Piles of French Novels by Vincent van Gogh, a still life painting in oil on canvas, 1887.
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Books of the Year 2024

  • December 18, 2024
  • Engelsberg Ideas
A major rally takes place in Aleppo on 'Victory Friday' to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
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Why Assad’s fall took the world by surprise

  • December 20, 2024
  • Alexander Bick
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione.
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What is sprezzatura?

  • December 20, 2024
  • Jaspreet Singh Boparai
Bruegel the Elder's Tower of Babel, 1563.
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The crisis of progressivism

  • December 19, 2024
  • Antony Beevor
A 2018 poster in the city of Rastan shows Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin as allies.
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Russia’s Cold War Redux strategy for the Middle East lies in ruins

  • December 18, 2024
  • Ibrahim Al-Marashi
An artist's concept of a hybrid ground and space-based laser weapon destroying enemy satellites.
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The new struggle for space

  • December 17, 2024
  • Aaron Bateman
Louis XVI giving expedition instructions to La Perouse.
Review

Versailles’ splendour unbounded

  • December 17, 2024
  • Mathew Lyons
A ball at the Hofburg Palace featuring members of the Austro-Hungarian nobility.
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In search of Mitteleuropa’s lost nobility

  • December 16, 2024
  • Anna Parker

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First prize winner at the Covent Garden fancy dress ball in 1905, a lady dressed in an elaborate costume as the Entente Cordiale.
A naval exercise conducted by Japan.
Akbar the Great hunting. Mughal Scool, 1590. British Museum. Artist Unknown.