Books
A naturally conservative country
Their winning formula has been to present themselves as the party of patriotism and economic competence, while stealing the opposition’s clothes whenever it suited them
A passion for moths – and the thrill of the chase
Katty Baird braves the cliffs and wind-blasted moors of East Lothian to identify as many species of these maligned insects as possible
Central Europe has shaped our culture for centuries – yet we still find the region baffling
Central Europe has shaped our history for centuries – but will the West always find it baffling, wonders Peter Frankopan
The intricate stories timepieces tell
The horologist Rebecca Struthers takes us on a journey through time-measurement, from a 44,000-year-old bone carving to the modern Rolex
The getting of wisdom
Inherited knowledge saved the indigenous Andaman islanders from the 2004 tsunami. But how will fast-changing data affect our judgment?
The complex genius of Mel Brooks
Jeremy Dauber highlights the tension within Brooks of warring Jewish archetypes, personified by Max and Leo in the masterpiece The Producers
Box of tricks
A novel full of surprises weaves together stories of disparate characters – all mysteriously connected to the elderly novelist Dora Frenhofer
Lovable eccentrics
On the anniversary of Hendrix’s death, ageing hippies gather in Lviv to perform a bizarre ritual by a grave marked with his name
Could the bombing of Sir Galahad have been prevented?
Aided by documents in the National Archives, Crispin Black challenges the view that the Welsh Guards were to blame for the Bluff Cove disaster
Descent into hell
When Michael Laudor’s schizophrenia spiralled out of control in 1998, it made headline news in America. Jonathan Rosen remembers earlier, happier days with his friend
Pillow talk in Berlin
Heydrich had microphones installed throughout Madam Kitty’s salon in the hope of obtaining ‘useful’ information from visiting diplomats and political rivals
Is there anything safe left to eat?
It’s not only junk food we should be wary of, says Olivia Potts. Pretty well everything contains additives – and our five-a-day mantra is costing the Earth
What did the Brits ever do for us?
A decade ago, American sociologist Michael Hechter quipped that ‘good alien government may be better than bad native government,’ a…
Tales of the unexpected
Eight eclectic fables draw on magic realism, science fiction, fairy tales, the Gothic, religion, brutal realism and horror movies
Reading the rocks
Louise Erdrich explores her Ojibwe heritage, learning to read ancient painted signs on rocks and making ritual offerings to the spirits
How Britain prepared for Armageddon from the 1950s onwards
The official policy in the event of nuclear war veered from fatuous evacuation plans to a directive to stockpile food, stay home and hope for the best
The GDR was not the Stasiland of grey monotony we imagine
Katja Hoyer evokes the tears and anger – but also the laughter and pride, as citizens raised their children, went on holidays and joked about their politicians
The lady vanishes: Collected Works, by Lydia Sandgren, reviewed
When Cecilia disappears, her husband and children are left haunted by the mystery – until a character in a German novel strikes the daughter as strangely familiar
The life of an Exmoor stockman reads like bloody-knuckled rural noir
Through her interviews with the exuberant countryman ‘Tommy’ Collard, Catrina Davies provides a vivid picture of nature in the raw
The tragically short life of Bruno Schulz – and his complicated legacy
The Polish-Jewish writer and artist enjoyed all too brief acclaim before his murder in 1942. Benjamin Balint describes the ongoing battle for ownership of his final works
The savage power of 18th-century caricature
The politics of late Georgian England provided Gillray, Cruickshank and Rowlandson with perfect fodder for robust, merciless satire
A modern Cinderella story: Romantic Comedy, by Curtis Sittenfeld, reviewed
A rich, handsome rock star falls for a schlubby TV comedy writer in an enjoyable, traditional romcom, mystifyingly billed as ‘subversive’ and ‘searingly contemporary’
The attraction of freethinking humanism
Philip Hensher admires the humanists of the past, and finds them consistently kinder, more decent and generous than their contemporaries
A wilderness of mirrors
A young stage illusionist is recruited by the British secret service to extract a list of double agents concealed in a Russian magician’s stage prop
Dazzling wordplay: Man-Eating Typewriter, by Richard Milward, reviewed
A deranged anarchist plans to commit the crime of a century – with Polari, coded messages and a faulty typewriter contributing to the mayhem