Notebooks

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

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Powell and Pressburger’s eternal England

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1944 film 'A Canterbury Tale' is a meditation on Englishness that transcends its wartime-propaganda origins to become one of cinema's most b..

Guy Stagg August 11, 2026

A painting of Otto von Bismarck in military uniform with a giant Prussian eagle above him.

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Kissinger’s debt to Bismarck

For the master of 20th-century realpolitik, Klemens von Metternich and Otto von Bismarck – two titans of 19th-century diplomacy – were ultimately tragic figures whose triumphs sowe..

Sam Spound August 10, 2026

The ASML booth at the 6th CIIE in Shanghai, China on 6 November 2023.

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ASML and the West’s technology dilemma

Imposing restrictions on tech exports to China may prove an effective geo-economic tool in the short term, but could spur Beijing towards innovation that strengthens its own AI and..

Duncan Weldon August 7, 2026

Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni's l'Avventura. Credit: Entertainment Pictures

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Antonioni’s adventures with Monica

Michelangelo Antonioni's film 'L'Avventura', a classic study of modernity's moral coldness, found its supreme embodiment not in an abstraction but in an actress: the enigmatic Moni..

Pratinav Anil August 6, 2026

Scene from 'The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor' directed by Rod Lurie (2020). Credit: Collection Christophel

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The Outpost: a Homeric world of warfare

Rod Lurie's 2020 film provides a visceral, harrowing depiction of one of the most brutal battles of America's war in Afghanistan.

Paul Lay August 5, 2026

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Classical music’s enduring allure

The rise in the number of classical music festivals testifies to a growing demand for the timeless beauty of the western musical canon, especially among the young.

Elisabeth Braw August 4, 2026