Clutching at Straws and Tilting at Minarets
Two new books on the origins of Islam suffer from, at best, sloppy, and at worst, dishonest, scholarship
A Long Way From Cable Street
Robert Wistrich's new study of anti-Semitism brilliantly elucidates how the Left has betrayed the Israel for which it once campaigned
Elizabethan Enigma
Edmund Spenser: A Life by Andrew Hadfield is vivid in parts, but ultimately fails to paint a clear picture of the 16th century poet
The Admirable Criterion
A new collection of Roger Kimball's literary and cultural criticism places him in the exalted company of Augustine Birrell and Walter Bagehot
Pandora’s Books
Belinda Jack's The Woman Reader charts the fascinating history of female literacy from Sappho to illegal book clubs in modern-day Iran
Kilburn Confidential
After a seven-year hiatus, Zadie Smith returns with her fourth novel, NW. It is in turn vivid, angry and surprising
Olympian Angst
'Germans longed for Olympic medals as validation, but were surprised at how London rose to the occasion'
Romney Takes a Risk with Ryan
'Paul Ryan will thrash Joe Biden in debate and the Tea Party will enthusiastically endorse their poster boy but Romney's choice of running mate