Reviews

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

In Churchill and the Crown, Ted Powell explores the interwoven lives of Britain’s Marlborough man and the monarchs he served.

Huguenot Networks: Truth and Secrecy in Sixteenth-Century Europe by Penny Roberts reveals the clandestine cross-border contacts of Huguenot spies, diplomats, and scholars.

The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline That Listened by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith reveals unsung – but not unheard – LGBTQ+ heroes of Switchboard.

In Infanta: The Short, Remarkable Life of Catalina Micaela, Magdalena S. Sánchez discovers a 16th-century marriage documented in remarkable detail.

Whig is beautiful? Centrists of the World Unite! The Lost Genius of Liberalism by Adrian Wooldridge looks for signs of life in the liberal movement.