Books
The boundless enthusiasm of Asa Briggs
A prodigy from the start, the tireless historian left his fellow academics panting behind him in a long and distinguished career
The powder keg of 1980s New York
Ed Koch’s mayoralty is beset by violent crime, corruption, racism, Aids and a crack epidemic, with Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump further tormenting him where possible
‘I’ve taken to sleeping in my teeth’ – the wartime admissions of T.S. Eliot
‘I’m getting to be a wambling old codger’…‘I haven’t got enough phlegm to undress’, writes the poet, exhausted by readings and broadcasts, in letters spanning 1942-44
God on his side
It was veteran journalist Zito who said in her 2018 book The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American…
A century of western meddling in Iran
British involvement with the Pahlavis from the 1920s and postwar US policy were contributory factors to the revolution and the worsening of relations since
Madcap antics: The Pentecost Papers, by Ferdinand Mount, reviewed
Hapless Dickie Pentecost is drawn into a consortium involved in short-selling scams disguised as environmental activism in the Amazon
Looking on in anger: Happiness and Love, by Zoe Dubno, reviewed
A nameless woman, joining former friends after a funeral, is left speechless with fury at their vanity and pretensions
The trials of ‘the sexiest man alive’
Johnny Depp dismissed the idea a prenup before marrying Amber Heard – only to spend the next decade embroiled in litigation
An explosion of toxic masculinity: The Fathers, by John Niven, reviewed
The lives of two men who meet in a Glasgow maternity unit soon spiral out of control, exposing heartbreaking vulnerabilities, in this wry portrait of modern fatherhood
Romantic fantasies of the French in India
A cottage industry of counterfactual history emerged in 19th-century France catering for those mourning India’s ‘loss’ after successive defeats by the British
What’s next for Taiwan?
Invasion by China – long threatened – would result in a serious global depression. But how will the US react?
Britain’s new role as a bastion of black culture
Two books take us from race riots and Teddy Boys to the current ‘Jamaicanisation’ of our cities – and the inflection now hip among white British teenagers
The insoluble link between government and crime
Taxes and prohibition invariably lead to evasion, racketeering and corruption in an endless capitalist cycle, says Mark Galeotti
The merchant as global reporter
Joad Raymond Wren explores the role played by Europe’s polyglot traders in disseminating news before the invention of the telegraph
A rebellious childhood: Lowest Common Denominator, by Pirkko Saisio, reviewed
In droll, sardonic, dialogue-driven scenes, Saisio transports us to her youth in Cold War Finland and her longing to become a writer
With glee to the silvery sea
Before Beeching’s cuts, hordes of British holiday-makers rushed by train to the coast every summer – from ‘bracing’ Scarborough to the ‘Devon Rivera’
A summer of suspense: recent crime fiction
The second world war features in haunting thrillers by Carlo Lucarelli and Andrew Taylor. Also reviewed: A Sting in the Tale, by Mark Ezra; and Kane, by Graham Hurley
Pity the censor: Moderation, by Elaine Castillo, reviewed
As a content moderator of the internet, thirtysomething Girlie is accustomed to stomach-churning videos. But how will she fare in the VR theme park sector?
Tedious, lazy and pretentious – Irvine Welsh’s Men in Love is a disgrace
Clumsy, self-regarding sequels to Trainspotting simply won’t work any more
Bristling with meaning: the language of hair in 19th-century America
Beards, moustaches, whiskers, free-flowing curls or cropped coifs – all were signifiers of morality, trustworthiness or political ideology
Mothers’ union: The Benefactors, by Wendy Erskine, reviewed
Three wealthy Belfast women join forces to defend their sons accused of sexual assault – regardless of rights and wrongs
A marriage of inconvenience: The Bride Stone, by Sally Gardner, reviewed
His capricious father’s will leaves a young English doctor needing to find a wife within two days and seven hours of his return home from revolutionary France
The mixed legacy of Zbigniew Brzezinski, strategist of the Cold War
Successful initiatives during the Carter presidency regarding the USSR, China and Afghanistan were counterbalanced by a serious misreading of the situation in Iran
Assassinations have an awkward tendency to backfire
A prime example – the murder of the SS officer Reinhard Heydrich in 1942 – may have been a technical success for SOE, but brutal reprisals made it an operational disaster
The crimes of Cecil Rhodes were every bit as sinister as those of the Nazis
Through bribery and ruthless exploitation, the unapologetic racist worked to unite Africa under British rule – with consequences that still haunt us today
