Biography
Boris Iofan – cunning apparatchik of a loathsome regime
The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has rendered what might otherwise have seemed a fairly niche study of a…
The effortless magnetism of Marcel Duchamp
One could compile a fat anthology of tributes to Marcel Duchamp’s charm – especially what one friend called the artist’s…
Nymphomaniac, fearless campaigner, alcoholic – Nancy Cunard was all this and more
Nancy Cunard’s defiance of convention began early, fuelled by bitter resentment towards her mother, says Jane Ridley
Stewart Brand: man of ideas and infuriating contrarian
In his 2005 book What The Dormouse Said John Markoff traced the roots of the personal computer industry to the…
Arnold Bennett’s success made him loathed by other writers
Virginia Woolf admitted to her journal: ‘I haven’t that reality gift.’ Her contemporary Arnold Bennett had it in spades. He…
Four difficult women who fought to preserve the English countryside
One thing that Covid lockdown made us appreciate was the importance of being outdoors. When we were finally allowed into…
Was Thomas Edison guilty of murder?
In September 1890 a Frenchman called Louis Le Prince left his brother in Dijon and boarded a train to Paris,…
A pure original: the inventive genius of John Donne
John Donne sounds like nobody else, and his poems invite us to feel that we might know him, says Daniel Swift
The Queen’s dedication to service was learnt at her father’s knee
If you have ever thought that there cannot be anything new to say or to learn about the Queen, you…
AOC, America’s youngest congresswoman, has already been compared with FDR and JFK
‘Who is AOC?’ the back cover of this book asks. ‘A wack job!’ says Donald Trump. ‘She needs to run…
History must at least be readable if we’re to learn anything from it
Richard Cohen was once one of our foremost book editors as well as being an Olympic sabre champion. Since moving…
Homage to Joseph Johnson, the radical 18th-century publisher
There’s no excuse for dullness, especially when writing about a life as eventful as Joseph Johnson’s, the publisher and bookseller…
Is the Virgin Mary being sidelined by Rome?
The Catholic church has always venerated Mary (‘Mother of God’) above other saints. But in recent years there has been…
Pablo Picasso in love and war
As Europe descended into chaos, the middle-aged Picasso remained as bullish as ever, says Craig Raine
When Oxford life resembled a great satirical novel
Paula Byrne describes life at Oxford University in its eccentric heyday
Jesus’s female disciples remain women of mystery
Is there a patron saint of conjecture? Perhaps it is a name known only to Bible scholars, who have rich…
The heartbreak left in the wake of the Terra Nova
The story of the five women waiting at home for Captain Scott and his doomed polar party is naturally occluded…
The fuss over Mary Seacole’s statue has obscured the real person
Mary Seacole may not have qualified as a nurse in the modern sense, but British troops benefited greatly from her healing skills, says Andrew Lycett
Masters of the opium trade: the fabulous wealth of the Sassoons
David Abulafia admires the shrewdness, generosity and panache of the Sassoons over many generations
Playing until her fingers bled: the dedication of the pianist Maria Yudina
The 20th century was an amazing time for Russian pianists, and the worse things got, politically and militarily, the more…
Watcher of the skies: John Constable, painter and meteorologist
Philip Hensher describes how John Constable’s energy and imagination freed British art from the constraints of the past
The women who challenged a stale, male philosophy
Kathleen Stock describes how four women undergraduates in 1940s Oxford challenged an arid, modish philosophy
Formidable woman of letters: the grit and wisdom of Elizabeth Hardwick
Elaine Showalter celebrates the grit and wisdom of Elizabeth Hardwick
Beautiful enigma: Garbo’s mystery lives on
‘We didn’t need dialogue’, glares Gloria Swanson’s crazed silent picture star midway through Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard. ‘We had faces!’…
Who’s to blame if Britney Spears has been ‘devoured’ by celebrity?
All the questions around Britney Spears can be condensed into this one: who should we blame? For a long time,…
