Books
The Edge of the World: deep subject, shallow history
Michael Pye appears out of his depth in a cold, grey sea in the mists of time, says Adam Nicolson
Blue Note's 75 years of hot jazz
This is a big book, a monumental text with 800 illustrations, 400 of them in colour, to be contemplated more…
A big literary beast's descent into incoherence
Something odd happened between the advance publicity for this book and its printed appearance. Trailed as addressing the troubled history…
Marble-mania: when England became a spiritual heir to the ancients
Phrases such as ‘Some aspects of…’ are death at the box-office, so it is not exactly unknown for the titles…
The writer who showed the West there was more to South America than magic realism
Early on in this ‘Biography in Conversations’ we’re told that the Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño ‘continued to see himself throughout…
To call this offering a book is an abuse of language
I picked up this book with real enthusiasm. Who cannot be entranced by those 20 years after the second world…
What Julie Burchill's ex-husband thinks of her new memoir
Unchosen is the journalist Julie Burchill’s account of how she — a bright and bratty working-class girl from Bristol —…
The woman who invented the Italian resistance
Italo Calvino, the Italian arch-fabulist, wrote a foreword to this celebrated wartime diary when it appeared in Italy in 1956.…
Autumn Shades
They start to say autumnal in the forecasts, And on the Northern Line the shifting panels Look bleached already. I…
Behind (almost) every great writer is a great garden
It is a truism that writers of all kinds often find inspiration and solace in their gardens, as well as…
What went so wrong for Vaclav Havel?
The unforgettable moment a quarter of a century ago when the Berlin Wall came down was the most vivid drama…
The greatest sitcom that never was
Funny Girl is the story of the early career of the vivacious, hilarious Sophie Straw, star of the much-loved BBC…
The problem when novelists write short stories
Rose Tremain walks on water. Her historical novels are absolutely marvellous, brilliantly plotted, witty and wise, with some of the…
A Stratford Stalin: the nasty, aggressive and stupid world of Joan Littlewood
If Stalin had been a theatre director he’d have resembled Joan Littlewood. What an outstandingly unpleasant woman she was —…
Title Stories: The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
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Business books aren't meant to cheer you up. But this one will
Economics is known as ‘the dismal science’, and certainly there have been — and indeed are — economists whose day…
To my father, solicitor to the landed gentry
If you were still alive You would be ninety-six tomorrow. I think of you most days. Just now, for example,…
Books and arts
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Autumn Shades
They start to say autumnal in the forecasts, And on the Northern Line the shifting panels Look bleached already. I…
To my father, solicitor to the landed gentry
If you were still alive You would be ninety-six tomorrow. I think of you most days. Just now, for example,…
Title Stories: The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The post Title Stories: The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis appeared first on The Spectator. Got…
To my father, solicitor to the landed gentry
If you were still alive You would be ninety-six tomorrow. I think of you most days. Just now, for example,…
Title Stories: The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Terror plots, threats to liberties, banks in crisis: welcome to Britain during the Napoleonic Wars
At the end of the 18th century, Britain shuddered in Boney’s shadow, living in constant expectation of invasion and occupation, says Nigel Jones
Michael Frayn’s new book is the most highbrow TV sketch show ever
Enough of big ideas and grand designs. Instead, here are 30 unusually small ideas from the giant pulsating brain of…
