Reviews

Review

A deep history of games

A new book argues that our fascination with playing games is neither a luxury nor an amusement, but a necessity.

Caroline Eden January 7, 2025

Review

Books of the Year 2024

Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2024.

Engelsberg Ideas December 18, 2024

Review

Versailles’ splendour unbounded

The institutions of old Europe were at the forefront of intellectual and technological innovations that still shape our lives today.

Mathew Lyons December 17, 2024

Review

In search of Mitteleuropa’s lost nobility

The fate of the Austro-Hungarian nobility after the fall of the Habsburg Empire raises interesting questions about what ‘old’ elites should do when politics changes.

Anna Parker December 16, 2024

Review

Uplifting India

India’s thriving dissident art scene during the late-20th century addressed the social ills facing a growing nation.

Pratinav Anil December 11, 2024

Review

Wild stories of medieval women

Four remarkable medieval women writers challenge a world dominated by male voices, offering vivid insights into female power, creativity, spirituality, and ambition in an era that ..

Helen Carr December 10, 2024

Review

The spectacular disasters of Augustus the Strong

One of the 18th-century’s most colourful princes, Augustus 'the Strong' combined disastrous military expeditions with an instinct for art and culture.

Luka Ivan Jukic December 3, 2024

Review

Clint Eastwood’s Puritan morality tale

In Clint Eastwood's latest film, Juror 2, the 94-year old director reworks themes of sin, redemption and guilt, intrinsic to the complex foundations of the American idea.

Muriel Zagha December 2, 2024

Review

Surrealism — a monstrous creation

A 'comprehensive' exhibition devoted to Surrealism at the Centre Pompidou deprives the movement of its most essential characteristic: its willingness to confront the world of dream..

Alexander Lee November 29, 2024