Literature
Auteur Provocateur
Michel Houllebecq’s Soumission is provocative but treads familiar territory
Tough Tales For Dark Times
Erich Kästner’s books for children shows that that difficult ideas don’t have to be kept from young readers
The Case For The Classics
Three books offer fresh and enchanting views on the ancient past and how it can still live
A British Subject
A new short story.
Protestant Power Games
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, superbly adapted for television, is brilliant because it defies easy definition
Stoppard Takes On The Boffins
Despite its intractable subject matter, The Hard Problem is an elegant and ingenious work
Why Is ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ the New Normal?
A psychologist and sex therapist wonders where E.L. James’s celebration of sadomasochism comes from and what it means for human relationships
Literary Lights
Two American men of letters
Travels with Betjeman
A reminiscence of the poet’s adventures at the BBC
How the Nazis Lost the War on the West
Three refugees saw the Third Reich as the enemy of civilisation. Today we can learn from their example
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal