From Katja Hoyer to Charles Foster: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Why is this Lying Bastard Lying to Me? by Rob Burley and The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan.
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.
Why read life-writing?
Joanna Biggs’ A Life of One’s Own looks to the letters and journals of literary women for guidance. Can they…
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Soldiers in love
Men at War, Luke Turner’s tender account of servicemen’s transgressive private lives, transforms our understanding of the Second World War.
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Catherine Lacey’s biography that isn’t
In inventing a figure who rubbed shoulders with David Bowie and Susan Sontag, the American novelist thrillingly subverts the conventions…
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Plumbing the depths of Boris Johnson’s incompetence
Anthony Seldon’s account of Johnson’s time in Downing Street confirms he was hopelessly out of his depth.
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The invention of God
David Baddiel’s new book argues that a deity that saves us from death is confected from human desire.
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The politics of the new space race
Tim Marshall’s The Future of Geography shows how great powers – and Elon Musk – are looking to the stars…
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Westminster is broken
Ian Dunt’s new book reveals Britain as a country of inept civil servants, deluded ministers, blinkered journalists and unscrutinised power.
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The problem with Peter Frankopan’s theory of history
The Earth Transformed seeks to tell the story of climate change without confronting global capitalism. The result is a book…
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The dark heart of the Tory Party
By reckoning with Britain’s nasty side, the Conservatives have claimed its soul.
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An idiot’s guide to cancel culture
What do we do with the art of monstrous men? Claire Dederer’s flimsy, simplistic new book has no answers.
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Do we really need Rawls?
Daniel Chandler’s much-hyped new book says that, in an age of polarisation, the American philosopher offers a blueprint for society.
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Is a feminist marriage possible?
A new history takes in everything from ancient Roman weddings to Don’t Tell the Bride to ask: can we redefine…
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The 14 best books of the year so far
The New Statesman’s selection of essential reads for this spring.
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The decline of the Literary Bloke
In featuring just four men, Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists confirms what we already knew: the literary male has…
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From Amy Key to Tom Clark: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Eve by Claire Horn and A Stranger in Your Own City by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
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The best children’s books for spring 2023
Find animal magic and globe-trotting thrills in new books for young readers.
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George Eliot’s marriage plot
In her work, the novelist developed a radical philosophy of relationships. In her life, she put it into practice.
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The IRA’s blank assassin
The Brighton bomb killed five people but failed to hit its target, Margaret Thatcher.
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Where are all the good books on sex?
Polly Barton’s “oral history” of porn shows the myopia of cultural criticism drawn from personal experience. We desperately need a…
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