Reviews Archive

A statue in Central Park dedicated to women's rights pioneers such as Sojourner Truth.

Review

Restoring mothers to the historical record

An epic history of motherhood highlights the indignity, violence and injustice faced by mothers, alongside inspiring stories of women who fought against established norms.

Alev Scott April 23, 2026

Review

Maxim Gorky’s summer of discontent

In his drama 'Summerfolk', Maxim Gorky wrote an obituary for the Tsarist order.

Malcolm Forbes April 23, 2026

General Hideki Tojo taking the stand for the first time during the Tokyo Trials in Japan on 26 December, 1947. Credit: Shawshots

Review

Entering the world of Tojo Hideki, wartime Japan’s apex political predator

Peter Mauch's biography treats Tojo as neither hero nor villain, but as the embodiment of Japanese militarism that brought catastrophe upon the country.

Iain MacGregor April 22, 2026

Review

The ‘good slut’ and the question of the good life

What passes for sexual freedom in contemporary culture is often a retreat from moral judgment.

Tiffany Jenkins April 21, 2026

German dictator Adolph Hitler and architect Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments, Germany 1930s

Review

Hitler’s architect of illusions

Hitler’s chief architect, Albert Speer, cultivated an image as the 'good Nazi' – a calculated reinvention of his role in the Third Reich.

Morten Høi Jensen April 20, 2026

'Taking our Geese to market' from the Martin Post Card Company, 1908.

Review

The art of photographic deception

Long before AI-generated images, photographers and entrepreneurs manipulated photographs, blending fiction and fact to often mesmerising effect.

Cath Pound April 17, 2026

A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, 1766. Painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. Credit: GL Archive

Review

The making of modern science

Any history of the West's scientific revolution must explain how science generates new discoveries and ways of thinking about the natural world. Social-constructivist approaches ha..

David Wootton April 16, 2026

A copy of 'The Founding Ceremony of the Nation', a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen, depicting Mao Zedong and other Chinese Communist Party officials proclaiming the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949.

Review

How Communism conquered China

The Chinese Communist Party defeated its rivals because it was a formidably effective political organisation that captured the hearts and minds of China's elites.

Clark Aoqi Wu April 14, 2026

Review

The strange decline of London

A thrilling investigation into the demise of a young Londoner casts a spotlight on how Britain's once-great metropolis has been warped by corruption, hot money and speculative gree..

Bryan Appleyard April 13, 2026