Notebooks

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

A German tank surrenders to British troops during the Battle of El Alamein, 1942.

notebook

Keith Douglas, an Englishman at war

The sublime talents of the wartime poet and writer Keith Douglas captured both the harrowing nature of conflict and the spirit of an England that once was, but is no more.

Bryan Appleyard October 28, 2025

The Tribute to Victory celebration at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 1945.

notebook

Los Angeles, 1945: victory at a cost

A Tribute to Victory, an event staged to celebrate America's victory in the Second World War, remains a curious historical footnote – a celebration whose grand finale captured the ..

Iain MacGregor October 27, 2025

Construction workers on scaffolding in Hong Kong.

notebook

China’s economic playbook needs a rewrite

Driven by its laser-focus on security, and its angst about relations with the United States and the West, the Chinese Communist Party is expected to double down on promoting indust..

George Magnus October 24, 2025

The Italian composer Luciano Berio in 1995.

notebook

Berio’s labyrinth of sound

The 'Godfather of Italian composition', as Luciano Berio was known, remains our greatest explorer of instrumental timbre and melody.

Ian Thomson October 23, 2025

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Cleopatra and Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1963 Hollywood epic.

notebook

Hollywood’s classical obsession

Beneath Hollywood portrayals of the classical world lies a desire to use antiquity to express ideas about America.

Katy Holland October 22, 2025

Bolivia's new president Rodrigo Paz at a campaign rally ahead of the runoff election in El Alto, Bolivia on 30 September, 2025. (Credit: Juan Karita/ Alamy)

notebook

Bolivia’s age of experiments

Incoming centre-right leader, Rodrigo Paz, has sold his pro-business package to the Bolivian population. But a toxic combination of regional antagonisms and structural weakness cou..

John Crabtree October 22, 2025

The President of Argentina takes to the stage.

notebook

Javier Milei, a very Argentinian president

Eccentric as Milei's alter-ego choices may be, they contain a certain logic, especially for those acquainted with Argentinian letters.

Andreas Campomar October 21, 2025

Polish children deported to Germany by the Nazis.

notebook

The Nazi conquest of childhood

The fate of Eastern European children stolen by the Nazis highlights the difficulties involved with repatriating those abducted during wartime.

Caitlin Allen October 17, 2025

The Two Are But One (Les deux ne font qu'un),

notebook

Marie Antoinette’s image problem

From vicious rumours to lurid portrayals of her sexual mores, the queen was a victim of 18th-century France's scurrilous press long before she was sent to the guillotine.

Saffron Swire October 16, 2025