Books
Museums need to refocus on their collections
Dinah Casson’s book will inspire and galvanise anyone involved in British provincial museums
Three first-rate books on maps
What about the past should and could be mapped, and how to do so, are vexed issues in cartographic studies
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
Louis XIV: a monarch of purpose
Despite its length, Philip Mansel’s biography of the Sun King is ‘a welcome prize for any reviewer’
Books to look forward to this year
There is a great deal to look forward to this year, and hopefully not that much to dread
The life and loves of John Nash
Andy Friend provides a readable account of Nash’s life, but omits important detail about how the artist made others feel
Six ways to make things better
Bringing back the Net Book Agreement would be a good start for badly-paid authors
Best of the year that was
Put down the pandemic novels: Here’s my favourite fiction of 2020
The lesser-known Orwell: are his novels deserving of reappraisal?
George Orwell has a gift for the unusual and the memorable that means that even his half-forgotten novels are well worth discovering once again
More sad than naughty
A BDSM book by a group keen to challenge gender norms is oddly conventional