Books
Streamlined chic or lacy froth: royal style wars of the 1930s
Nothing signalled the personalities of the warring sisters-in-law more clearly than the contrasting fashion sense of Wallis Simpson and Queen Elizabeth
Revelling in reading: The Enchanting Lives of Others, by Can Xue, reviewed
A group of young fiction enthusiasts and intellectuals channel their energies into devouring novels – and marvel at how enlightened it makes them feel
Double trouble: As If, by Isabel Waidner, reviewed
Two near-identical middle-aged men, adrift and purposeless, are revitalised when they spontaneously decide to swap lives
Everybody needs ‘good neighbours’: fairy folklore from time immemorial
From ancient Greek dryads to Tolkien’s elves, fairies have had a fantastical past and seem destined for a fabulous future
The Labour party should finally grow up about Ramsay MacDonald and his conduct
In forming a National Government in 1931, MacDonald overlooked the narrow interests of his party – and saved Britain from bankruptcy as a result
Things still seem oddly disorientating without Seamus Heaney
But at least there’s now a complete edition of the poems, which feels right for a man who never lost himself, but always remained centred, concentrated and uncorrupted
Adventures in the City of Light: Rousseau’s Lost Children, by Gavin McCrea, reviewed
An academic specialising in Jean-Jacques Rousseau slips back in time to 1777 to accompany his hero on long philosophical rambles around Paris
The sweeping drama of Australia’s political history
With spellbinding verve, Tony Abbott, a former prime minister of Australia, celebrates just how old and grand the country’s democracy is
Blitz spirits: Nonesuch, by Francis Spufford, reviewed
Set in war-torn London, this fantastical novel featuring shape-shifting angels, parallel universes and a homicidal female fascist deserves to be a colossal success
Searching for the one and only is futile, say the sexologists
Forget the idea of ‘the perfect match’. Humans are hardwired by evolution to form strong pair bonds and we should marry those who are good for us
The lost world of the pinball machine
In a touchingly Proustian memoir, Andreas Bernard hymns a youth spent flipping small steel balls in bars and resort arcades throughout Europe and America
The citizens of nowhere adrift in the West
Threatened with violence in her native Turkey, the writer Ece Temelkuran finds herself, like countless migrants, permanently ‘unhomed’
No good deed goes unpunished: A Better Life, by Lionel Shriver, reviewed
Kind, liberal Gloria Bonaventura opens her New York home to a young Honduran woman, but soon comes to regret the decision
The two faces of modern Japan
The principal cities still appear youthful and vigorous, but the interior is near to collapse after decades of neglect and economic stagnation
Why Leonard Cohen felt empowered to pronounce benedictions
The musician, who never really abandoned his Orthodox Jewish hinterland, took to heart the fact that being a kohen entitled him to dispense priestly blessings
Growing up with thieves, murderers and heroin addicts
Aged ten, Jonathan Tepper was manning phones and scheduling deliveries at his parents’ drug rehabilitation centre in San Blas, Madrid – ‘a rescue shop within a yard of hell’
Rupert Murdoch’s warped vision of family
The absentee father, who always put his media empire first, enjoyed playing his children off against one another – with crippling consequences
Forgetting was the best defence for the Kindertransport refugees
Alfred and Doris Moritz remained largely silent about their persecution in Nazi Germany, having tried their best to erase the memory, according to their son Michael
Goddesses and courtesans: six centuries of the female body in art
Amy Dempsey explains how nude representations, from Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ to Manet’s ‘Olympia’, express both emotion and the attitudes of the day
Lust for gold: White River Crossing, by Ian McGuire, reviewed
In 1766, a small party from the Hudson Bay Company head to the subarctic tundra in search of untold riches
Musical bumps: Discord, by Jeremy Cooper, reviewed
The ebb and flow of harmony between a composer and her chosen solo saxophonist is charted with meticulous precision
What hope is there for the Church of England today?
With attendance in long-term decline and too many clergy trapped in the headlights of identity politics, the ‘ark of salvation’ seems barely seaworthy
Are western governments actively facilitating money laundering?
The inadequate scrutiny of shell companies and continual printing of vast quantities of high-denomination banknotes are just some indications of a shameful systemic failure
The tale of John Tom, the Cornish rebel with the Messiah complex
The 19th-century merchant from Truro who posed as a charismatic preacher and saviour of the poor was far more deranged than anyone realised
Made in China
Most things that seemed like a good idea at the time eventually land somewhere between disaster and calamity. In Apple…
