Issue: August/September 2024
From austerity to the Swinging Sixties
Two books by David Kirby and Robyn Hitchcock are the equivalent of two albums’ worth of their authors’ holiday snaps
The soaraway success of scoops and smut
Tabloid sensibility wasn’t just about visual presentation, it was also about the way stories were written
The warp and weft of women’s history
This synthesising project downplays the variety of experience amongst ancient women
Crossroads of history
Cyprus is an island of contradictions, and the more we learn about it, the more paradoxical it becomes
Digging the Holy Land’s past
Our modern controversies about Jerusalem have ancient and medieval roots
Wagner: the long and short of it
Creativity consists in destruction, in turning the composer inside-out, in making fun of him.
How to take on the culture warriors
Determining what is and isn’t appropriate is not the job of thought-policing left authoritarians
Pilot, playboy, player
This portrait of a gifted and not particularly pleasant man adds another feather to the author’s hat
Still-sparkling gems of an annus mirabilis
Tried and tested novels overlooked in our neophilic rush to the new and wanting
Let publishers publish
The protracted corporate decision-making process is stifling the books industry
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
The fog of facts
As elections approach, voters are forced to navigate a swamp of spin, distortion, and inaccessible data.
The disunited kingdom
The establishment must confront the disturbing realities of sectarian politics in the UK
The case for vapes
Arguments for prohibitionism disappear in a cloud of vapour
Shining a light on the culture wars
Without the reintroduction of liberal ethical standards, the sacred purpose of academia cannot survive
Britain and brutalism: listed, not loved
The visitor numbers and heritage status of the Southbank tell us nothing about what people actually want to look at
Police policies must be reformed
If we are to have policing “without fear or favour” then it is time for change
Trump will not discredit Europe’s populist right
European populism is a lot deeper than mere Trumpism
How Donald Trump betrayed himself
President Trump has forgotten what made him successful in the first place
Piano pair strike just the right note
Serendipity has delivered a double bill for the ages this month
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
Squeezing out your generation
New laws are harming, not helping, younger people