Books
Women go off the rails
The Lost Child begins with a scene of 18th-century distress and dissolution down by the docks, as a woman —…
From Plotinus to Heidegger: a history of European thought in 48 pages
T.S. Eliot liked to recall the time he was recognised by his London taxi driver. Surprised, he told the cabbie…
The mysterious pleasure of Magnus Mills
Since his debut with the Booker-nominated The Restraint of Beasts in 1999, Magnus Mills has delighted and occasionally confounded his…
The Great Gatsby meets Fifty Shades of Oligarch
It’s surprising there haven’t been more novels drawing on London’s fascination with Russian oligarchs. But how to write about them…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
Murder in a black Texas Arcadia
Mystery fans and writers are always looking for new locations in which murder can take place. Attica Locke has an…
A profile of the worlds’s most famous film director — with the most famous profile
‘Do it with scissors’ was Alfred Hitchcock’s advice for prospective murderers, though a glance at these two biographies reminds us…
Books and arts
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Ends of the earth
This story, second in a projected series (the first was The Thief Fleet, reviewed in these pages 8 December 2012),…
By Air
Astonishing to think That not so long ago First the Brothers Wright Then Louis Blériot Initiated flight. And strapped into…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
By Air
Astonishing to think That not so long ago First the Brothers Wright Then Louis Blériot Initiated flight. And strapped into…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
Plumber, taxi driver, mystic, musician — the many facets of Philip Glass
Philip Hensher infinitely prefers the words to the music of the maverick ‘minimalist’ composer
Moving heaven and earth: Galileo’s subversive spyglass
We live in an age of astronomical marvels. Last year Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft made a daring rendezvous with the comet…
Paying and praying: economics determined theology in the early Christian church
Peter Brown’s explorations of the mindsets of late antiquity have been educating us for nearly half a century, ever since…
Did Mrs Thatcher ‘do’ God? Denis thought so, and he should know, says Charles Moore
As I swink in the field of Thatcher studies, this book brings refreshment. It is a welcome and rare. Far…
Taxi ride to the dark side: a thrilling blast of full-strength Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh, I think it’s safe to say, is not a writer who’s mellowing with age. His latest book sees…
Dreaming of a golden future: there will always be people willing to sacrifice all in the pursuit of gold
In 2008, the price of gold lofted above $1,000 an ounce for the first time in history, inspiring a rush…
Sense and sensibility: what your fingertips tell your brain
I used to think we had five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. And I used to think…
As deadly as the male: female Russian pilots of the second world war were femmes fatales in every sense
The name Lyuba Vinogradova may not ring any bells, but her ferrety eye for spotting a telling detail may already…
Under Harry Potter’s spell: most children’s books have become shamelessly derivative, says Melanie McDonagh
Go to any bookshop — always supposing you’re fortunate enough to have any left in your neck of the woods…
Too Many Poets
Too many poets pack a line with thought But melody refuses to take wing. It’s not that meaning has been…
Ebola personified: a cackling villain with a master plan of destruction
Remember Ebola? It killed more than 8,000 people last year — before we were all Charlie — with a quarter…
King John was not a good man: two distinguished historians echo A.A. Milne
This being the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, it is not surprising that there should be two…
