Culture

The Story of Scottish Art is not a scholarly work of art history; it gives an easy-to-read account of artists’ lives with a faintly awestruck tone

Far from progressive, Russell T Davies’ recent remarks on the suitability of straight actors playing ‘gay’ roles are conservative and reactionary

Alexander Larman on why the late, great David Bowie remains such a totemic and iconic figure in his life

Andy Friend provides a readable account of Nash’s life, but omits important detail about how the artist made others feel

Bringing back the Net Book Agreement would be a good start for badly-paid authors

Hannah Betts chooses chic alternatives to dull sweatpants

George Orwell has a gift for the unusual and the memorable that means that even his half-forgotten novels are well worth discovering once again

Highsmith was a great writer, with a moral vision bracing enough to clarify the terrors of the twentieth century

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

At the end of a dismal year, consider the cult dystopias of the optimistic 1990s.