Notebooks

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

Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims attending a papal audience. Credit: Marion Kaplan / Alamy Stock Photo.

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Benedict XVI: God’s Rottweiler, the Pope who retired

The first Pope to retire for six centuries has died aged 95.

Elisabeth Braw December 31, 2022

An open plan office in the City of London.

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The roots of cyber security lie in the City of London

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the City of London, Britain’s historic and global financial centre, was a hotbed of technological advancement. Many of the discussions, motivations and..

Ashley Sweetman December 19, 2022

Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the 2022 FIFA World, Qatar. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo.

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World Cup has revealed the real Lionel Messi

There has long been a certain amount of scepticism among Argentina fans about their nation's captain. At this year's World Cup his uniquely Argentinian performance has turned him i..

Andreas Campomar December 19, 2022

A poster of the Red Army Faction from the German Federal Criminal Office.

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Germany’s 1960s slide into political violence is a warning

Today's disruptive protests are non-violent, so far. The West German experience of the late 1960s shows what can happen when marches and sit-ins escalate.

Elisabeth Braw December 16, 2022

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Sharing Everest a tall order

The peaks and troughs of Nepal’s and China’s competing claims to the world’s highest mountain.

Amish Raj Mulmi December 13, 2022

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Show goes on for Ukrainian opera

Ukrainian artists are bravely defending their heritage, tradition and culture against an outside aggressor.

Gerald Malone December 12, 2022

Muscovites queue up outside a shop selling milk and dairy products in Moscow during difficult economic times just before the dissolution of the USSR.

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Soviet socialism was no good at groceries

The collapse of the Soviet Union has been forensically studied by academics and economists for decades, but for an insight into the day-to-day life of ordinary Russians in the 1980..

Catherine Merridale December 8, 2022

A message is received at the palace, a print painted in Ming dynasty China. Credit: Chronicle of World History / Alamy Stock Photo.

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The Chinese spying game has a long history

Alongside Confucian ideals of exemplary leadership, the Chinese tradition nurtured an equally influential alternative figura: that of the commander or strategist bent on conquering..

Roel Sterckx December 8, 2022

Caricature of Nouvelle Cuisine arranged by the chef.

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Nouvelle Cuisine made food better

The French cooking revolution may have hastened the decline of haute cuisine but it brought better, more democratic dining to the table.

Lincoln Allison December 5, 2022