Notebooks

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

Austrian Federal President Kurt Waldheim, captured in a studio of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) in Vienna on March 19th 1987.

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Hubertus Czernin put Austria on trial

Through his rigorous archival work and sense of moral duty, the Austrian investigative journalist Hubertus Czernin was able to confront his country's complicity in the horrors of t..

Katherine Simms June 29, 2026

William Pitt the Younger and the British House of Commons in c. 1793-1794. Oil on canvas by Anton Hickel

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Britain’s other age of instability

The late-18th-century British political system was shaken by a series of domestic and imperial crises, unleashing a period of turbulence only settled by a prime minister who combin..

Max Skjönsberg June 29, 2026

A stained glass of Jesus multiplying loaves and fish.

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On the craze for eating God’s way

The new craze for biblical eating has roots in two centuries of American Christian food culture.

Zoe Strimpel June 26, 2026

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When chat shows were worth watching

The archive of 'The Dick Cavett Show' is a reminder that chat show interviews were once conducted with wit and intelligence.

Paul Lay June 24, 2026

The War of the Pacific or Saltpetre War. Credit: Album

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The geopolitics of fertiliser

Time and again the global supply of usable nitrogen has driven conflict, a pattern brought back into view by turmoil in the Middle East and the green transition.

Mara Balasa June 23, 2026

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The case for South Korea to join the G7

Seoul's economic dynamism, shrewd diplomacy and strong record of co-operation with NATO countries in trade and defence has positioned it as a natural addition to the Group of Seven..

Edward Howell June 22, 2026

Portrait of Arthur Schopenhauer, 1908. Artist: Kubista, Bohumil (1884-1918)

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Schopenhauer’s devoted disciples

The German thinker's contribution to western philosophy made little impression at first, but would later influence the likes of Tolstoy, Proust and Wagner.

David Coates June 22, 2026

Donald Trump at the Palace of Versailles.

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The art of a bad deal

Economic incentives can bring Iran to the table; they should not buy an agreement that falls well short of America's own objectives.

Marc Polymeropoulos and Sam Worby June 18, 2026

Detail from a Catalan Atlas showing a Map of the Western Sahara and Mansa Musa (1280-1337), ninth ruler of the Mali Empire (circa 1312-1337), map by Abraham Cresques, 1375.

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In search of Timbuktu

Once at the heart of great empires, the West African city has long loomed large in the imaginations of European explorers, both as a shining beacon of civilisation and a pitiful sy..

William Gourlay June 17, 2026