The limits of humanism
How do we reconcile our capacity for good and evil? Humanist thinking does not have all the answers.
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.
How-to guides have taken over everything
But real change happens outside of the parameters of pamphlets and manifestos.
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How Noël Coward became the archetypal English success
A new biography shows how he began life as a revolutionary and ended it hosting the Queen Mother.
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The history of the American South is as contested as ever
In the home of both the Confederacy and the civil rights movement, the past is never dead.
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The feminist case against progress
From sex-positivity to abortion, liberal advances have dehumanised women, argues Mary Harrington – but “nature” is not always as kind as…
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Who is criticism for?
Seth Rogen’s protest against bad reviews misunderstands the role of the critic in the fight against mediocrity.
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Jack Kerouac’s contested legacy
Dismissed in later life as a “mystic boob”, the Beat novelist still haunts modern American mythology.
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From Margaret Atwood to Gary Younge: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Life in the Balance by Jim Down and Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza.
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The best fiction books for 2023
The year’s publishing highlights, including new novels by Salman Rushdie, Diana Evans and Eleanor Catton.
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The delightful surprise of “new” Terry Pratchett stories
In 2017, a steamroller crushed the hard drive containing Pratchett’s unpublished material, as per his wishes. But this discovery is…
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Britain’s original culture wars
A new history of the 17th century reminds us how bitter ideological conflicts have shaped our democracy.
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Eleanor Catton and the problem with “literary thrillers”
Her new novel raises the question: is the genre code for a thriller that simply isn’t very thrilling?
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Ann Goldstein: “Translation is all about attention to detail”
The editor and translator who brought Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet into English on language and the importance of reading widely.
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Babi Yar: a harrowing masterpiece of Ukraine under Nazi rule
Anatoly Kuznetsov’s classic account of the 1941 massacre of Ukrainians is republished as Kyiv suffers the ravages of war again.
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Angela Saini: “Societies haven’t always been male-dominated”
The British science writer argues that patriarchy is newer and more fragile than we think.
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Secrets of the womb
Leah Hazard’s new book shows how this complex, life-giving muscle has been maligned and misunderstood.
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Jordan Peterson: Agent of chaos
The Canadian psychologist's quest for order is thwarted by the tragicomedy of his own life.
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Bernie Sanders: the president who never was
The politician’s new work is a limited and soporific harangue. How did he twice get close to becoming leader of…
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The myths of “the north”
Alex Niven’s The North Will Rise Again is a missed chance – a sustained swipe at a government long gone…
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How consultancy bleeds Britain dry
In The Big Con Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington reveal how management consultants promise to fix governments but end up…
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