Fiction
A fully-packed bookcase
Three books that each offer a traditional holiday-reading pleasure
Murders for the summer holidays
Jeremy Black recommends a menagerie of disturbing animal-themed stories to entertain throughout the summer
Contemporary writing with a twist and a tug
In this month’s fiction selection, John Self discovers novels that successfully use their style to enhance rather than simply describe the story
Murders for late June
From midnight Parisian walks and femmes fatales to jazz and corruption, Jeremy Black rounds up the best murders
The YA boo gang
Young Adult fiction has become cancel culture’s savage front line
Debutant novels and great expectations
John Self on debut novels that provide an insight into publishing in Britain
The fundamental truths of fiction
Kit Wilson says the slow atrophy of the English novel is contributing to a decline in empathy and the rise of tribalism, trolling and “stay in your lane” identity politics
The enduring power of brief encounters
A trio of novels that are connected by their surprising manner of finding their way to us
Entering the world of Weird fiction
The short stories of the long nineteenth century through the lens of Covid-19
What do literary prizes tell us about publishing in 2021?
The implications of identity politics on literary trends
The deep wisdom of rootedness
Society has lost touch with the people and places who helped to shape it in the first place
Exhibiting military history
Four new exhibitions offer vivid insights into different experiences of war
Time for realpolitik in Israel
Britain’s foreign policy in the Middle East should put British interests first
The great immigration data disaster
Officials are deleting the data we need for a more sensible debate
Deer prudence
It’s time for a change of attitude to wild British venison
Why the goal glut?
Football — never boring, even when Italy is defending a 1–0 lead — has only grown more exciting
Beheading a pigeon
For all its quirks, bushcraft offered valuable insights into modernity and tradition
Nova’s diary: Everything’s different now
Rishi is helping our neighbour, Big Jeremy, with his sums
Clerical error
Clergy should be in the business of saving souls, not stamping passports
The slick glide through the institutions
When values are outsourced to third-party organisations, everybody suffers
Old Ireland stirs
The defeat handed to Dublin’s progressive establishment was a reminder of an older Ireland
