Books
Things left undead
In the afterword to this sixth book, Aleksandar Hemon dedicates a word of thanks to his agent for keeping a…
Foaming with much blood
According to Francis Bacon, the House of York was ‘a race often dipped in its own blood’. That being so,…
Come rain or shine
‘Pray don’t talk to me about the weather, Mr Worthing,’ pleads Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. ‘Whenever people…
The powers that were
Ivan Maisky was the Russian ambassador in London from 1932 to 1943, and his knowledge of London, and affection for…
A goddess, a city and a tree
Known for her strength, Athena can throw a spear like a dart, and on the day of the contest for…
Humour and horror for children
In the Californian town of San Bernadino, children are going missing; smiling faces grace a gallery of milk cartons. One…
The brutal mask of anarchy
In September 1939 Britain went to war against Germany, ostensibly in defence of Poland. One big secret that the British…
Books and arts opener
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Telling it on the mountain
As we stood on the threshold of the dacha outside Vladivostok, the Australian delegation paused. We had been monitoring Boris…
A goddess, a city and a tree
Known for her strength, Athena can throw a spear like a dart, and on the day of the contest for…
A goddess, a city and a tree
Known for her strength, Athena can throw a spear like a dart, and on the day of the contest for…
Action this day
Peter Parker spends 24 hours on the bloodsoaked battlefield of the Somme, scene of the British army’s greatest catastrophe
The history man
History for Gore Vidal was a vehicle to be ridden in triumph, perhaps as in an out-take from Ben-Hur, which…
Universal appeal
As a novelist, Iain Pears doesn’t repeat himself, and he gives with a generous hand. In Arcadia, he provides a…
On the way to the Forum
It’s strange that tourists rarely visit the most famous site in Roman history. The spot in Pompey’s assembly hall where…
Quiet desperation
Andrew Miller’s seventh novel, and the first since Pure, which won the Costa Book of the Year award, is an…
The bitterness of Bacon
When Michael Peppiatt met Francis Bacon in 1963 to interview him for a student magazine, the artist was already well-established,…
Battle ready
For most of history, religion and war have been the most powerful social instincts of mankind and its chief collective…
Liberating Marianne
Patrick Marnham unravels some of the powerful, often conflicting myths surrounding the French Resistance
Spirits of the Blitz
If the early Martin Amis is instantly recognisable by way of its idiosyncratic slang (‘rug-rethink’, ‘going tonto’ etc) then the…
Red for danger
‘Gentlemen prefer blondes,’ Anita Loos pronounced, ‘but gentlemen marry brunettes.’ Quite what they do with redheads she never revealed (and…
A rollicking satire on the way we live now
Jonathan Franzen’s latest novel, Purity, comes with great expectations. Its author’s awareness of this fact is signalled by a series…
Another near run thing
Charles VI of France died on 21 October 1422. He had been intermittently mad for most of his long reign,…
It happened one summer
Five songs, only three of which were amplified. Thirty-five minutes, including interruptions. That’s how long Bob Dylan played for at…
First-rate firsts
It has become something of a truism among writers’ groups and in articles offering advice on how best to secure…
