Growth Of A New Han Dynasty
Chinese literary phenomenon (and racecar driver) Han Han's essays are funny, sharp and wryly self-aware
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Friends, Romans, Courtiers
Peter Stothard's memoir of the 1980s follows a quartet of attendants at Mrs Thatcher's court
Scenes From An Abused Life
New Year's Day Is Black shows a life laid bare in delicate watercolour sketches
Coastwise Lights
All roads lead to Sussex for exhilarating exhibitions in new or revamped galleries
A Modest Man With A Lot To Be Immodest About
Clement Attlee led an exemplary life, and was the smooth-running machine at heart of the wartime government, but was never remotely vainglorious
The Limits Of Pax Americana
America's post-Cold War strategy failed with Russia — will it fail to limit Beijing's aggressiveness too?
Peace In Their Time — At A Price
Throughout the 19th century the pursuit of power permeated European society
Crusades, Spies, And Cruising
The colourful life of Steven Runciman: historian, scholar-diplomat, and possibly spy
Andalusia Was No Golden Age
The idea that Moorish Spain was a haven of tolerance for Christians and Jews is a fashionable myth
Corbyn And The Oldest Hatred
Left-wing anti-Semitism is not an invention of the Corbynistas — it's been bubbling under the surface for decades
Germany Calling
Colin Holmes's biography of William Joyce challenges the sanitised image of the man who came to be known as "Lord Haw-Haw"
Good Writer, Bad Picker
Elizabeth Jane Howard showed deep emotional insights as a writer, but could not apply them to her own life