Why the First World War was no waste
To us the conflict might seem futile, but the soldiers who fought saw things very differently. The deaths of millions changed…
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The Great War’s long shadow
Keynes and the cost of peace
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, was one brilliant, self-assured British economist right and all the assembled statesmen…
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The Armistice bacchanal: how Britain rejoiced at the 11 November ceasefire
In Trafalgar Square and in the countryside, revellers went hand-in-hand in circles singing songs round the flames.
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Did the end of the Great War come too soon?
This month, 100 years ago, the war ended. But had it lasted into 1919 the future of the world…
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How Rudyard Kipling became a master of imperial gothic
Kipling is associated with sentimental children’s fiction or tub-thumping racism, but his best fiction captures the horrors of empire, acted…
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Hampstead Theatre’s I And You: a distinctly Young Adult play
Maisie Williams shines in this play of boy-meets-girl-with-serious-illness.
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How the market abandoned morality
We need a renewed critique of capitalism – but is discouraging the lifestyle of educated young people and promoting the…
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The strange Victorian murder of Lord William Russell
The crime was set up to look like a burglary gone wrong, but the police realised that the murderer…
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The quiet rise of “securocrat” Mark Sedwill, the new head of the civil service
Theresa May’s most trusted civil service lieutenant has been at her side throughout her reign at the Home Office…
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The drained world: Elmgreen & Dragset explore gentrification and loss via an empty swimming pool
In the artist duo’s latest installation they transform the ground floor of the Whitechapel Gallery into a derelict public baths.
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Something has gone badly wrong in Mike Leigh’s dull film Peterloo
The film is informative, but sadly almost never engaging.
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How the journalist captured for two and a half years by Somali pirates survived his ordeal
“I learned to live without hope – and that continues.”
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Russell Crowe makes a surprisingly lovable radio host
Not exactly renowned as an amiable interviewee, Crowe gives a great performance as a BBC 6 Music host.
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The BBC’s The Little Drummer Girl is an atmospheric delight
Plus: the new series of House of Cards.
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Commons Confidential: The Johnson-Rees-Mogg desperate pact
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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Martin McDonagh and Robert Icke should take audiences walking out of their plays as a compliment
It just goes to show theatre’s enduring power to disturb.
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Like Network Rail, I’ve had to introduce a leaf-fall timetable into my life
I have something of an antipathy to variegated foliage. Perhaps it is the Darwin in me.
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Letter of the week: Start them young
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced…
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Deep in Chislehurst Caves, the families of the Blitz built whole new lives underground
The caves, where families slept in three-tier bunk beds or pitches, had electric lighting, a canteen, a hospital and a police station.
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How the “end of austerity” presents a challenge to the Labour Party
The economic debate is moving towards Labour terrain, but the party won’t seize the advantage.
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I bought something from the chemist and just wrote 8,000 words in three days
I tried this thing for the hell of it, even though I do not have a problem in that…
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Terry is dying, and there’s no one to care for him: the real impacts of the NHS crisis
Years of austerity-driven spending cuts have piled stress and pressure on NHS staff, many of whom have voted with…
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Mary Portas Q&A: “I look at our politicians and think: shame on the lot of you“
The broadcaster talks This Country, Van Morrison, and her favourite Buddhist monk, Pema Chödrön.
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Leader: The long shadow of the First World War
As we mark the centenary of the Armistice, all that is clear is that the peace was as intractable…
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Leader: The Budget showed that harmful austerity is far from over
Austerity has been moderated, rather than abandoned.Three-quarters of the £12bn of welfare cuts announced since 2015 will go ahead.
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Brazil shows how the elite responds when forced to choose between fascism and the left
The victory of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro demonstrates how quickly the centre can evaporate.
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