Books
Peculiar world of a singular talent
Highsmith was a great writer, with a moral vision bracing enough to clarify the terrors of the twentieth century
Evolution of a master
Davey’s selection has given us a deeper understanding of the value and practice of drawing
High priestess of a new morality
At times Portrait of a Muse feels like a Julian Fellowes soap opera where we see this woman of extraordinary vivacity making great men go weak at the knees
Murders ranging widely
Jeremy Black recommends an array of crime fiction novels, both modern and classic, to keep you entertained in January
“There’s trouble at t’lab”
Stuart Ritchie’s ‘Science Fictions’ reveals a scholar committed not only to his own discipline but to the wider principles underlying all intellectual endeavour
The cacophonous Mr Chips
A good field guide, but it won’t make you fall in love with the gull next door
It shouldn’t happen to a spad
Ministers have always needed people to carry their bags and to tell them what a wonderful job they are doing
Are we killing ourselves with kindness?
Stefan Zweig’s 1939 novel ‘Beware of Pity’ now screams to have its message heeded
Crooked compendium
Ms Lees offers a new take on the template, but she is walking a well-trodden path
Unravelling the myth of George Soros
Emily Tamkin’s ‘The Influence of Soros’ is a lucid, subtle and fair-minded attempt to grapple with a tremendously complex legacy