David Cooper on Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók is widely acknowledged as one of the most important musical composers of the early 20th century. He is considered to be one of the…
Biography
Thomas Cromwell and the Treason Act
Thomas Cromwell is a historic figure known to many. Between 1532 and 1540 he was the chief minster to Henry VIII, during which he…
Ever Yours: the Van Gogh Letters
In addition to his many remarkable paintings and drawings Vincent van Gogh left behind a fascinating and illuminating body of correspondence. Ever Yours: The Essential Letters,…
A Book Lover’s Gift Guide: Biography Buff
This winter we have gathered together some of our favourite books – books for Biography Buffs, History Lovers and Globetrotters – books for every Dedicated…
A Conversation with Tim Parks: A YaleBooks Podcast
Shortly before his death in 1837, Giacomo Leopardi, a prolific Italian writer, translator, and thinker, began to organise a small, thematic collection of his…
Patrick Modiano: Nobel Prize winner
On 9th October 2014 Patrick Modiano became the 107th winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Peter Englund, the Nobel Academy’s permanent secretary, announced from…
Freudian Clip: Interview with Adam Phillips
Adam Phillips’ Becoming Freud is a biography that explores the life of the young Freud, spanning his first fifty years, and ironically incorporating Freud’s own misgivings…
Wilfred Owen and the notion of chivalry
One of Britain’s best-known and most loved poets, Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) was killed at the age of 25 on one of the last days…
Becoming Freud by Adam Phillips
From one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sigmund Freud comes a strikingly original biography of the father of psychoanalysis – explore Becoming Freud by…
Georgian Fever
This year is the 300th anniversary of George I’s accession, and already Georgian fever is upon us – celebrating the ‘refined excess’ of an…
Who was The Literary Churchill?
The image of Winston Churchill as a statesman is familiar to all, the former soldier striding down blitzed streets with a defiant V for…
Whistler’s Mother
James McNeill Whistler shares his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts with some unlikely characters. Not least among them literary iconoclast and pioneering beat generation writer Jack…
Introduction to Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was killed at the age of 25 on one of the last days of the First World War, having acted heroically…
James McNeill Whistler: A Life for Art’s Sake
Daniel E. Sutherland’s biography of luminary American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) is not only the first in almost twenty years, but also the…
Primo Levi and the War
Midway through the Second World War Primo Levi had just embarked upon a career in chemistry. Despite the increasing encroachment of anti-Semitic laws upon…