Reviews

European couple and a child playing with parrot, Qing dynasty hanging scroll, 18th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘The China Question’ by Ho-fung Hung review

In The China Question: Eight Centuries of Fantasy and Fear Ho-fung Hung watches the West swing from Sinophilia to Sinophobia and back again.

A Dutch Factory in Bengal, probably Cossimbazar, Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, c.1665. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

‘Capitalism: A Global History’ by Sven Beckert review

Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert looks beyond the cities to the coffee and cotton that fuelled a global market.

James Bryce with Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 1911. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

‘Liberal Worlds’ by H.S. Jones review

Liberal Worlds: James Bryce and the Democratic Intellect by H.S. Jones explores the lost world and writing of a formerly eminent Victorian.

Japanese soldiers marching into Beijing on the cover of Asahigraph magazine, 1 September 1937. Private Collection. Public Domain.

‘Blood Dawn’ by Hans van de Ven review

Blood Dawn: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia by Hans van de Ven finds Japanese grievance and ambition in the eye of the storm.

Jürgen Habermas teaching at the University of Frankfurt, 1969. Max Scheler/Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy.

‘The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere’ review

With the passing of Jürgen Habermas in March 2026, we return to the book that established his reputation: The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962).

‘Letter’ from Abi-milku of Tyre to the king of Egypt, one of the Amarna Letters, c.1353-36 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Love, War, and Diplomacy’ by Eric H. Cline review

In Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed, Eric H. Cline hears the voice of the pharaohs.

Panic in the stock exchange, Honoré Daumier, 1845. National Gallery of Art. Public Domain.

‘1873’ by Liaquat Ahamed review

Never again – until next time. 1873: The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World by Liaquat Ahamed explores one financial panic amongst many.

A German officer decorates Soviet soldiers, March 1943. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe. Public Domain.

‘The German-Russian Century’ by Stefan Creuzberger review

From Rapallo to the Zeitenwende, The German-Russian Century: History of a Tangled Relationship by Stefan Creuzberger discovers the dynamic that defines Europe.

Tobacco box with royal arms of Great Britain, c.1679-97. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘This Little World’ and ‘A Golden World’ review

Two recent books – This Little World: A New History of Tudor and Stuart England by Nandini Das and A Golden World: How the Americas Transformed Renaissance England by Lauren Working – put 16th- and 17th-century England on the map.