Notebooks

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

An engraving showing Napoleon I and Alexander I meeting on a raft on the Niemen River at Tilsit on 25 June 1807.

The price of Trump’s transactional diplomacy

Diplomatic deals based on the pursuit of short-term interests tend to be short-lived.

Ziyi Wang August 27, 2026

A Second World War political poster featuring Charles de Gaulle.

De Gaulle’s rise, fall and rise again

'De Gaulle: Résistance', the first instalment of Antonin Baudry's biopic of the Free French leader, is thrilling, historically convincing and, at times, rather moving.

Paul Lay August 26, 2026

The Hoover Dam in Nevada lit up with the United States flag.

The US needs a total defence strategy

In order to protect critical national infrastructure from hybrid attacks, the United States should emulate the whole-of-society approach pioneered by Sweden, Finland and the Baltic..

Alexander Noyes and Jason C. Moyer August 24, 2026

A detail from ancient sculpture.

Robert Bly and the cult of men’s inner work

Gurus of modern masculinity such as Steven Bartlett, owe a debt, conscious or not, to the eccentric poet Robert Bly.

Felice Basbøll August 24, 2026

A vintage engraving of John Bunyan's dream.

The lost discipline of dream interpretation

For most of human history, night was broken into a first and second sleep, with the hours in between given over to reflection and wonder.

Garima Garg August 21, 2026

US Army soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Kabul airport.

The forgotten Forever War

The trauma of the Vietnam War dominated American culture for decades, yet the nation's longest war – in Afghanistan – has largely vanished. Why?

Jasmine Bhatia August 20, 2026

Still from 'The Trial', a documentary by Sergei Loznitsa (2018). Image: TCD/Prod.DB

The first Moscow show trial

A compelling film by the Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa captures the grotesque spectacle that anticipated Stalin’s purge of his rivals.

Paul Lay August 19, 2026

Heraldic gates at an entrance to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Whitehall. London, United Kingdom.

Britain needs to rediscover a more resilient statecraft

A new initiative to foster defence collaboration between government, universities and industry must not forget the role of the humanities.

T.G. Otte August 19, 2026

Vinyl record of Debussy's La Mer. Credit: Vinyls

Gérard Grisey advanced Debussy’s sonic world

Debussy’s translation of the sea into orchestral sound provided a model for his later compatriot, whose spectral music created a new sonic world.

Ian Thomson August 18, 2026

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