News and reviews
Can Europe Survive? featured in the Observer
Added on 04/01/2026
As more and more people become aware of the catastrophe that is Brexit, with – as I reported last time – even former chancellor George Osborne suggesting re-entry to the customs union, the dilatory nature of the government’s “realignment” efforts is becoming embarrassing.
READ MORERahila Gupta writes in the Guardian
Added on 31/12/2025
In 2025, the world that had been opened up by women has often seemed to be closing in. The forces behind the rollback of abortion rights in Donald Trump’s US are attempting to do the same in the UK. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has doubled down on its attacks on women and girls.
READ MOREThe Master of Contradictions reviewed in the Guardian
Added on 31/12/2025
In a 1924 letter to André Gide, Thomas Mann said he would soon be sending along a copy of his new novel, The Magic Mountain. “But I assure you that I do not in the least expect you to read it,” he wrote. “It is a highly problematical and ‘German’ work, and of such monstrous dimensions that I know perfectly well it won’t do for the rest of Europe.”
READ MOREHelsinki reviewed in the Spectator
Added on 29/12/2025
In 1920, the young Finnish architect Alvar Alto flew over Helsinki for the first time. He was aghast. ‘An aviator can see where the monkeys have been and destroyed so very much,’ he recalled. Alto’s aerial view reflected a story of fragmentation and occupation spanning some five centuries, now surveyed by the historian Henrik Meinander.
READ MOREAlchemy reviewed in the LRB
Added on 25/12/2025
The alchemist in his laboratory was a popular subject for Dutch painters of the 17th century because it allowed them to show off their skill with light. Mattheus van Helmont’s A Savant in His Cabinet, Surrounded by Chemical and Other Apparatus, Examining a Flask (1670s), one of the splendid plates in Philip Ball’s introduction to alchemy, depicts an alchemist at work, brandishing a beaker of pale blue fluid in one hand, surrounded by the implements of his craft.
READ MOREThe White Lady mentioned in the Daily Mail
Added on 20/12/2025
Among the most magical moments of this Hanukkah and Christmas season of gift giving is opening handsomely wrapped books from friends. As much as the socks, scarves and English sparkling wine are appreciated, none of these thrill as much as a reading surprise.
READ MOREUp in the Air reviewed in the Spectator
Added on 12/12/2025
On BBC 2 last Monday,’ noted the Sunday Telegraph’s TV critic Trevor Grove in February 1979, ‘the return of Fawlty Towers was immediately followed by a programme about faulty towers.
READ MOREWild for Austen reviewed in the TLS
Added on 12/12/2025
Miss Fanny’s ferocity merited special notice in The Picture of London, for 1809, a guidebook published by John Feltham. Even among others of her kind, “the difference of disposition in the same species” was “very striking”.
READ MOREPatchwork reviewed in the TLS
Added on 12/12/2025
Miss Fanny’s ferocity merited special notice in The Picture of London, for 1809, a guidebook published by John Feltham. Even among others of her kind, “the difference of disposition in the same species” was “very striking”.
READ MOREA Historian in Gaza reviewed in the New Statesman
Added on 11/12/2025
The succession of mass rallies across the UK against the genocide in Gaza form the single biggest protest movement in recent British history. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to show their sympathy for the bombed, starved and displaced civilians of Gaza.
READ MOREUp in the Air reviewed in the Morning Star
Added on 09/12/2025
The book’s black and white cover photo is very clearly a scene from the 1960s — a woman with a distinctive beehive haircut is looking out from her 17th-floor flat, carefully holding a young child as they gaze into the distance.
READ MOREHolbein reviewed in the Spectator
Added on 06/12/2025
On the evening of 6 May 1527, Henry VIII entertained an embassy from France at a lavish party in Greenwich. The festivities took place in a banqueting house and a theatre, both built for the occasion. At the feast’s end, Henry led his guests out through a great archway.
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