Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review

Great Books: Jaroslav Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk

Hailed as one of the first anti-war novels, Hašek’s trailblazing book still packs a punch and raises a smile more than a century after publication.

Malcolm Forbes March 3, 2023

Review

First in their field — the men and women possessed by the spirit of adventure

Alexander Maitland’s passion for discovery comes alive in this illuminating, yet uneven book, about the dauntless men and women who have explored our planet.

Tim Marshall March 2, 2023