Origins of a ‘pre-internet blog’: The story of Witold Gombrowicz’s seminal and controversial ‘Diary’
The controversial Diary of the eminent polish author Witold Gombrowicz, has now been published in English after years of being out of print….
Extracts
Hidden History, the expulsion of the Germans after WWII: Extract from ‘Orderly and Humane’
More than 12 million German-speaking civilians in Europe were driven from their homes in the wake of WWII,…
O Thomas Cook: Extract from ‘Beyond the Tower: A History of East London’
From Jewish merchants to Bangladeshi curry houses, ancient docks to the 2012 Olympics, East London has always played…
The Unveiling Movement, A Western Construct: Extract from ‘A Quiet Revolution’ by Leila Ahmed
Out now in paperback, Leila Ahmed’s A Quiet Revolution investigates the Muslim veil’s recent return. In this exclusive extract…
The Power Struggle of the Divided Brain: Extract from ‘The Master and His Emissary’ by Iain McGilchrist
Originally published in 2009 Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and his Emissary explores the differences between the brain’s right and…
Another Side: Extract from ‘Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown’ by David Yaffe
In Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown (out now in paperback) iterary scholar and music critic David Yaffe offers an…
An Émigré in New York: Extract from Norman Manea’s ‘The Lair’
Norman Manea is an acclaimed literary figure, whose works evoke comparisons to such giants as Kafka and Musil….
The Future of Books and Reading: Extract from ‘The Future of History’ by John Lukacs
The name John Lukacs is known to history students the world over (he has written more than thirty…
Cosmic Understanding: Extract from ‘The New Universe and the Human Future’
In The New Universe and the Human Future (out now in paperback) a cultural philosopher (Nancy Abrams) and an astrophysicist (Joel…
The Hidden Cause of the Great Recession: Extract from ‘Realeconomik’ by Grigory Yavlinsky
In his recent book Realeconomik the internationally respected economist Grigory Yavlinsky makes a powerful case that without a commitment to…
Capital Punishment: Extract from ‘Hitler’s Berlin: Abused City’ by Thomas Friedrich
In Hitler’s Berlin: Abused City, Thomas Friedrich explores how the German capital captivated Hitler’s imagination and how he sought…
Writing the Biography of a Genius: Extract from ‘Joseph Brodsky, A Literary Life’ by Lev Loseff
Joseph Brodsky: A Literary Life (out now in paperback) is an intimate, penetrating study of the great Russian…
How Christianity came to Latin America: Extract from ‘New Worlds’ by John Lynch
With unsurpassed knowledge of Latin American history, John Lynch’s New Worlds: A Religious History of Latin America sets out to…
Survivors of the Gulag: Extract from ‘Gulag Voices’ by Anne Applebaum
Published last year to widespread acclaim, Gulag Voices by Pulitzer Prize-winner Anne Applebaum is a unique collection of writings from…
Bucharest Spring: Extract from ‘The Black Envelope’ by Norman Manea (part 1)
The Black Envelope is a novel by Jewish Romanian novelist Norman Manea, and has recently been published in…