Political Biography
Lost in the eye of the hurricane
Crisis is the pinwheel of modern democratic politics
The blue blazer
Liz Truss’s story is a salutary tale
Can political biographies ever be any good?
Political memoirs can be essential, eye-popping reading if the subject is handled in the right way
Let there be love
Filmmakers have fallen out of love with romantic movies, but it’s time to bring back passion to the picture house
Sinking giggling into the sea
The Conservatives were very amused with Rishi Sunak’s latest joke, even if no one else was
Jam, Jute, journalism, Japanese design
There is a lot more to see and enjoy in Dundee than London reviewers suggested
Great Lives — great, The Essay — awful
Radio 3 maintains its course towards self-destruction
The art of Caspar David Friedrich
In our brave new world of modern art, there’s a growing appetite for celebrating the mystery of the natural world
How to win at Chopin
Giving marks to people playing Chopin is no different from deciding on medals in gymnastics
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
The City’s lights are dimming
The Square Mile is increasingly at risk of becoming an irrelevance
Pen pusher
My fascination with fountain pens
The new Irish hate speech law will do more harm than good
New legislation endangers liberty and will not address political division
The reality of tobacco control
To have a law does not mean that it will be respected
