Notebooks

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

German troops marching through Russia during the First World War.

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When the fighting stops, what then?

The history of the closing stages of the First World War offers no easy lessons to Ukraine if it seeks a path to peace.

Beatrice Heuser December 2, 2022

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Hiring – new opportunities at Engelsberg Ideas

Engelsberg Ideas, the groundbreaking editorial project run by Reaction for the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, is hiring for its continued expansion in 2023.

Iain Martin November 30, 2022

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Business burble doesn’t beat real historical understanding

Corinne Maier's far-sighted satirical take on noughties corporate culture has powerful lessons for our age of scandal, scamming and shallowness.

Alastair Benn November 30, 2022

Portrait of Marcel Proust by Jacques-Emile Blanche.

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Proust was truly modern

Proust was neither reactionary nor futurist but truly modern.

Agnès Poirier November 25, 2022

A worker at the US Army Nebraska Ordnance Plant in Omaha, Nebraska, with 1000 lb bomb cases in May 1943.

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The West needs to boost its industrial capacity fast

The West must re-examine its capacity to produce critical military supplies.

Mick Ryan November 24, 2022

A nuclear-powered submarine conducting a test. Credit: Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo.

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The imbalance of terror: reflections on nuclear deterrence from the 1980s

The geopolitical landscape is evolving: the nuclear threat is back

Susan Colbourn November 18, 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, testifies during the House Financial Services Committee.

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto-gold turned to dust

At its core, cryptocurrency is a valuable tool based on innovative technology. But as wave after wave of scandal engulfs the industry will it ever throw off its disreputable image?

Jamie Bartlett November 18, 2022