Reviews Archive

Madonna and Child between St. John the Baptist and a saint by Giovanni Bellini

Review

Giovanni Bellini, the soul of Venice

The style of the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini became that of the city, whose cosmopolitanism during its ‘imperial age’ inspired his breadth of vision.

Alexander Lee April 6, 2023

Review

Leo Africanus’ uncertain world

A much-needed new translation of one of the great works of the Renaissance, the first book by an African author to appear in print, shines a light on the complex allure of historic..

Fitzroy Morrissey March 31, 2023

The Charles Bridge, Prague, before dawn.

Review

Czechoslovakia at the centre of history

Eminent writer Milan Kundera celebrates the fragility of Eastern Europe's ‘small countries’ while making a powerful case for the transformative, political power of their Western cu..

Anna Parker March 31, 2023

Botticelli's Annunciation, circa 1489-1490. Credit: Giorgio Morara / Alamy Stock Photo.

Review

Michael Baxandall’s Renaissance ecstasy

Fewer than 200 pages long, the classic 1972 study, 'Painting & Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy', turned Michael Baxandall into a global academic celebrity.

Paul Lay March 24, 2023

The Central Intelligence Agency at Langley.

Review

Getting the CIA in working order

Using intelligence to foresee threats and forestall them, the CIA is finally working as intended.

Jamie Gaskarth March 24, 2023

Barren tree trunks following the bombardment at Verdun, France.

Review

Great Books: Alistair Horne’s The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916

This compelling, even-handed narrative of the gruelling ten-month battle puts human experience front and centre. It’s a valuable read in today’s world of renewed conflict.

Laurie Purnell Prynn March 17, 2023

US soldiers wait before going out on a mission under the Crossed-Sabers – a towering 160-tonne, bronze monument of two crossed swords held in Saddam's hands, at the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, December 7, 2008.

Review

The case for a geopolitics of tragedy

Robert Kaplan fuses literary criticism and international relations in a boldly interdisciplinary and richly intellectual text.

John Raine March 17, 2023

Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones star in Carrie, a 1952 adaptation of the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

Review

Great Books: Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie

Theodore Dreiser’s no-frills, naturalist style puts the American dream at the turn of the century firmly under the microscope in this pointed novel about the futility of escaping o..

D. J. Taylor March 10, 2023

Review

No more worlds to conquer

This re-release of Richard Stoneman’s rich and picturesque survey of the Alexander legend, first published in 2010, reflects the enduring fascination with the world-conqueror’s fab..

Armand D'Angour March 9, 2023