Art and the ruins of the left
Can painting alter the course of our politics?
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 we’re stuck in Ancient Rome
The enduring resonance of the Roman empire is often remarked upon – but rarely understood.
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Where to find meaning
As Christianity in Britain declines, two new books ask: what should we believe in now?
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Making China great again
The former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd writes that Xi Jinping has embraced an assertive nationalism that aims to put…
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The inattention pandemic
The tyranny of social media has made us all minor celebrities: exhausted and narcissistic.
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s triumphant return
Dream Count, the Nigerian writer’s first novel in more than a decade, is a powerful exploration of misogyny, masculinity and…
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Shon Faye and the problem of love
In this memoir-cum-manifesto, the author explores the politicised nature of love – and why it seems to elude us.
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Eimear McBride’s literature of desire
The Irish author’s exhilarating fourth novel, The City Changes Its Face, proves there is nobody writing sex like her.
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From Edmund White to Philip Marsden: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Threads of Empire by Dorothy Armstrong and Beartooth by Callan Wink.
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The long reign of the Caesars
Charlemagne and The Sopranos, Trump and I, Claudius – all owe a debt to the imperial biographies of Suetonius.
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The woman who made the rape kit
This story of Martha Goddard’s forensic method does more than reclaim her role in history – it gives her a…
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The contested life of Roger Casement
The Irish nationalist was caught in the fault lines between empire and nation, colonised and coloniser, public face and private…
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Han Kang’s radical empathy
As with all the Nobel Prize-winning South Korean writer’s stories, We Do Not Part rejects escapism to reach into the…
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The brutal world of the Brothers Grimm
The folklorists’ fairy tales, in which moral laws are suspended and violence abounds, were no stranger than the progressive fantasies…
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From James Birch to Mohsen M Milani: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Ninette’s War by John Jay and Captain de Havilland’s Moth by Alexander Norman.
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The secret history of the poles
How glaciers hold the key to Earth’s deep past.
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How we misread The Great Gatsby
The greatness of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel lies in its details. But they are often overlooked.
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From Andrew Janiak to Alison Wood Brooks: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Sound of Utopia by Michel Krielaars and The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker.
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The moderate voices of the English Civil War
A story of two friends who took opposite sides asks: does ideology always triumph over loyalty?
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The Pierre Bonnard renaissance
The enigmatic French painter is seen by many as a league below Matisse. But a new book proves them wrong…
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