Notebooks

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Milan Kundera dreamt in Czech

The émigré Czech novelist's uneasy relationship with his homeland adds more layers to his enigmatic output.

Anna Parker July 12, 2023

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In search of William Byrd’s lighter side

William Byrd is often seen as an all-too-gloomy artist — but glimmers of levity can be found in the great composer's varied oeuvre.

Rory McCleery July 10, 2023

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The multiple mysteries of Italian wine

Italy accounts for more than a third of the world’s grape varieties, a reflection of the country’s proudly fragmented culture and geography.

Tobias Jones July 6, 2023

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The Ancients loved dogs too

Greeks and Romans took a generally unsentimental view of animals, but there is evidence that some people in antiquity were no less inclined than moderns to love their dogs.

Armand D'Angour July 4, 2023

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La Haine: jusqu’ici tout va bien?

The 1995 breakthrough film about life in troubled banlieues still holds up a mirror to France in 2023.

Muriel Zagha July 3, 2023

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What Richard Wagner can tell us about the Wagner Group

There’s something distinctly Wagnerian about Prigozhin’s rise and fall.

Elisabeth Braw June 30, 2023

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Russia: a short history of failed coups

In Russia, failed coups are usually harbingers of chaos and collapse. Three examples spring to mind: the 1991 attempted coup d’état against Mikhail Gorbachev, Lavr Kornilov’s 1917 ..

Sergey Radchenko June 28, 2023

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In search of Ararat

The slippery nature of representation is the focus of Atom Egoyan’s film about the Armenian genocide, a multi-layered work that is also a meditation on denial.

Muriel Zagha June 27, 2023

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Machiavelli’s take on mercenaries

According to the great Florentine master of statecraft, when it comes to keeping control of your soldiers of fortune, cruelty works.

Alexander Lee June 27, 2023