Notebooks

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

Grigory Zinoviev (1883-1936), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet Communist politician, after his arrest by the Okhrana in 1908.

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The enduring mystery of the Zinoviev Letter

The continuing interest in the Zinoviev Letter, a century after its publication, is illustrative of how the defeated can look for someone to blame, often with destructive results.

Gill Bennett November 5, 2024

More than 1.5 million people take part in a march to support freedom of expression.

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Liberté and Laïcité

In a world where secularism and faith collide, how do we navigate a balance between separation and segregation?

Muriel Zagha November 1, 2024

A memorial to John Procter, one of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.

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Salem, the dark home of Halloween

It is easy to get swept away in the Americanisation of Halloween, but we must not forget the darkness of Salem, and a time when persecution and cultural conflicts reigned.

Fergus Butler-Gallie October 31, 2024

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The magic of Thomas Mann

Reading Thomas Mann’s masterpiece The Magic Mountain, 100 years after publication, suggests our present upheavals are not signs of sickness, but the first steps towards recovery.

Guy Stagg October 30, 2024

Electoral College ballot boxes from states arrive to a joint session of Congress, 6 January 2021.

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The looming crisis of an Electoral College tie

A tie between Trump and Harris in the Electoral College remains possible in the 2024 presidential election, and the constitutional procedures for resolving it are elaborate and fra..

Angus Brown October 30, 2024

Visualisation presented at the inauguration of the Commander Task Force Baltic (CTF).

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Germany stands by the rule of law in the Baltic

The establishment of a maritime task force in the Baltic shows Germany is serious about protecting the rule of law.

Elisabeth Braw October 30, 2024

A large rally takes place in Tunis in support of President Kais Saied amid widespread international criticism of Tunisia's latest wave of arrests of lawyers and journalists.

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Tunisia turns away from democracy

Tunisia’s road back to authoritarianism is a local expression of a global phenomenon: the tide of democratisation is steadily receding.

Jack Dickens October 28, 2024

A Victorian print of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

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The curious history of imaginary libraries

Just as potent as the libraries that once existed are the libraries that never did. The imaginary library has never ceased to enthral poets, prelates, politicians and pranksters.

Josh Mcloughlin October 24, 2024

Vladimir Putin, right, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on an escalator together after arriving for bilateral discussions on April 25, 2019 in Vladivostok, Russia.

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Russia’s North Korean connection

The alarming prospect of North Korean soldiers fighting side by side with Russian troops in Ukraine aligns with Moscow’s vision of a shift in power away from the West towards the A..

Andrew Monaghan October 23, 2024