Books
Pity the poor stepmother — the most reviled character in folk literature
Fairy stories were not originally aimed at children, and we do not know what the first audience responses were; but…
Moscow rules in London: how Putin’s agents corrupted the British elite
Putin’s corrupt cronies may change, but the paranoid world view they all share remains the same, says Owen Matthews
For Jack Tar, going to sea was the ultimate adventure
Seafaring and the rule of the waves — as the song would have it — was an integral part of…
Guilty pleasures that fail to satisfy: Cleanness, by Garth Greenwell, reviewed
In Henry and June, Anaïs Nin asks her cousin Eduardo if one can be freed of a desire by experiencing…
How Brighton’s gangs became increasingly radicalised
Between October 2013 and January 2014, five teenaged boys from Brighton, three of them brothers from a family called Deghayes,…
A story of skill, courage and imagination: how Britain’s Sea Harriers stole victory against the odds
‘The world,’ Mrs Thatcher was reported to have said, ‘is full of ships.’ With this comment, unlike in many other…
Clean lines and dirty habits: the Modernists of 1930s Hampstead
With its distinctive hilly site and unusually coherent architecture (significantly, most of it domestic rather than civic), Hampstead has always…
Arthur Jeffress: bright young person of the post-war art scene
The name Arthur Jeffress may not conjure many associations for those not familiar with the London post-war art world, but…
Alexandra Shulman’s unlikely career in fashion journalism should have made a Hollywood movie
Alexandra Shulman says that she had ‘no desire to write an autobiography’ — so instead she has written about her…
Women’s world
One of life’s perennial questions is what would the world look like if it was ruled by women. It’s an…
Mysteries of English village life: Creeping Jenny, by Jeff Noon, reviewed
I doubt whether any book would entice me more than a horrible hybrid of crimefiction, speculative fantasy, weird religion and…
There’s no single trick to making money — just resist a noble calling
‘Beauty is pain,’ the model Gigi Hadid asserts. She’s one of the successful, rich people quizzed by William Leith in…
Our rivers, as much as our oceans, are in urgent need of protection
Geography can be history and history geography — and sometimes the most obvious things are overlooked. Laurence C. Smith’s Rivers…
The dirt on King David: Anointed, by Michael Arditti, reviewed
Michael Arditti has never held back from difficult or unfashionable subjects. His dozen novels, including the prize-winning Easter, as well…
We all need to be let alone —not just Greta Garbo
‘You’re never alone with a Strand,’ went the misbegotten advertisement for a new cigarette in 1959. What the copywriter didn’t…
Kashrut dietary laws are ill-suited to lactose-intolerant Jews
Until fairly recently, all over the western world there were specialised eating places catering largely for Jews who respected the…
Sinister toy story: Little Eyes, by Samanta Schweblin, reviewed
We often hear that science fiction — or ‘speculative’ fiction, as the buffs prefer — can draw premonitory outlines of…
It’s still impossible for Horst Wächter to recognise his father as a Nazi war criminal
In 1926, while putting in place the repressive laws and decrees that would define his dictatorship, Mussolini appointed a new…
Heated debate over Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition
How refreshing in a time of general sensitivity to find a book intended to infuriate and debunk. Welcome to the…
The cult of Sappho in interwar Paris
Philip Hensher describes how Paris became a magnet for literary-minded lesbians in the early 20th century – where they soon caused quite a stir
Smith not Mill
For a long time in this country, conservatism was the political creed that dare not speak its name. The term…
Is the world speeding up or slowing down? Depending on your politics, you can argue either way
Ah well. It was a nice try. A few years ago I wrote a book called The Great Acceleration, arguing…
Consigned to a living tomb: Aziz BineBine endures 18 years in a subterranean prison
Imagine being on indefinite lockdown, imprisoned in a dark, underground, 6’ x 12’ cell, freezing in winter, boiling in summer…
The nightmare of Okinawa made Truman decide to use the atom bomb
The US operation of 1945 to take the island of Okinawa was the largest battle of the Pacific during the…
Globalisation is scarcely new: it dates back to the year 1000
In Japan, people thought the world would end in 1052. In the decades leading up to judgment day, Kyoto was…
