The Pillage of India
A study of two books about British military and commercial activities and eventual rule in India, by the historian William Dalrymple and the writer and serving politician Shashi Tharoor.
Snowden in the Labyrinth
This much-praised review of Edward Snowden’s book takes the opportunity to consider the benefits and drawbacks of anonymity.
Low Visibility
An analysis of the Gilets Jaunes movement that has rocked Emmanuel Macron’s administration.
The Migrant Caravan: Made in USA
Roberto Saviano, the author of Gomorrah, on a strand of migration to the US linked directly to the effects of the Honduran drugs trade.
Breakfast In The Ruins
Destruction and regeneration at the ancient archaeological site of Palmyra over the last four thousand years of its history, from well before the Emperor Hadrian, to the present day barbarity of the Islamic State.
Ur-Fascism
This renowned Umberto Eco piece, written in 1995 in an attempt to define and identify the common elements of diverse fascist movements, has been given a renewed lease of life in today’s political landscape.
Britain: The End of a Fantasy
A view from across the pond on the social, political and demographic dynamics at play in the British election.
The New Passport-Poor
Is a passport a tool of individual freedom or state restriction and regulation? This piece looks to answer that question and examines the history of identity documentation.
Homo Orbanicus
A look at how Viktor Orban has created an autocracy in Hungary, a “Fuhrer democracy” at the heart of Europe. Orban was re-elected with a large majority a few days after this article was published.
Doing the New York Hustle
Craig Brown’s review of former Vanity Fair and New Yorker Editor Tina Brown’s star-studded diaries lives firmly in the hatchet job category. It is an elegant evisceration of both a book and a way of life.