Notebooks

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

Jeeves and Wooster.
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The philosophical genius of P.G. Wodehouse

Although P.G. Wodehouse's books were comical, they were far from frivolous. He displays a deep appreciation of serious philosophical questions around human agency, fate and the exi..

William Fear July 22, 2024
Chocolate figurines of Vladimir Putin as Napoleon in a shop in Lviv, Ukraine.
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Putin’s Napoleon complex

Napoleon Bonaparte and Vladimir Putin share similar qualities that drive their imperial ambitions as well as the hubris that ultimately dooms empires.

Adam Zamoyski July 22, 2024
Nazi resistance leader Count Schwerin von Schwanenfeld during his trial for his involvement in the failed July 20 plot.
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The 20 July plotters’ fight for freedom

In a poignant reversal of history, the once-reviled German resistance fighters who dared to defy Hitler are now honoured as heroic patriots. 80-years on, their feat of courage endu..

Elisabeth Braw July 19, 2024
The Quai de Paris in Rouen.
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The spires at the heart of French history

The spire of Rouen's cathedral recently went up in flames, an event that stirred memories of the blaze that ravaged Notre-Dame-de-Paris. Both evoke deep resonances within French cu..

Muriel Zagha July 17, 2024
A statue of a young Abraham Lincoln sits in a courtyard on the campus of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
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Abraham Lincoln’s warning against mob rule

In 1838, a young Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech warning of the dangers of mob violence and the fragility of the rule of law.

Suzanne Raine July 17, 2024
Two soldiers patrolling the forests near the Poland-Lithuania border
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Europe’s contested borders by BMW

A short drive through Poland and Lithuania reveals the dark history that continues to haunt Eastern Europe.

Juliette Bretan July 16, 2024
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pulled off stage after shots are fired at a rally in Pennsylvania, 13 July 2024.
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The dark spectacle of American political violence

Throughout American history, assassinations and attempted assassinations have been committed and treated as violent, public spectacles which blend theatricality, media fascination ..

Angus Reilly July 15, 2024
Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson taking phone calls in their White House bedroom after he announced his withdrawal from the 1968 election.
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How LBJ stepped back

Joe Biden faces a dilemma experienced by Lyndon Johnson in 1968: how does a president withdraw from an election while preserving their power and legacy?

Luke A. Nichter July 12, 2024
Supporters of the presidential candidate of the reformist camp, Peseschkian, cheer at an election rally in the capital.
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Inside Iran’s election circus

Rather than presaging a reformist revival, the Iranian presidential election revealed the vast chasm between the state and society-at-large.

Ali Ansari July 11, 2024

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