Books
What seamen fear more than Somali pirates
If a time traveller were to arrive in our world from, say, 1514 — a neat half-millennium away — what…
Was Flann O'Brien at his best when writing about drink? (Answers on a damp stressed envelope, please)
On his deathbed in Dublin in the spring of 1966, Flann O’Brien must have been squiffy from tots of Paddy.…
A creepy father, a lustful music teacher, four virgins — and one genuine love affair
London, 1794. It’s a different world from that portrayed by the Mrs Radcliffes and Anons of the time: rich young…
William Dalrymple's notebook: How I lured Jhumpa Lahiri and Jonathan Franzen to Jaipur
In 2004, ten days after I moved my family to a new life in India, I gave a reading at…
Books and Arts
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Jaipur Notebook
In 2004, ten days after I moved my family to a new life in India, I gave a reading at…
Ornithology
‘The Wood Thrush can sing a duet by itself, using Two separate voices,’ as opposed To the whip-bird, one cry,…
Jaipur Notebook
In 2004, ten days after I moved my family to a new life in India, I gave a reading at…
Ornithology
‘The Wood Thrush can sing a duet by itself, using Two separate voices,’ as opposed To the whip-bird, one cry,…
Books and Arts
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Reviewing reviews of reviews — where will it all end?
Sam Leith reviews the reviews of David Lodge — and wonders where it will all end
When No Man's Land is home
Countless writers and film-makers this year will be trying their hand at forcing us to wake up and smell the…
The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride - review
James McBride’s The Good Lord Bird is set in the mid 19th century, and is based on the real life…
From Nasser to Mubarak — Egypt's modern pharaohs and their phoney myths
Jonathan Rugman is foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News.
Why are Scandinavians so happy when they should be so sad?
As I sit here in my Sarah Lund Fair Isle sweater, polishing my boxed sets of Borgen and nibbling on…
On Lambeth Bridge
I am halfway across a bridge and midway through my life, staring at the midday sun. How I love politics!…
Where the Whigs went
A book about one of the London clubs, published to mark its 250th anniversary, might be regarded as of extremely…
The two people who brought us The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck (1902–1968), an ardent propagandist for the exploited underdogs of the Great Depression, had barely enough money for subsistence…
Write what you know — especially if it's the second world war
Adam Foulds’s latest novel is less successful than its predecessor. In 2009 he reached the Booker shortlist with The Quickening…
A cruel novel about an India-born, world-famous, possibly real-life author
It is six years since Hanif Kureishi’s last novel Something to Tell You, a kaleidoscopic meditation on life and death…
Hope for one of the most turbulent, traumatised regions in the world
John Keay’s excellent new book on the modern history of South Asia plunges the reader head first into some wildly…
Our founding father
Founding fathers of proud nations are venerated. From an early age, children learn about their achievements and sacrifices. A King…
On Lambeth Bridge
I am halfway across a bridge and midway through my life, staring at the midday sun. How I love politics!…
On Lambeth Bridge
I am halfway across a bridge and midway through my life, staring at the midday sun. How I love politics!…
Books and Arts
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
