Matriarchy
The fixtures that forged a nation
Even if you loathed sport, you could enjoy this book — which is why it can both delight and frustrate
A monumental work on British buildings
Gavin Stamp’s posthumous book is a magnificent tour d’horizon, a bible of the styles available to architects between the wars
Portugal must be more than an EU vassal
As elections approach, can Portugal break the stultifying hold of a progressive, big state worldview?
W.S. Gilbert
A wildly funny and slyly subversive comic genius who deftly skewered the mores of Victorian England
Brussels, capital city of Surrealism
In Brussels, Surrealism lurks in the most unexpected places
The lonely end of a political failure
Leo Varadkar rode to power on a wave of optimism and is disappearing in a puff of disaffection
Against gorpcore
We have to develop and embrace aesthetics that inspire the imagination
Not amused: Victoria in her own words
Beneath the excitable phrases and endless underlining, Victoria’s correspondence doggedly promoted a coherent policy
Dumb, glum and zero-sum
British thinking has to value supply more than distribution
Whisperings of the cruel sea
Britten: Concertos (Orfeo)