Notebooks

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The art of Éric Rohmer

The filmmaker Éric Rohmer never sought a mass audience: he wanted to reach those thoughtful, sensitive people to whom poetry, art and serious music play an integral role in life, a..

Jaspreet Singh Boparai February 26, 2025

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A tale of two Congos

Despite their geographical proximity and deep historical ties, the Democratic Republic of Congo and its sibling, the Republic of Congo, have travelled along divergent political and..

Mpiti Mosothoane February 26, 2025

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Charles Lamb’s literary alter ego

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Charles Lamb’s birth, providing an opportune time to take stock of his finest work — his strikingly original essays.

Malcolm Forbes February 24, 2025

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The 18th century way of war

At a time of increasing autocratic tendencies and heightened great-power competition, the 18th century provides important lessons from an age when it was normal for states to annex..

Adam L. Storring February 24, 2025

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England’s unusual individualism

The individualist strain in English culture was a contingent, precarious, and exceedingly unusual thing.

Samuel Rubinstein February 21, 2025

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The beginning of the end for the Cambridge Five

The Cambridge Five have achieved a near-mythical status in the history of espionage. Yet their story is about a bygone age whose ideological struggles no longer resonate with the s..

Dan Lomas February 21, 2025

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Sweden’s Zeitenwende

Like Germany, the Scandinavian state is undergoing an epochal shift in its position within Europe – and the world – in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Jack Dickens February 20, 2025

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The pitfalls of hindsight

History provides an illuminating insight into past and present events, but employing false analogies divorced from historical context can have disastrous consequences.

Gill Bennett February 19, 2025

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Europe’s reckoning with history

The United States no longer sees Europe’s security as an issue of vital international importance. If European leaders fail to develop a prudent and practical grand strategy, the co..

Vladislav Zubok February 18, 2025