Notebooks

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Ticket to ride in Paris

The métro paper ticket will disappear from Parisians’ lives in 14 months’ time, by January 2025. An ubiquitous presence in daily life, the métro ticket had a multi-purpose existenc..

Agnès Poirier October 21, 2022

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Brick is best

Beautifully made and well-chosen brick seems to be undergoing a quiet renaissance at the moment — as shown by the remarkable revival of Battersea Power Station.

Clive Aslet October 20, 2022

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What is Russia doing in Africa?

Compared to China, Russia’s activity in Africa is relatively modest. Nevertheless, recent diplomatic, naval and military projects illuminate Moscow’s mental maps, and reveal how Ru..

Andrew Monaghan October 19, 2022

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The historian’s dilemma

History writing is a solitary existence and far removed from the dynamic world of news reporting. And yet the line between the two is often unclear. Historians such as Thucydides d..

Daisy Dunn October 18, 2022

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Belarus: the state built by the Second World War

This year has been declared the Year of Historical Memory in the Republic of Belarus, a territory of just over nine million people. What does this signify and why has its leader, A..

David R. Marples October 11, 2022

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Have Britons lost the art of talking proper?

Estuary English is now the lingua franca of Britain's media and its triumph over Received Pronunciation, what the British used to term speaking correctly, seems to be assured — but..

D. J. Taylor October 6, 2022

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Putin’s propaganda is parroting Al-Qaeda’s anti-Western grievances

People attending the rally-concert 'We are together' in support of the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia on Red square of Moscow on March 18, 2014. Credit: Nikolay Vino..

Suzanne Raine October 5, 2022

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Charles III — why not make him King-Emperor of Europe?

Europe has problems and Britain is adrift from Europe. Here's an idea, an historical experiment. It's the Stars Wars solution. Crown Charles III as Charles VIII, Emperor of Europe.

Brendan Simms October 3, 2022

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The Pacific Century is here — but not as advertised

In the seventies, the East Asian democracies challenged the West. And yet visions of a coming Pacific Century did not materialise in quite the way observers expected.

Oliver Rhodes September 30, 2022