Lead book review
The collectors’ obsession with rare medieval manuscripts
Jonathan Sumption describes the age-old obsession of bibliophiles with acquiring rare illuminated manuscripts
Tales of old Hollywood are always entertaining – even when they’re apocryphal
If the early days lacked glamour, they certainly provided the best anecdotes, according to a new oral history
Friedrich Hayek: a great political thinker rather than a great economist
Robert Skidelsky follows Friedrich Hayek’s progression from technical economics to political thinking after his battles with John Maynard Keynes
Anne Glenconner: ‘I took my courage from Princess Margaret’
At times Anne Glenconner seems like a Craig Brown parody – but no, she really exists, and we must celebrate her, says Hermione Eyre
A sunken wreck of a novel: Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger reviewed
A great talent is wasted in Cormac McCarthy’s meandering tale of a mysterious plane crash and its aftermath, says Philip Hensher
Books of the year II – chosen by our regular reviewers
A further selection of recent books enjoyed by our regular reviewers – and a few that have disappointed them
Books of the Year I — chosen by our regular reviewers
Our regular reviewers choose the books they have most enjoyed reading in 2022
Who needed who most? The complex bond between Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby
Claudia FitzHerbert explores the complex bond between two remarkable writers in the interwar years
We love you, Uncle Xi!
Tom Miller on the cult of personality that China’s ‘core leader’ has so ruthlessly constructed
A complex, driven, unhappy man: the truth about John le Carré
Adam Sisman on the private life of John le Carré, revealed in letters and a kiss-and-tell
The lonely passions of Emily Hale and Mary Trevelyan
Tom Williams describes how two women’s hopes of marrying T.S. Eliot came to nothing
The unpleasant truth about Joseph Roth
The Radetzky March must be one of the dozen greatest European novels – but its author was frighteningly unpleasant, says Philip Hensher
Vaughan Williams’s genius is now beyond dispute
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s towering position in our national life is now beyond dispute – and can only grow, says Simon Heffer
The sheer tedium of life at Colditz
Given the prisoners’ histories, it’s not surprising there were so many attempted breakouts from Colditz, says Clare Mulley
Ian McEwan’s capacity for reinvention is astonishing
Ian McEwan’s latest novel is unusually long and autobiographical. It’s surprising in other ways, too, says Claire Lowdon
An old Encyclopaedia Britannica is a work to cherish
The encyclopaedias of the past were volumes to be savoured – even if they often contained unsavoury views, says Rose George
How the quarrelsome ‘Jena set’ paved the way for Hitler
Frances Wilson describes a group of self-obsessed intellectuals united by mutual loathing in a small university town in the 1790s
Nothing is certain in Russia, where the past is constantly rewritten
Nothing is certain in a country where the past is constantly rewritten, says Owen Matthews
Our long, vulnerable childhoods may be the key to our success
Could our long journey to adulthood actually be the key to our success, wonders Sam Leith
The Nazi influence in Egypt
Justin Marozzi finds Egypt teeming with Germans after the second world war
Lord Northcliffe’s war of words
Andrew Lycett on the pugnacious British press baron dedicated to fighting the first world war through newsprint
The impossibility of separating Scotland from Britain
A ‘global’ history of Scotland must, by its very nature, be one of Britain and Empire too, says Alex Massie
What is the metaverse, actually?
Big tech might tell us it’s what’s coming next but as yet there’s no real use for it, says James Ball
‘Jerusalem’ is a rousing anthem – but who knows what the words mean?
‘Jerusalem’ may be our unofficial national anthem, but don’t ask anyone who sings it to tell you what it means, says Philip Hensher
Is Gone with the Wind to blame for Trumpism?
Selfish, acquisitive, ignorant and vain, Gone with the Wind’s heroine not only resembles Donald Trump – she may even be his role model, says Greg Garrett
