The young prole rebels of Dexys Midnight Runners
Denied an audience with frontman Kevin Rowland, the author Nige Tassell asks the band’s army of musicians to tell its…
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.
Left-behind Britain
Paul Collier’s new book reveals how worship of the market made the UK one of the most unequal countries in…
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The vexed history of British feminism
A century ago women activists worked together despite their political differences. Can they do so again?
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Why we get the wrong leaders
History reveals what drives the ambitions of would-be Caesars – and how we can counter them.
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Russia’s great-power complex
Whether acting as an adversary or a partner to the West, the Kremlin has long yearned for recognition and respect.
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From Kathleen Jamie to Richard Overy: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Ronald Moody: Sculpting Life by Ego Ahaiwe Sowinski and The Cursed Friend by Elena Pala.
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A reckoning for the Parisian elite
The French capital, once a seat of global power, has entered a new era of political and cultural upheaval.
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The politics of the prehistoric past
Our understanding of the earliest humans is shaped by contemporary beliefs about race, violence and sex.
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The real Christopher Isherwood
The poet’s candid project of self-discovery prefigured autofiction and shaped a generation of writers.
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Sebastian Junger’s chronicle of a death deferred
The American writer’s knowledge of war’s random violence did not prepare him for a profound encounter with mortality.
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Honor Levy’s journey to the centre of the internet
My First Book is an endearing attempt to capture the chaos and cringe of Gen Z life.
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From Simon Lister to Violet Moller: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Nature’s Ghosts by Sophie Yeo and Spycraft by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman.
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The Ozempic effect
Magic Pill, Johann Hari’s study of the rise of diet drugs, sheds light on our deeply dysfunctional food culture.
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From Iain Sinclair to Colombe Schneck: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Going Home by Tom Lamont and The Roads to Rome by Catherine Fletcher.
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Love, loathing and Lucian Freud
Rose Boyt’s memoir of her controlling father reveals a relationship defined by cruelty and shame.
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The lure of the English garden
Olivia Laing and Richard Mabey reveal the joys, crises and politics of making a garden of one’s own.
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In defence of the new Luddism
The AI boom poses a threat to copyright, privacy and human rights – but no technology should be above the…
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Inside the mind of Franz Kafka
A revelatory edition of his diaries and a new biography upend the simplified myth of the anguished writer.
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Colm Tóibín’s genre trouble
The Brooklyn sequel Long Island is a rich tale of secrets and betrayal. Is it more than a romance novel?
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The 2024 International Booker shortlist reviewed
From a Korean Scheherazade to Brazilian spirits, the grief of surviving a suicide to the magic of brief encounters.
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