Last of the stiff upper lips: how the Somme contributed to modern psychiatry
Taylor Downing's new Breakdown: the Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme, 1916 reveals a turning point for mental health.
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The longest hatred
A novel account of unemployment? How Not Working spins gold from the banal
Lisa Owens' funny, serious debut marks her out as one to watch.
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Leader: A test for Mr Corbyn
“We are not going to lose seats. We are looking to gain seats where we can,” Corbyn insisted on…
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As long as Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour opponents are divided, he will rule
The leader's foes have yet to agree on when and how a challenge should take place.
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You are what you ate as a child – in my case, 1950s boarding-school fare
There's only one way to explain my lifelong devotion to pea soup.
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Commons confidential: The nuclear option
Hunt's six day week, Cameron's missing tweet and growing tensions within Labour.
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In search of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s mysterious creator
In May 2008, Nakamoto published an online paper outlining how the cryptocurrency would work. Then he vanished.
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As Syrian forces lay waste to Aleppo, how much longer can we tolerate the slaughter?
The West has flirted with the dangerous idea that we should somehow accomodate or rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad. Yet nothing…
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Leicester City’s ascent shows how being a good loser can make you a great winner
Claudio Ranieri wasn't expected to take a team to the top of Premier League. But dignity can earn you…
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Bad vibes: why Britain’s nightclubs are closing
New police measures and the lingering effects of the recession have both been blamed for contributing to the decline…
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In defence of orientalism, the case against Twenty20, and why Ken should watch Son of Saul
My week, from Age Concern to anti-semitism.
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The far right rises as the Nordic welfare model is tested to breaking point by immigration
Writing from Stockholm, the New Statesman’s editor observes how mass immigration has tested the old Scandinavian model of welfare capitalism.
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The Dolittle delusion: what motivates human beings to live like animals?
Wearing a custom-built goat exoskeleton, sucking down worms like a badger – two new books describe extreme adventures in becoming beasts.
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Hearing Bach re-imagined makes it clear why he still reigns supreme
Between the delights of reconstructed sonatas and Thomas Gould's "violin hair", the paradoxically intricate simplicity of Bach shone in Baroque…
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Appearing in a book is strange – being an actual character must be stranger
Much as it jolts me to come across a reference to my music in something I'm reading, at least it's…
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How I saw 12 Shakespeare plays in seven days
From a Dutch mash-up at the Barbican to a promenade theatre piece at the V&A – with a thousand miles…
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I’ve started getting “hangover shame“ – only for my entire adolescence
My new friend was rich, and I had to do something to impress her. So I told her I…
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The Returning Officer: Nancy Parnell
Nancy Stewart Parnell, a relative of the Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell, stood for the Liberals at Southwark South…
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Poisoned cannoli, salt cod and the virgin’s breasts
Fertility is perhaps the crucial factor in the history of Sicily.
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Florence Foster Jenkins shows the delight of love’s delusions
This new film about a notoriously bad singer, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, is an unusually honest portrayal…
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Once again, my summer elbows have taken me by surprise
The small, red marks come from sitting at pub tables outside – and they herald the start of a joyous…
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I’m now this mag’s longest-serving columnist, the Arsène Wenger of the NS
If I don't get a commemorative alarm clock in June, I'll be furious.
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History of violence: Ali Smith on Alan Garner
By conjuring mythic landscapes, the novelist and children’s fantasy writer Alan Garner unleashed his fury at the injustices of…
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Whither big balls? Grayson Perry investigates masculinity better than anyone else on TV
Grayson Perry: All Man shows Perry's strength as an unjudgemental presenter. Plus: Chasing Dad reviewed.
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Is there a Guardian bias on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme?
Call me paranoid, but I've long had my suspicions – and this line-up cast all doubts aside.
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Football promises to be a book no-one will like – and delivers
Football by Jean-Philippe Toussaint is a strange mix of heightened prose and stilted banality.
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“Alderley: For Alan Garner”: a new poem by Rowan Williams
“Edges: where owls and snow drift / down, spill quietly and stifle”
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The Pill pushback
The contraceptive pill helped liberate women when it arrived in the UK in the 1960s. Now, spurred by experiences shared online…
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