Book Review
The false prophets of war and turmoil
All eight of Whatmore’s subjects would have been astounded by the
stability of the British state through the 19th century
Postcards from before the war
It is no longer possible to reflect upon Israeli culture as if the “Question of Palestine” could be brushed aside
There is a lushness to this expanded Letters
There is frequent reporting of local news, often betraying a hobbit-like
preoccupation with the availability of beer
Four women seers in a time of strife
Eilenberger’s design is to present philosophy outside the lecture theatre in its life-transforming power
Recasting the Crown for modern Britain
This progressive historian’s real charge against the monarchic institution is one of “complacency”
Giants and pygmies
Some stop-gap leaders of the opposition were never intended to be potential prime ministers
Fifth magician blues
He made the tea, he forged the autographs, and only once did he run out of plectrums
Learning in the round
Spreading fingers over a globe, not pinching them on a screen, is the best way to answer questions
Taking on the right-on with cold, hard facts
A practical manual for anyone who has no choice but to sit on committees with idealistic intellectuals
You can’t judge a book by its cover
All novels should be like this: stripped of the necessary but boring connective tissue
Most Read
The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
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.
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
Asset-stripping on campus?
Selling universities to private companies risks destroying their charitable purpose
Terry tackles literary lightweights
Is a distinguished professor right to hold intellectual biography in low esteem?
The emperor’s old advisor
McSweeney’s performance before MPs suggests age and experience hasn’t brought clarity — only better excuses
Why a wealth tax would fail
Wealth taxes have been tested in various countries and have been abandoned for very good reasons
The artist formerly known as Nero
The life and death of Rome’s last Julio-Claudian emperor revealed every Roman fear about the dangers of one-man rule
Joyless virtue signalling masquerading as scholarship
Dozier’s The White Pedestal is more an exercise in ideology than a search for the truth
The costs of telling the truth too late
The girl guiding decision is causing pain — so why do activists seek to prolong it?
Reclaiming Christian nationhood
Linking the Christian faith to our national identity is not radical (or American)
Storycraft is soulcraft
A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and heroism after disenchantment
A range of Stratford anecdotes
The Walliams dilemma
On a winning streak
Eventually streaks end, but it does not have to be The End