Notebooks

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

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the crowds from the balcony of the Ministry of Health in Whitehall on VE Day, 8th May 1945

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Let Churchill rest in peace

Britain's wartime prime minister was heroic and courageous, but his virtues and vices belong to a different age. It is time to find new heroes for the British national pantheon.

Brendan Simms April 7, 2026

The Resurrection of Christ depicted on the main Archway to the entrance of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice.

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Easter’s message of love

Those who truly want to save Western Civilisation must begin by recapturing the promise of love embodied in Christ's Resurrection.

Fergus Butler-Gallie April 5, 2026

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Luncheon of the Boating Party'.

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The civilising wonders of wine

The decline in alcohol consumption in Western societies suggests a gradual weakening of a shared civilisational inheritance.

Henry Jeffreys April 4, 2026

Defendants behind bars during a Mafia trial in Palermo, 1986. Credit: Universal Images Group North America LLC

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The unsolved crimes of Sciascia’s Sicily

For Leonardo Sciascia, Sicily serves as a microcosm of Italy, reflecting the nation’s broader power struggles and the pervasive reach of Mafia corruption.

Ian Thomson April 3, 2026

A vintage map from 1907 showing maritime trade routes through the Turkish Straits.

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How to manage a geopolitical chokepoint

The successful 1936 Montreux Convention, a grand diplomatic bargain over the Turkish Straits, shows why geopolitical chokepoints need a strong and reliable status quo power to act ..

Ziyi Wang April 2, 2026

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Why the war in Iran is not a gift to China

The notion that Beijing is the chief beneficiary of the US-Iran conflict is a long way wide of the mark.

George Magnus April 2, 2026

US Marines conduct a reconnaissance and surveillance rehearsal mission, part of a simulated amphibious assault exercise, March 24, 2026, in Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands.

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Trump’s unwinnable war

Mired in an open-ended confrontation with the Islamic Republic, President Trump is faced with a painful choice between launching a new forever war or accepting a humiliating defeat..

Eldad Shavit and Jesse R. Weinberg April 1, 2026