Cormac McCarthy’s art of war
In Blood Meridian the author reaches the dark heart of the American novel – where violence is timeless.
ByBook reviews
Read all the latest book reviews from the New Statesman and discover the best novels, non-fiction, essays and biographies. If you’re looking for something more specific, explore our sections dedicated to politics books and history books.
The 15 best books for summer 2023
The New Statesman’s selection of essential recent releases.
By
The best children’s books for summer 2023
Essential holiday reading, from vivid picture books to gripping wartime adventures.
By
George Orwell in an age of moralists
Should we stop measuring the great English writer by today’s standards?
By
Virginia Woolf’s living book
The writer’s diaries reveal a mind striving to capture the elusive moment.
By
The age of digital outrage
The internet was once seen as a tool to promote empathy – so how did it come to amplify division…
By
Mysteries of the owl and octopus
A new school of natural history seeks to understand the deep intelligence of the Earth’s most enigmatic creatures.
By
The self-creation myth
In the absence of God, we have crafted our selves into brands and deities.
By
The mysteries of late style
Christopher Neve’s study of great painters reveals the risks and rewards of creating art at the end of life.
By
From Ferdinand Mount to Isabel Waidner: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Crisis Actor by Declan Ryan and Women We Buried, Women We Burned by Rachel Louise Snyder.
By
Swifts, the universe and everything
Mark Cocker’s ode to a remarkable species makes a powerful case for the value of awe in a time of…
By
A world built on trash
Oliver Franklin-Wallis’s Wasteland shows how our rubbish creates an environmental and human catastrophe.
By
The women classical music forgot
Leah Broad’s Quartet restores the pioneering work and colourful lives of Britain’s finest female composers.
By
Milan Kundera’s identity crisis
In renouncing his homeland and despairing of European culture, the Czech novelist walks in the footsteps of Kafka.
By
Goodreads is degrading our literary culture
Everyone can, and should, be a critic. But the reviews website is having a sinister effect on books.
By
The monsters of feminist art
How the audacious artists of the Seventies embraced disgust and redefined female beauty.
By
A world built on sand
Ed Conway’s Material World shows that despite our digital lives it is rocks and minerals that power the global economy.
By
The problem with smart thinking
We can’t all be philosophers, but a whole genre of bad books will try to make you one.
By
Making a murderer
Mark O’Connell’s portrait of a notorious Irish killer becomes a study of the desire to turn reality into fiction.
By
Trapped in the generation gap
Jean Twenge’s new study suggests that the young are the losers in a society transformed by technology.
By