Lisa Hilton
In Search of Authenticity
Braving Albania’s deadly roads in a vain hunt for a good meal
Gastro-pilgrimages, Past and Present
Traversing Europe in search of the ideal meal
More Ideas, Less Personality
A new edited collection of Italo Calvino’s letters appeals more to lovers of the Italian’s work than to the general reader, but is still deeply rewarding
Is This the Great Italian Novel?
The Art of Joy by Goliarda Sapienza has been hailed as the Great Italian Novel. If this is the greatest, then how dull must the rest be?
A Gong for Hong Kong
‘It’s easy to forget that this sophisticated modern city is nonetheless part of a repressive Communist system’
Overrated: The Marquis De Sade
The infamous French libertine should be enjoying a reviva. The trouble is, he was a rotten pornographer
The Poet To Whom Fascism Owed It All
Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s Life of Gabriele D’Annunzio paints a picture of a compelling and anarchic poet-statesman
Tolerating the intolerant
“For those who thought that a global pandemic would sound the death knell for identity politics, think again”
How to prevent the next pandemic
‘I have been reporting as a science journalist for years that the world is at increasing risk of pandemics like this; that this was predicted; that we know what we need to do to prepare and we simply haven’t done it; and that more and worse pandemics are coming so we need to do that, now’
D’où parles-tu? The post-truth world
Power, illusion and the open society: how postmodernism undermines our foundational concepts