Reviews

Review

The hidden fractures beneath America’s Cold War triumph

In the final years of the 20th century, America's fringe ideologues and failed demagogues laid the groundwork for a future populist revolution.

Jonathan Esty August 14, 2024

Review

To top it with the best of them

Female British artists faced personal and institutional obstacles to practising their crafts. Their works convey a social history of women's changing roles in British society.

Cath Pound August 12, 2024

Review

Hydro-imperialism

The imperial ventures of European powers were about the struggle for water almost as much as they were for land.

Michael Ledger-Lomas August 12, 2024

Review

The miracle of Tristan und Isolde

Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde remains a timeless testament to the searing power of forbidden love and artistic genius.

Paul Lay August 6, 2024

Review

Beowulf’s Scandinavia of the mind

Beowulf is a mysterious and misunderstood work of Anglo-Saxon literature, but, once delved into, it offers a rich glimpse into the worlds of early medieval Scandinavia.

Mathew Lyons August 5, 2024

Review

The medieval roots of modern antisemitism

The word antisemitism was coined amid the racial politics of 19th-century Germany, but, a new study argues, it could equally be applied to the religious persecution of Jews widespr..

Samuel Rubinstein July 31, 2024

Review

Spies, lies and empires

In the twilight of empire, the CIA waged the Cold War in many of the same locales and with many of the same strategies as its imperial forebears.

Ronan Mainprize July 29, 2024

Review

What will remain of us if the machines take over?

The machine god could be no friend of ours. It's time we took the implications of AI development seriously.

Bryan Appleyard July 24, 2024

Review

Operetta’s world of invention

Operetta has multiple roots and many registers: it draws on pantomime, the stock horseplay of the commedia dell’arte, vaudevillian comedy, melodrama, as well as the symphonic sweep..

Benjamin Poore July 15, 2024