Notebooks

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

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Why on earth do actors become novelists?

The last few years have seen an explosion of actors seeking to demonstrate their literary credentials by writing novels. They would be better to stick to the day job.

Alexander Larman July 30, 2024

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Russia returns to Svalbard

Over 25 years after leaving Svalbard, the Russians have returned to the Norwegian archipelago to reclaim their perceived Soviet-era glory.

Elisabeth Braw July 29, 2024

Kamala Harris addresses the Munich Security Conference.

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Kamala Harris and the empty language of international order

There is little that can be deciphered about Kamala Harris' views on foreign policy because she speaks with a carefully cultivated language of American exceptionalism and internati..

Angus Reilly July 26, 2024

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The Olympic moment

Paris 2024 is a global mega-event. But its success was never assured.

Lincoln Allison July 26, 2024

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On Hilary Mantel and not meeting famous authors

It's strange that, like the sentence you can’t get right, there are those people who, fatally, you want to impress, yet everything comes out wrong.

Katharine Grant July 24, 2024

Ursula von der Leyen speaks to the European Parliament as she seeks a second term as president of the Commission, 18 July 2024.

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The European Union’s coming ideological crisis

Despite the success of populist parties in the 2024 European elections, the leadership of the EU remains in the hands of the establishment parties of Christian and social democrats..

Luka Ivan Jukic July 23, 2024

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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