Kindness backfires: Sufferance, by Charles Palliser, reviewed
When the father of a family takes in a lost young girl from a minority ethnic group, he puts his own household at risk as racial persecution mounts
A horrifying glimpse of Syria’s torture cells
More than 100 interviews with surviving detainees and former prison workers reveal how profoundly shocking President Assad’s regime continues to be
Steam trains make a comeback under the guise of heritage
So far as most of us are concerned, steam trains vanished in a puff of smoke back in the 1960s,…
Zimbabwe’s chaotic history has at least produced some outstanding fiction
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s arresting Nervous Conditions appeared in 1988 and was the first novel published in English by a black Zimbabwean…
The deadly war game of the Battle of the Atlantic
My father served in the Royal Navy during the second world war. He drank over-proof rum and smoked unfiltered cigarettes,…
Aung San Suu Kyi couldn’t save Burma — but tourism can
My uncle Edward did not like talking about his service in Burma during the second world war. When I asked…
From a Low and Quiet Sea: making art from a perilous journey
Donal Ryan is one of the most notable Irish writers to emerge this decade. So far he has produced five…
Kafa, the birthplace of coffee, was a kingdom straight out of Rider Haggard
For many of us, coffee is the lift that eases the load of our working day. Yet the sharpened mental…
The best way to see India — by train
‘I went to a restaurant the other day called Taste of the Raj. The waiter hit me with a stick…
The last great adventure
Towards the end of his life, Robert Louis Stevenson travelled widely in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. As well…
The last great pandemic
The symptoms of the Spanish flu could be ghastly. Perhaps Laura Spinney should have chosen her title with more care…
Descent into hell
In my work as a reviewer, a small, steady proportion of all the books publishers send me concern the Holocaust.…
Descent into hell
In my work as a reviewer, a small, steady proportion of all the books publishers send me concern the Holocaust.…
