Essays

Long-form writing from leading scholars and commentators on history, statecraft, warfare, philosophy and culture.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence was the subject of a watershed obscenity trial. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

In defence of freedom in fiction

While we may think we have moved beyond the censorship of the past, writers' artistic freedoms are still constrained.

Alexander McCall Smith October 26, 2022
French leaders Henri Giraud (left) and Charles de Gaulle sit down after shaking hands in presence of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Casablanca conference. Credit: GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

What are leaders good for?

Good leadership in modern politics is less to do with the sort of charisma and magic touch favoured by pundits than charting a clear direction that the public wants to follow.

Vernon Bogdanor October 20, 2022
Construction of highway, eighteenth century France Engineers on horseback inspecting the work, a painting Claude-Joseph Vernet, 1775. Credit: Lebrecht Music & Arts / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

How the individual invented the modern West

The European Middle Ages have been deemed an era of regression but this couldn't be further from the truth. In this period, the foundations were laid to establish a liberal West ce..

Larry Siedentop October 19, 2022
A Ukrainian flag seen fluttering near Yampil, a settlement and railroad station in Lyman, Donetsk region. The liberation of Lyman was seen as a symbolic victory in the east. Credit: Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

A tale of three generals — how the Ukrainian military turned the tide

Over the past three months the wider world has watched Ukrainian army offensives with amazement. While impressive, their successes are not miracles and can be explained by superb l..

Mick Ryan October 14, 2022
Wiring for broadband cabinet.
essays

Digital revolution: a splash in the cognitive space?

The effects of digital communication on the human brain are profound. We must understand these changes before it's too late.

Martin Ingvar October 12, 2022
Isabelle Huppert, Madame Bovary 1991. Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo
essays

The truth shall set us free

Modern culture has left us ever more isolated and lonely but promises absolute liberty to pursue our desires. But to feel truly free we must rediscover a spirit of collective truth..

Marie Daouda October 7, 2022
Jesus Christ on the Cross with St. Mary and St John, painted by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1512.
essays

The joy of suffering

The crucifixion lodged suffering at the heart of Christianity: to suffer was to be like Christ. This reframing of suffering had far-reaching consequences for world history.

Candida Moss October 4, 2022
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and US Capitol building during morning twilight as seen from Arlington, Virginia. Credit: Clarence Holmes Photography / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

The decay and renewal of the American constitutional order

By the end of the twentieth century, a new model of nationhood emerged which relied on markets. While not inherently malign, this new constitutional order has the potential to be a..

Philip Bobbitt September 28, 2022
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev shakes hands with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the Russian Parliament after failed coup attempt against Gorbachev in August, 1991. Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

The swift death of Gorbachev’s USSR set Russia on a path to chaos

Over a two year period, the Soviet leader's authority was slowly sliced away until his only choice was to resign with dignity in 1991. While the West may have thought this bloodles..

Vladislav Zubok September 28, 2022

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