Books
Charming the princes
The ‘dollar princesses’, those American heiresses who crossed the Atlantic in search of a titled husband, are familiar figures from…
Modern-day Leviathans
If a time traveller were to arrive in our world from, say, 1514 — a neat half-millennium away — what…
Dublin diversion
On his deathbed in Dublin in the spring of 1966, Flann O’Brien must have been squiffy from tots of Paddy.…
Georgian romp
London, 1794. It’s a different world from that portrayed by the Mrs Radcliffes and Anons of the time: rich young…
Jaipur Notebook
In 2004, ten days after I moved my family to a new life in India, I gave a reading at…
Books and Arts
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
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.
Words, words, words
Sam Leith reviews the reviews of David Lodge — and wonders where it will all end
More blood and mud
Countless writers and film-makers this year will be trying their hand at forcing us to wake up and smell the…
His soul goes marching on
James McBride’s The Good Lord Bird is set in the mid 19th century, and is based on the real life…
Myths of the modern-day pharoahs
Jonathan Rugman is foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News.
Let the elves do the work
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!…
Addicted to gambling and reform
A book about one of the London clubs, published to mark its 250th anniversary, might be regarded as of extremely…
Trampling out the vintage
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
Adam Foulds’s latest novel is less successful than its predecessor. In 2009 he reached the Booker shortlist with The Quickening…
Too sharp by half
It is six years since Hanif Kureishi’s last novel Something to Tell You, a kaleidoscopic meditation on life and death…
The perils of partition
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!…
