Reviews

Review

What is England really made of?

Review: Jason Cowley’s evocative and compelling account of twenty-first century England, Englishness, and English identity is both a nuanced personal story and a skillful study of ..

Brendan Simms August 12, 2022

Review

The shifting fortunes of IS-Khorasan

Review: Antonio Giustozzi examines in meticulous detail the founding and expansion of the Islamic State Khorasan Province. The story is a complex one of competing visions and polit..

Suzanne Raine August 5, 2022

Review

The future of war: embrace the new, remember the old

Review: There’s no template for modern warfare, but Mick Ryan combines both his professional experience and his extensive historical knowledge to present us with a vision of human ..

Rob Johnson July 29, 2022

Review

The secrets of the special relationship

Review: Michael Smith comprehensively details Britain and the US's intelligence partnership. While political shifts and rivalries may cause tremors in trust, the partnership has wi..

Gill Bennett July 22, 2022

Review

Digital dictatorship: a brutal examination of the UAE

Review: This brave investigation paints a pessimistic picture of how the Abu Dhabi regime has increased control since the Arab Spring.

Rory Cormac July 8, 2022

Review

Great Books: The Golden String by Bede Griffiths

Disillusioned by the conventional Christianity of the early twentieth century, but undergoing a profoundly awe-inspiring spiritual experience, Bede Griffiths' ability to breathe fr..

Christopher Harding July 7, 2022

Review

Historical decadence — The Persians: The Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones review

This is an expansive account of the ancient Achaemenid Empire. But has Llewellyn-Jones allowed his enthusiasm to cloud historical judgment?

Ali Ansari July 1, 2022

Review

Element of the absurd — In Search of Romania by Dennis Deletant review

Deletant draws on nearly six decades’ entanglement with a country of contradictions in memoir that is both deeply personal and historically insightful.

Katja Hoyer June 24, 2022

Review

A marriage of the geopolitical, the military and the material — Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order in World War II by Paul Kennedy review

While the intricacies of twentieth-century military history offer a well-trod path, the experience of reading Kennedy’s latest work is as humbling as it would be to watch a master ..

Lincoln Paine June 17, 2022