The Ancient Greek World at War
For the ancient Greeks, the Peloponnesian War was a conflict involving the entire world. For Thucydides, it was a lesson in the realities of human nature
Literature
‘José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas’ review
José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas, edited by Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muñiz, collects the works of Cuba's ‘Apostle of Independence’.
Shakespeare’s Lost Years
‘What’s past is prologue’ Shakespeare wrote – but so little is known of his own. There are plenty of theories, each as implausible as the next.
The Battle for Britain’s First Book of the Month Club
Britain’s first book-of-the-month club – the Book Society – brought reading to a vast new audience. But not without some controversy.
Artificial Inspiration
Poets across the ages have sought help with their writing – but AI bears no comparison with the divine.
‘The Writer’s Lot’ by Robert Darnton review
The Writer’s Lot: Culture and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France by Robert Darnton discovers a literary flowering in the shadow of the guillotine.
The Hidden Diary of Samuel Pepys
When Samuel Pepys’ diary was first published 200 years ago it was an instant hit, but rumours soon spread about what had been cut and why.
Martin Crusius’ Armchair Voyage
The greatest early modern authority on Ottoman Greece was Martin Cruisius – a man who had never left Germany.
Jane Austen: A Partial and Prejudiced Historian
On the 250th anniversary of her birth, Jane Austen still has lessons for readers of history.
‘Epic of the Earth’ by Edith Hall review
Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer’s Iliad in the Fight for a Dying World by Edith Hall sees the signs of environmental collapse amid the adventures of Achilles.