Notebooks

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

The Rainbow bridge, the English National Opera's production Wagner's The Rhinegold, 2023. Credit: The English National Opera.

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The Rhinegold, Wagner’s other comedy

The ENO's new production of the prelude to the Ring shows British opera houses can raise a chuckle, but they can do serious, too.

Paul Lay March 2, 2023

A bas-relief of the zodiac engraved on the ceiling of the temple of Hathor, Egypt. Credit: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo.

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Pulling at the threads of astrology

The idea that the microcosm of human lives is connected to the macrocosm of the heavens is one of the most persistent throughout history, and is represented in countless ways in sc..

Garima Garg March 2, 2023

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Putin’s cult of commemoration keeps Russians enslaved

Russians killed in war have long been a state resource, exploited by politicians through the ages – including Vladimir Putin. The opposite is also true; when it is expedient, lead..

Catherine Merridale February 24, 2023

An address by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

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The metamorphosis of Volodymyr Zelensky

An actor and comedian who once played a president on TV is now the world’s most eminent contemporary wartime leader, with almost universal support for his fight for a free, unified..

David R. Marples February 23, 2023

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When the Samurai came to America

The Tokugawa shogun's 1860 embassy to the United States offers tantalising hints of a road not travelled in the story of Japan’s relationship with the West.

Christopher Harding February 22, 2023

F-16 airfraft featured in the NATO 70th Anniversary flypast.

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NATO is back

As it looks to the future the essential intergovernmental security alliance should draw inspiration from its founding.

Luke Coffey February 17, 2023

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How early EVs were overtaken by macho petrol heads

The first electric vehicles were cheaper, simpler, more reliable and cleaner than their petrol-powered rivals. Electricity should have been the winner in the early twentieth centur..

Bryan Appleyard February 17, 2023

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José Saramago was the master of reinvention

This great writer and inveterate political renegade deserves to be better known outside his native Portugal.

Gerald Malone February 9, 2023

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Disraeli and the Rothschilds provide a study in the power of political patronage

The diaries of Charlotte de Rothschild show, through her relationship with Mary Anne Disraeli, the complex emotional ties between politicians and their financiers.

Suzanne Raine February 3, 2023