reportage
Stray shells and suicide bombers in Kabul’s finest hotel
Lyse Doucet describes how the Intercontinental, the journalists’ refuge for decades, is increasingly targeted by the Taliban as they gain control in Afghanistan
There’s something about Marianne – but can French identity be defined?
The Parisian public belongs to ‘all classes and creeds’, yet the sounds, smells and street furniture remain unmistakably French, says Andrew Hussey
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
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
The shocking state of perinatal care in Britain
Theo Clarke gathers heartbreaking instances of infant mortality, medical malpractice and severe post-partum trauma in the nation’s maternity wards
The importance of bread as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance
Two authors writing in response to the war use baking as a prism through which to view the country’s heritage and its defiance of Putin
The night has a thousand eyes
Dan Richards explores the lives of the nurses, train drivers, rescue crews and factory workers who are up and about while the rest of us are sleeping
Round the world in a vast, unlovely barge
How does the metamorphosis of lumbering, engineless vessel – from freight container to troop-carrier to prison, hostel and rusting hulk – reflect today’s economic climate?
It’s trust in English kindness that keeps the migrants coming
More than 12 million Brits engage in some form of voluntary work, many of whom have dropped everything to help those arriving in small boats
Whether adored or despised, Princess Diana is never forgotten
Edward White examines the effect of the former Princess of Wales on the millions worldwide who never even laid eyes on her
Bloodbath at West Chapple farm
Fifty years after its original publication, John Cornwell’s account of the Devon murder mystery involving three dysfunctional siblings remains as haunting as ever
Modernisation has sent Russia spinning back to the Stone Age
Howard Amos portrays a once hopeful country now sweeping the past under the carpet as it alternates between pitying itself and pitting itself against the rest of the world
Reliving the terror of the Bataclan massacre
Emmanuel Carrère knows when to let the horrors speak for themselves in his moving, hard-hitting account of the trial of the perpetrators
Voices from Gaza, historic city in ruins
Accounts of the current bombings and the daily search for fuel, food and water are by turns heartbreaking, terrified, resilient and defiant – and cling to the hope of a peaceful future
The Crimean War spelt the end of hymns to heroism and glory
Writing from opposite sides, Leo Tolstoy and William Howard Russell exposed the horror of conditions in a quagmire war which seemed to have no meaning
A David and Goliath battle involving a billion-dollar pornography website
Laila Mickelwait appears to wage a one-woman crusade to shut down a major distributor of rape and child abuse videos
Bold, brave and determined
Andrew Harding describes the hastily assembled ‘Dad’s Army’ – and formidable babushka – who sensationally resisted the Russian advance on Voznesensk last year
The Middle East maelstrom
For 25 years, Abed Takkoush assisted foreign reporters like Jeremy Bowen when they arrived to cover the chaos and conflicts…
Prophesying doom
Janine di Giovanni’s book begins in a Paris apartment during the first lockdown. She’s at a friend’s home, which she…
The catastrophe unfolds
The most alarming aspect of living in America is the recurring sensation that no one is in charge. This is…
A dangerous madness
The QAnon conspiracy theory may be absurd, but it can’t be ignored. It has already led to significant acts of violence, says Damian Thompson
President Xi’s panopticon
Tom Miller describes how Xinjiang became a laboratory for China’s mass surveillance system – built with the help of US tech companies
An addiction catastrophe
The Sacklers’ callous greed has unleashed a tsunami of pain, says Ian Birrell
Community spirit
The years after the first world war were a boom time for utopian communities. As the survivors of the conflict…
New Yorkers yakking
New York in a nutshell? No way. New York in a New York minute? Forget about it. The city contains…
