In the Critics section of this week’s New Statesman, former British ambassador to Afghanistan Sherard Cowper-Coles reviews Frank Ledwidge’s book on the Iraq and Afghan wars and, in our “Critic at Large” slot, Sophie Elmhirst looks at the trend for memoirs of grief. Leo Robson assesses the new novel from Michael Ondaatje, Alexandra Harris writes on Susie Harries’s new life of Nikolaus Pevsner, Mark Bostridge considers a reassessment of Field Marshal Douglas Haig, and Felicity Cloake, in the first instalment of her new food column, explains the rise of Scandinavian cuisine. The Books Interview this week is with Anita Desai.
At the pictures, Nina Caplan reviews the new adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day. On the box, Rachel Cooke applauds Horizon, while at the theatre Andrew Billen sees the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie. In his “Real Meals” column, Will Self eats at La Gondola in Battersea Park.