Notebooks

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Sparta’s Self-inflicted Wound

Within years of attaining supremacy among Greek states, Sparta fell into rapid decline. Its fate is a cautionary tale for any polity that resists reform.

James Darnton May 11, 2023

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The Gospel according to King Charles

How King Charles chose the ancient St Augustine Gospels for his Coronation.

Alastair Benn May 5, 2023

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A Little History of Modern Russia

Western authors have contributed a vast range of insights into the state of contemporary Russia - here's a selection of the very best.

Andrew Monaghan May 2, 2023

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NATO’s Baltic Dilemma

The Baltic will be crucial in the event of conflict between NATO and Russia. It’s time NATO got its plans in order for the region.

Luke Coffey April 28, 2023

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The Vedic Canon

Canons usually ring-fence the cultural material that is ‘banked’ as precious by a given society. But the Vedic canon was fluid, organic, and open to ever-new possibilities.

Jessica Frazier April 26, 2023

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Shakespeare’s Sisters: a women’s canon

The landscape of women’s literature is far older, more extensive and much richer than is often acknowledged.

Francesca Peacock April 24, 2023

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Spring’s Norman Roots

The Norman Conquest brought new kinds of poetry from France, with new stories, language, and themes - and one of those themes was spring.

Eleanor Parker April 24, 2023

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The Anonymous Canon

The first in a series devoted to 'the Canon' looks at the special works created by unknown – and, sometimes, unmasked – creators.

Anon. April 20, 2023

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William Gerhardie’s Russian Problem

The novelist William Gerhardie won early acclaim for his portraits of Russia and its people. But both the critics and his ever-diminishing public failed to appreciate his wider vis..

James Snell April 19, 2023