Notebooks

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

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Folke Hero

The assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte seventy-five years ago, robbed the world of one of its great humanitarians, and did early and lasting damage to the Middle East peace pr..

Elisabeth Braw September 12, 2023

Start of the public horse at the Palio de Siena.

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Among the Italians

David Gilmour’s The Pursuit of Italy was published in 2011. It retains its allure as one of the finest evocations of Italophilia.

Bruce Anderson September 12, 2023

An Attic black-figured lekythos from the 6th century B.C. depicting the escape from Cyclops in the Odyssey.

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The first Great Escape

Reports that a prisoner escaped Wandsworth jail on the underside of a food truck is bound to raise an echo with classicists and readers of ancient Greek literature. It might be the..

Armand D'Angour September 8, 2023

Christopher Coker at the Engelsberg Seminar

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Christopher Coker, 1953-2023

Christopher Coker, a formidable scholar of international relations and supporter of Engelsberg Ideas, has died at the age of 70.

Engelsberg Ideas September 7, 2023

An ‘The End Is Nigh’ apocalyptic sign is seen near Westminster.

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Polycrisis? What polycrisis?

Polycrisis is the word of the moment. But how much does this sense of so many catastrophes happening all at once depend on the distorting dynamics of social media?

Alastair Benn September 5, 2023

The Men's Singles Final between Jaroslav Drobny and Ken Rosewall.

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The greatest sportsman you have never heard of

Jaroslav Drobny excelled in two of the world’s most popular sports. He enjoyed his success as only a true amateur can.

Lincoln Allison September 5, 2023

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The Gospel according to DH Lawrence

If we could resurrect DH Lawrence, what would he make of spiritual belief today?

Zachary Hardman August 29, 2023

Face masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Yevgeny Prigozhin are displayed for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg.

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Epitaph on a mafioso’s grave

Prigozhin thought that his ‘hard drive’ of Putin’s murky network of contacts, conspiracies and deals might save him, following his mutiny. He was wrong. But his murder means Putin ..

Vladislav Zubok August 25, 2023

Concept photograph of a military convoy of Ukrainian T-84 battle tanks marching through a wheat field.

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Russia’s unbearable frontline burden

Military institutions do not cope well with long-term, large-scale deployments, especially when they are contested by a determined and capable adversary inflicting heavy casualties..

Jeffrey H. Michaels August 25, 2023