Our love affair with Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy's study of adultery is widely thought of as a romantic work. But don't send it to your lover
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Squire Scruton and the Tory Disposition
Roger Scruton's new book roots British Conservatism in our distinctive history
Lucky Jim and La Longue Durée
In a short and ambitious book The History Manifesto, Jo Guldi and David Armitage explore the human condition and who we will become
Quirks of a Great Queen
An excellent new biography on Queen Victoria shows she remains a profound paradox
The Fog of War Lifts on Waterloo
Two new and remarkable books prove how Waterloo will continue to divide historians for centuries
Spanish Lies
Paul Preston's exhaustive and admirable biography shines light on Santiago Carrillo, a relatively unknown figure, who played a key role in the restoration of Spanish democracy
Presidential Imperialism
F.H Buckley's The Once and Future King is a worthy contribution to the great discourse on liberty and power
The Leaning Tower of Dresden
In his epic novel 'The Tower' Uwe Tellkamp brilliantlydepicts the grotesque idiosyncrasies of the GDR’s bureaucracy
A poet casts a prosaic die
John Fuller's new volume of prose poems are grimmer and harder to read than his previous works
Rivers of Babylon
The great provocateur - Joan Rivers
Money Talks
John Lanchester's lesson in financial literacy is blighted by his contempt
Getting On
John Betjeman was a poet who knew how to work society