Reviews

Review

How Bernstein loved the impossible

A new film chronicles the antagonisms between Leonard Bernstein's professional and personal experiences as the conductor transformed the world of classical music.

Benjamin Poore December 5, 2023

Review

Inside Mozambique’s war on terror

Since 2017, Mozambique has waged war against al-Shabaab, a secretive and little-understood Jihadi group, in a battle for the future of the African nation.

Jacob Judah December 4, 2023

Review

Powell and Pressburger worked miracles

A retrospective of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's oeuvre at the British Film Institute (BFI) brings their masterpieces back to life.

Muriel Zagha November 16, 2023

Review

Vienna’s vapour trail

Now judged one of the world’s most liveable cities, the sedate Austrian capital was once a hothouse of social and cultural experiment with profound consequences, good and evil.

Charles Emmerson November 13, 2023

Review

How America became the world’s Leviathan

The US is discovering its unique power in international politics: its unparalleled authority over key nodes of the world economy through which global communications, finance and te..

Jake Dow & Stephen Paduano November 9, 2023

Review

Julian ‘the Apostate’: antiquity’s most prolific self-publicist

The brief reign of the Roman emperor who broke with Christianity remains compelling and controversial.

Nicholas Baker-Brian November 8, 2023

Review

Dance first, think afterwards

A conventional film about the life of Samuel Beckett fails to explore the unconventional writer's work in film and television that made him so interesting.

Alexander Larman November 7, 2023

Review

John Craxton’s art of living

The artist John Craxton's vigorous pursuit of pleasure, his hedonistic philosophy, led him to the shores of Greece and beyond.

Zachary Hardman November 7, 2023

Review

Did slavery cause the British Industrial Revolution?

While the case that slavery was critical to the Industrial Revolution is solid when it comes to capital and markets, it is not easy to establish with technology. And the Industrial..

Tirthankar Roy November 3, 2023