Reviews

Review

The ecstasy of Saint Rosalía

Lux is a game-changer for Rosalía and for the relationship between popular and classical music.

Duncan Wheeler January 2, 2026

Review

Henri Rousseau’s wild dreams

Responding to a taste for the tropics, wild animals, and adventure, Henri Rousseau turned his dreams into fantastical, sometimes bizarre paintings.

Michael Prodger January 2, 2026

Review

Books of the Year 2025

Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2025.

Engelsberg Ideas December 23, 2025

Review

Zadie Smith and the perils of broad-mindedness

Criticism of Zadie Smith raises questions about whether the humanist tradition that shaped 20th-century Anglo-American letters still holds sway today.

Tomiwa Owolade December 23, 2025

Review

Camus’ life without illusion

Albert Camus’ notebooks show a mind that faced the world squarely, appreciating its strangeness and beauty even in the absence of overarching purpose or ideology.

William Fear December 22, 2025

Review

The West’s complacency over censorship

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of government. Censorship exists everywhere, he argues, but in democraci..

Bryan Appleyard December 19, 2025

Review

Augustine’s African roots

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, revealing the provincial schisms that shaped his thought.

Daniel Skeffington December 18, 2025

Review

Facing Pol Pot

The story of three western visitors to Pol Pot’s Cambodia reveals how hard it is to report what one sees rather than what one wants to believe.

Michael Shorris December 12, 2025

Review

Classical music across the classes

The Choral shows how music-making can bind together a community, forging connections between people of different backgrounds, occupations and generations.

Alexandra Wilson December 2, 2025