Notebooks

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

Father Christmas seems lost in this illustration but at least his beard is keeping him warm.
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On beards

Santa Claus is famous for his; today’s hipsters accessorise them – but the fashion for facial hair can be traced all the way back to Ancient Rome.

Daisy Dunn December 22, 2021
Italian schoolchildren
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Learning in Italy

The patrician nature of Italian education takes students on a one-way journey of factual regurgitation – but sometimes cracks in the system let a little light in.

Tobias Jones December 21, 2021
A shard of pottery ostracising Themistokles. The piece can be found at the Athens Agora Museum. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo
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On ostracism

In Ancient Athens, ostracism, a mechanism for exiling citizens written into its laws, was thought to play a pivotal role in preserving the health of the city-state. But how did it ..

Edward Thicknesse December 17, 2021
A poster for the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920.
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Olympism: magic, myths and mega-events

The forthcoming Winter Games in Beijing are already proving controversial – but from their modern inception, the Olympic Games have always been ambiguous, contradictory, and often ..

Lincoln Allison December 16, 2021
An engraving of Ancient Egyptians hunting birds.
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The ancient Egyptians and birds — history of a fascination

For the ancient Egyptians, among the many thousands of species available for scrutiny, none were so present or as closely watched as birds.

Maria Golia December 3, 2021
Jiang Qing, known as Madame Mao in Western literature, enjoyed a position of indirect power as Chairman Mao's wife. She played a major role in the Cultural Revolution.
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Women in modern China — the odds are heaped against Peng Shuai

The role for women in Chinese politics has not moved on greatly from the Mao era. They are actors not in their own right, but only by association with men.

Kerry Brown December 3, 2021
Wilhelm Furtwangler Conducting, 1940. Credit: Bettmann via Getty
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Remembering Wilhelm Furtwängler

The conductor was a radical whose approach to music was singular and unorthodox, bequeathing audiences with a scintillating treasure trove of unique concerts and recordings that do..

Harry Cluff November 30, 2021
An eighteenth century etching of a group of young men enjoying a game of Pallone col Bracciale.
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Real Tennis and the elemental thrill of ball games

All the joy has gone out of modern Tennis, which privileges power and mathematical strategic thinking. It's time to rediscover what makes ball games so much fun - comedy, lightness..

Alastair Benn November 26, 2021
Advert for several varieties of wine
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The quest for Vino and Veritas

The journey into wine is almost like a pilgrimage, with many new encounters and friends along the way.

Agnès Poirier November 24, 2021

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