Books
The Cockwombible
James Felton’s new book is lazy and bad
Holidays take a pounding
An entertaining new history of British tourism is well timed
Murders for October
A cornucopia of killings
More like a lecture
“Lessons” is Ian McEwan at his worst
A chip on his shoulder
The diaries of Chips Channon
King Charles’s ruthless revenge
Whilst the traitors are swiftly rounded up and dispatched, a handful remain at large
Violence against history
An aggressively one-sided book
The upside of the bubonic plague
Historian James Belich has no truck with the plague deniers
How Britain fell out of love with Boris
The story of a shy extrovert, an unprincipled believer, a depressive funster
Fruits of sex
Rediscovering the telos of gender
America will be fine
The American system is far more resilient than it looks
Dissertations and their discontents
PhD funding is a valid subject for debate but social media mobs are not the answer
How Roman women were victimised twice
The victims of abuse could also be degraded by historians
Don’t let it go
Communal singing is good for the soul
The fading fumes of the New Right
None of the Tory candidates offer the chance of an ideological makeover
Minimum pricing, maximum annoyance
No one wins when the minimum price for alcohol rises
Tragedy, comedy and an Italian parable
Three great novels capture a moment of change for society
Worthy instrument
York Bowen, Willam Walton: Viola concertos (SWR Music)
Why can’t there be more vampires?
Bloodsucking, in various more or less metaphorical guises, is after all opera’s happiest place
Bitter progress
How English towns developed post-war — not always for the better
Just the tonic
Rediscover the forgotten treasure of Australia: fortified wines
