Reviews Archive

Pieter Brueghel the Younger's 'Return from the Pilgrimage', 1564.

Review

Medieval wanderlust

Pilgrimage was a hugely popular, yet expensive, activity in Medieval Europe with an entire industry - from clothing to souvenirs - built up to support travellers.

Helen Carr January 4, 2024

Baruch Spinoza, Benedito de Espinosa, (1632 – 1677)

Review

Spinoza’s radical enlightenment

Jonathan Israel's monumental biography of Spinoza characterises the philosopher as a foundational thinker for the modern world. To what extent is that the case?

David Wootton January 3, 2024

Albrecht Dürer depicts a lectern with books arranged on it.

Review

Books of the Year 2023

Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2023

Engelsberg Ideas December 21, 2023

Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Review

The unmaking of Julius Caesar

A landmark BBC/PBS documentary attempts to tell Julius Caesar's story in contemporary terms. In doing so, it obscures and simplifies a more complex — and fascinating — history.

Andrew Sillett December 12, 2023

Review

Minority report

American political institutions, from the Senate to the Electoral College, have an inbuilt bias against majoritarianism that exacerbates polarisation and hinders effective governan..

Joseph Stieb December 11, 2023

A 19th century engraving of Saint Teresa of Ávila.

Review

Flights of fantasy

Many early modern individuals were able to do impossible things. Teresa of Ávila claimed she could levitate. What did these beliefs illustrate about the religious and scientific li..

Katherine Harvey December 7, 2023

Louis XVI received by Jean Bailly, Mayor of Paris, after the fall of the Bastille, July 1789.

Review

A French Revolution in fragments

Robert Darnton compellingly evokes the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary France, but a focus on short anecdotes over grand narrative means his new book is sometimes less than the sum..

David Wootton December 6, 2023

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.

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

Soldiers in a Mozambican military convoy.

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