Books
Out of his depth
There are individuals who, when fate hands them the opportunity for greatness, have risen to the challenge. Rob Oakeshott was…
A horse ride from Buenos Aires to New York? No problem!
Sam Leith marvels at a lone horseman’s 10,000-mile ride, braving bandits, quicksands, vampire bats and revolution in search of ‘variety’
The queen, the cardinal and the greatest con France ever saw
You usually know where you are with a book that promises the story ‘would violate the laws of plausibility’ if…
Not quite romantic fiction, or literary fiction, or commercial fiction – but still quite good
Elements of Raffaella Barker’s new novel, her eighth for adults, suggest commercial fiction: a narrative that oscillates between the aftermath…
Shorthand
Might you not have found him a little exhausting, though? If, for example, you were his mother, not given to…
The opéra bouffe that was the Bretton Woods conference
There ought to be a comic opera about the Bretton Woods conference — Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face, about Margaret,…
A pork-pie and Capri-Sun fuelled hike around England’s moors
‘No, no’ I said, when The Spectator’s literary editor rang up, ‘I’m sure you must be able to find someone…
A Labour MP defends the Empire – and only quotes Lenin twice
In a grand history of the British empire — because that is what this book really is — you might…
A Pole’s view of the Czechs. Who cares? You will
When this extraordinary book was about to come out in French four years ago its author was told by his…
Books and arts
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Shorthand
Might you not have found him a little exhausting, though? If, for example, you were his mother, not given to…
Shorthand
Might you not have found him a little exhausting, though? If, for example, you were his mother, not given to…
From Scylax to the Beatles: the West's lust for India
Peter Parker on the age-old allure of the Indian subcontinent
Nature inspired P.J. Kavanagh – but so did ghosts, dreams, grief and God
P.J. Kavanagh, if not dismissed or relegated, is often shall we say bracketed, as a ‘nature poet’. The truth is,…
The repression, anger and bloodshed of our own Game of Thrones
When I took up archery it was a relatively niche sport. Then Game of Thrones came along, and everyone wanted…
The best new children's books
A children’s author and illustrator, Jonathan Emmet, created a stir recently by saying that women are effectively gatekeepers of children’s…
The Paris of Napoleon III was one big brothel – which is why the future Edward VII loved it
Stephen Clarke lives in Paris and writes book with titles such as 1,000 Years of Annoying the French. Dirty Bertie…
There's so much mystery around Charles Portis that we're not even clear whether he’s alive
The American writer, Charles Portis, has had what some novelists — the more purist ones — might regard as an…
If you prefer banal symbols freighted with meaning to plot, Nicola Barker is your woman
Readers familiar with Nicola Barker’s hyper-caffeinated style will be surprised by the almost serene first few chapters of her latest…
When the English cricket team toured Nazi Germany – and got smashed
Why have the Germans never been any good at cricket? This entertaining account of the MCC’s 1937 tour to the…
Read this book and you’ll see why our meadows are so precious
This book is a portrait of one man’s meadow. Our now almost vanished meadowland, with its tapestry of wildflowers, abundant…
How to survive the rain-sodden Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches, gloriously unvisited amid their wooded hills and swift-flowing streams, have remained mysteriously off-limits to the sort of…
When the Rains Came
When the rains continued the rivers rebelled, the swans moved inland and even the bank was sandbagged and we saw…
Research Centre
Beyond the measured stretch of lawns and hedges are cultivated rows where snug plastic tunnels creep. Indoors, the fantastic spores…
Resistance and reprisal
Published to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Vercors, perhaps the most famous stand of the French Resistance…
