D.J. Taylor
D. J. Taylor’s Lost Girls: Love, War and Literature 1939-1951 and On Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Biography were both published in the autumn
Brief encounters and romps in the park
George Orwell pursued women with enthusiasm and varying degrees of success
Why do we review books?
D.J. Taylor reflects on nearly four decades of hard graft on the literary pages
How a twenty-year-old report started the culture wars
The Parekh report argued that ‘Britishness’ as previously understood was now defunct
Roger Scruton was no atheist – argues his literary executor
On the first anniversary of his death, Scruton’s literary executor says that it is a ‘travesty of the truth’ to think that Scruton joined the ranks of those evangelical atheists
Opening up the British Museum
Honesty about how exhibits were acquired is a necessary first step in addressing our imperial past
The enduring appeal of Jeeves and Wooster
Ben Schott’s new novel is hugely welcome, but thankfully it will never threaten to obscure the genius of the canon
Knights to remember
This must not be read within 2 metres of another sketch, unless you are in a bubble with John Crace
Maggi Hambling’s sculpture is simply bad art
Perhaps if it were a simply better artwork, then Hambling’s statue would have been more warmly received
The career of David Fincher – not so black and white?
David Fincher’s eleventh film is his most personal and revealing yet
The story of Scottish art
The Story of Scottish Art is not a scholarly work of art history; it gives an easy-to-read account of artists’ lives with a faintly awestruck tone
The extraordinary life of Jan Morris
The end of one writer’s life as a vivid dream
“Meme”
From a German zoologist to internet burns, Dominic Green charts the history of the word meme