Books
The other glorious revolution
There was no science before 1572, the year that Tycho Brahe saw a new star in the night sky above…
Act of Faith
This winter morning between seven and eight, half a white moon still present, a ghost not shining on plentiful frost…
Laughter and tears
The Yacoubian Building, the first novel of the Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany, sold well over a million copies in…
Anatomy of a bestseller
Every four seconds, somewhere in the world, a Lee Child book is sold. This phenomenal statistic places Child alongside Stephen…
Of hearts and heads
Like most trade unionists in the 1970s and 80s I worked with a fair few communists. Men like Dickie Lawlor,…
Altar, font and arch and pew
John Betjeman, the patron saint of English parish churches, once warned against praising British buildings too much. Be careful before…
Cold comfort for Gibbons fans
One of the great fascinations of a ‘lost’ work by a famous name dredged up out of the vault after…
The painter as poser
Bernard Buffet was no one’s idea of a great painter. Except, that is, Pierre Bergé and Nick Foulkes. Bergé was…
Staying put
Publishing a ‘New York’ novel in the months after 11 September 2001 is a surefire, if accidental, way to make…
Carrots — and no stick
Never mind teaching children to cook: they need to be taught to eat. Obvious? Totally, but this is the choosing…
The Lost Word
I know it cold, the scene in the woods, the grey-toned sky, and snow— the sudden clearing in the underbrush…
Fighting back
For anyone looking for a stimulating read this summer, one that bestows a certain sense of rationality on our otherwise…
Act of Faith
This winter morning between seven and eight, half a white moon still present, a ghost not shining on plentiful frost…
The Lost Word
I know it cold, the scene in the woods, the grey-toned sky, and snow— the sudden clearing in the underbrush…
Act of Faith
This winter morning between seven and eight, half a white moon still present, a ghost not shining on plentiful frost…
The Lost Word
I know it cold, the scene in the woods, the grey-toned sky, and snow— the sudden clearing in the underbrush…
Between the woods and the water
Timothy Snyder traces Ukraine’s complex history from its classical heritage to the present day
More terrible beauty
At some point during your reading of this book the realisation might dawn, if you didn’t already know about his…
A posh Del Boy
The Art of Smuggling comes garlanded with fraternal encomia from Howard ‘Mr Nice’ Marks, Phil Sparrowhawk (author of Grass) and…
Dancing like a demon
‘Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough,’ said Gustave Flaubert. He might have been talking about this…
A separation of powers
In 2014, Beijing and Moscow signed a US$400 billion deal to deliver Russian gas to Chinese consumers. Construction of the…
A choice of crime novels
It’s often the case that present-day crimes have their roots in the past. Ian Rankin’s Even Dogs in the Wild…
The great inscape
‘I am 12 miles from a lemon,’ lamented that bon vivant clergyman Sydney Smith on reaching one country posting. He…
The wandering Jew
It’s been a long time coming for György Spiró. However much Hungarian writers complain about the isolation forced upon them…
A touch of class
The New Yorker has always been revered for the supreme quality of its writing, says Philip Hensher
