It is all too easy to forget the astonishing cultural wealth that lies close to hand in our medieval parish churches

2024 has been a rewarding year for lovers of books and history

Intellectual history, sneered at in Oxford 40 years ago, is all the rage there now

This book sets out to rebalance ahistorical narratives of how museum collections were constructed

Dry-ish, spare, clear-eyed — rare in a world of literary bloat, sentiment and overstatement

A distinct lack of charity when evaluating the motivations and goals of others

An interesting if unappealingly illustrated reassessment of a neglected style

A depressing, inarticulate complaint of a generation too paralysed even to make art

Despite fascinating thematic material to work with, Murakami still makes it ploddingly dull

George Guiver’s book exudes down-to-earthiness, bordering on irreverence