Lead book review
From salivating dogs to mass indoctrination: Pavlov’s sinister legacy
Peter Pomeranzev describes the refinement of thought-control techniques over the past century – and the worldwide competition to employ them
Try forest bathing – by day and night – to ward off depression
Anyone who spends time among trees senses how good that is for their physical and mental wellbeing, says Ursula Buchan
Most people who call themselves Caucasian know nothing about the Caucasus
A magnificent new history of the Caucasus earns Peter Frankopan’s highest praise
A dutiful exercise carried out in a rush
The final volume of Peter Ackroyd’s History of England feels like a dutiful exercise carried out in a hurry, says Philip Hensher
Hubris, blunders and lies characterised the war in Afghanistan from the start
There was certainly no shortage of excellent advice about war in Afghanistan offered to many American leaders by many people over many years, says Justin Marozzi
W.G. Sebald’s borrowed truths and barefaced lies
Why did W.G. Sebald risk his reputation by telling such strange, repeated lies, wonders Lucasta Miller
Churchill as villain – but is this a character assassination too far?
Revisionist biographies of Churchill are nothing new but this one lays the hostility and contempt on with a trowel, says Andrew Roberts
An interest in the bizarre helps keep melancholy at bay
Philip Hensher finds Robert Burton’s perception of the world and the human condition endlessly fascinating
The disappearing man: who was the real John Stonehouse?
Craig Brown describes his various encounters with the MP who notoriously faked his own death in 1974
Playing with fire — did QAnon start as a cynical game?
The QAnon conspiracy theory may be absurd, but it can’t be ignored. It has already led to significant acts of violence, says Damian Thompson
The US tech companies behind China’s mass surveillance
Tom Miller describes how Xinjiang became a laboratory for China’s mass surveillance system – built with the help of US tech companies
Oh! Calcutta! Amartya Sen’s childhood memories brim with nostalgia
From Bengali schoolboy to citizen of the world – Amartya Sen’s autobiography is a joy, says Philip Hensher
The short, unhappy life of Ivor Gurney — wounded, gassed and driven insane
Andrew Motion describes the inner turmoil of the neglected poet Ivor Gurney
How William Hogarth made Britain
A new biography of William Hogarth pays dutiful homage to his satirical genius but does not challenge its predecessors, writes Philip Hensher
A divided city: the Big Three fall out in post-war Berlin
Adam Sisman describes the toxic atmosphere in Berlin after the end of the second world war
The scandal of OxyContin, the painkiller that caused untold pain
The Sacklers’ callous greed has unleashed a tsunami of pain, says Ian Birrell
An orange or an egg? Determining the shape of the world
Simon Winchester follows the volatile French mission to Ecuador in 1735 to determine the shape of the Earth
Over the rainbow: D.H. Lawrence’s search for a new way of life
Philip Hensher describes D.H. Lawrence’s restless search of a new way of life
The evolution of England — from ragbag kingdoms to a centralised state
Alex Burghart describes England’s fitful development from a collection of warring kingdoms into a highly centralised state
Straight lines and grandiose schemes — Napoleon the gardener
Not content with imposing his will on nations, Napoleon tried to subdue nature too, says David Crane
Why should art have ever been considered a male preserve?
Sixty years ago, women were still excluded from the art history canon, says Laura Freeman
Two of a kind: Monica Jones proved Philip Larkin’s equal for racism and misogyny
Monica Jones certainly proved Philip Larkin’s equal for racism and misogyny, says Andrew Motion
An unsuitable attachment to Nazism: Barbara Pym in the 1930s
Vicars, tea parties and village fetes were a far cry from Barbara Pym’s early enthusiasms, Philip Hensher reveals
Bob Dylan — from respected young songwriter to Voice of a Generation
Bob Dylan didn’t just assimilate the Great American Songbook – he vastly increased its size and variety, says Andrew Motion