligence network
At the height of the British Empire, our plant specialists were gathering information from every climate zone and returning it neatly classified to the centre at Kew
A literary romp: Our Noble Selves, by Kate Atkinson, reviewed
All is chaos in the lead-up to the 1951 Festival of Britain in this riot of colour and pageantry with Kafka-esque undertones
All the big hitters are here: scenes from the golden age of boxing
In his 97chosen fights, John Sutherland discusses matters of race, class, empire and money, while never waxing too lyrical about an obscenely brutal sport
Winning hearts and minds: propaganda of the Spanish Civil War
The Republican cause may have been championed by the world’s leading poets, novelists and photojournalists, but in a largely illiterate society it was dramatic posters that mattered most
A bullying monster: the infamous Roy Cohn, Donald Trump’s early mentor
The mob lawyer’s mantra was never apologise or back down – and even though responsible for the execution of the clearly innocent Ethel Rosenberg, he declared: ‘I’d have pulled the lever myself’
Famous for being famous – the scandalous life of the Countess of Castiglione
Spy, courtesan and femme fatale, the Italian aristocrat was considered one of the most beautiful women of 19th-century Europe – as well as one of the cruellest and most profligate
