Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

VASILY GROSSMAN (1905-1964) Soviet writer and journalist with the Red Army in Schwerin, north Germany, in Juloy 1945.

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Vasily Grossman’s account of humanity’s darkest hours

Grossman’s wartime reporting offers a searing account of the depths to which mankind fell in the middle of the last century.

Paul Lay September 30, 2026

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Ergun Çağatay, bridge to the vast Turkic world

In capturing the threads of shared culture and profound differences among a far-flung people, the photojournalist Ergun Çağatay shed light on what it means to be Turkic.

Caroline Eden September 29, 2026

British Soldiers pose with Nazi Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 which crash-landed at East Langdon in Kent, 24 August 1940.

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Britain’s information war against Nazi Germany

During the Second World War, Britain learnt that a propaganda campaign can only be won with accurate and credible reporting.

Steven Casey September 29, 2026

President Donald J. Trump participates in a Bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office, Thursday, March 19, 2026.

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Japan and South Korea must master transactional diplomacy

The United States is reviewing its military commitments in East Asia. Seoul and Tokyo must learn to compete for Washington's support.

Edward Howell September 28, 2026

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What if the Baltic states had resisted Stalin?

Finland's Winter War has become a national legend, while the Baltic states' surrender to Stalin in 1940 is remembered as a humiliation. But the story of Baltic submission is a myth..

Gordon F. Sander September 24, 2026

··· Original Film Title: I, CLAUDIUS-TV. English Title: I, CLAUDIUS-TV. Film Director: HERBERT WISE. Year: 1976. Stars: SIAN PHILLIPS

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The rise and fall of Rome’s first family

Fifty years on, 'I, Claudius' remains a startling account of power, lust and statecraft.

Paul Lay September 23, 2026

The cover of John Coltrane's 'Blue Train'.

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Coltrane, the acceptable face of the avant-garde

John Coltrane was a spiritual searcher whose shimmering, joyful music pushed jazz to its limits.

Max Mitchell September 23, 2026

The first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, established under the Mecca Agreement, on 31 August, 2026.

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The Middle East’s coalitions of convenience

The Mecca Agreement could work as part of a web of narrower, overlapping alliances better suited to the region than any grand alliance.

Ibrahim Al-Marashi and Tanya Goudsouzian September 22, 2026

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The absurd theatre of Russia’s choice-free election

The only anti-war party was struck off the ballot and online votes were counted by mysterious means. In Russia's latest exercise in democracy, the ruling party's landslide was neve..

Egor Sokolov September 22, 2026