Notebooks

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

A system of human knowledge from the ‘Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers’ edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.

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The forgotten art of memory

For centuries, mnemonics was valued by societies and cultures across the world. We would be wise to rediscover it.

Josh Mcloughlin April 3, 2024

Relief of dignitaries addressing a Nowruz celebration, 5th century BC.

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The spirit of Nowruz is the real Iran

For Iranians, increasingly suffocated by the cultural austerity of the Islamic Republic, Nowruz is a stubborn reminder of who they really are.

Ali Ansari April 2, 2024

Stoke Poges churchyard, which inspired Thomas Gray's poem, 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'

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An Easter elegy

The power of Easter is that it doesn’t deny the pain or darkness of death, but it places it in the context of hope.

Fergus Butler-Gallie March 29, 2024

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My crush on cars

We wear our cars like jumpers: the saggier they get the closer the attachment, even if, or especially when, they don't quite fit the requirement any more.

Suzanne Raine March 25, 2024

A war monument in front of the Transfiguration Cathedral at Yaroslavl.

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Russia and the West: a dialogue of the deaf

Why does the 'man on the Moscow omnibus' think and speak in terms that are unpredictable and disturbing to western audiences?

Tim Potier March 21, 2024

Vasily Ivanovich Surikov's painting, Conquest of Siberia.

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Russia’s long imperial moment

Vladimir Putin is driven by an imperial ideology centuries in the making.

Lawrence James March 18, 2024

Restorer working inside a building along the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy.

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Italy’s weird and wonderful artisans

When it comes to the visual, Italy never does things by halves. Even its builders seek perfection.

Tobias Jones March 13, 2024

Portrait of Arthur Balfour by De László.

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De László’s portraits of society still matter

The Hungarian-born Jewish painter Philip de László was fêted by pre-war social elites, but his flourishing career foundered upon an enduring antisemitism.

Guido G. Beduschi March 12, 2024

Babylonian clay tablet with geometrical problems.

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The brilliance of Babylonian mathematics

The Babylonians did things differently. Unlike the Greeks, they treated numbers in the more abstract way we do today.

Mark Ronan March 7, 2024