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The Napoleonic myth of la méritocratie
The French Revolution spawned a new age of opportunity for the many to make it to high office. Or did it?
Robert Tombs
May 11, 2021
Notebooks
Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.
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Imperial Germany – mighty aristocracy or modern meritocracy?
Post-1871 Imperial Germany's embrace of meritocratic ideals was only skin deep.
Joachim Whaley
May 10, 2021
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Apology for a woman writing
Not all women in ancient Greece benefited from the advent of democracy – but exceptions like Aspasia are a source of inspiration today.
Erica Benner
May 8, 2021
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Angels among us
Rainer Maria Rilke’s masterpiece extends the dimensions of poetic discourse and offers a fresh view of humanity.
Harry Cluff
May 5, 2021
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What if Bach and Handel had met?
The massive international stature of Handel’s success seems to have irked Bach’s acolytes enough for them to fashion a false binary which to an extent persists to this day.
Mahan Esfahani
April 28, 2021
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The promise of Greenland
Inhospitable Greenland is no longer a geopolitical wasteland. New opportunities are spawning competition for the island.
Bruce Anderson
April 20, 2021
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Cats rule
Cats are the winners from pandemic lockdowns. We could learn a thing or two from them.
Fay Schopen
April 17, 2021
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Fighting the good fight
Culture wars are as old as politics itself – and far from being inauthentic confections, they cut to the heart of real, living disagreements about history, identity, nationhood and..
Dominic Sandbrook
April 13, 2021
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In praise of music’s uselessness
Let's do away with moralising about music and take pure pleasure in the work of composers of the past.
Mahan Esfahani
April 6, 2021