Books
A vivid chronicle of chroniclers
Richard Cohen’s history of histories is a gargantuan achievement
Murders for March
Parties and post boxes make beguiling settings for this month’s mysteries
Seductive, scholarly life of the poet-priest
This new biography of John Donne brings the centuries-dead poet to life
Brass and bullshit
Influencer is just another name for snake-oil salesman
Very essence of a Jewish writer’s life
Howard Jacobson stands his life on its head
Writing outside the box
Elena Ferrante’s essay collection is an exploration of the delights and constraints of form
A trip to Heaney country
The fiftieth anniversary of Seamus Heaney’s Wintering Out is a chance to recognise the importance of place to his poetry
Smashed stereotypes or revisionist reveries?
Why judge prohibitionists by their words when we can judge them by their actions?
The unheard lessons of howling feedback
Separating the signal from the noise
A return, a reissue, a brilliant new voice
The best, and the not-so-great, new fiction to read this month
As war rages we must not give in to hate
Human lives escape the simple enmities of war and nationalism
The Roman roots of the English church
Perhaps two new church histories have a salutary message for today’s C of E
War without end: Putin’s Syria model
The war in Ukraine shows tragic parallels to the earlier conflict
Crepuscular perfection
There’s a new Tuscan restaurant in town — and it’s a success
Queering Chesterton’s Wall
The Critic is moving in a new direction: every direction
The Rev Colin Godley: Media vicar
A man for all airwaves
Football and the golden fleece
Football should consult its conscience before it jumps on the NFT bandwagon
Dreamy spires
Oxford’s brilliant modern buildings
Teaching by the critical race book
Holyrood is seeking to embed social justice theory in schools
June: Letters to the Editor
Ukraine provides the best argument for why countries should not lightly discard nuclear weapons
The sound of love
Robert Schumann expresses the intense passion and despair of true love better than any other composer