How women were left out of the story of evolution
A radical new history argues that human society was shaped not by hunter-gatherer skills but the bodies of our female…
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.
From Paul Auster to Kelly and Zach Weinersmith: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Reckoning by V and Eyeliner by Zahra Hankir.
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The horrors of the Upskirt Decade
In a new book on the vicious media misogyny of the Noughties, the recent past has never felt more remote.
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Who runs the show?
As the power in Hollywood has moved from film to TV, so has the much-mythologised alpha male auteur.
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The white heat of politics
Thirteen years of Tory rule, a season of scandal and Labour on the rise – the hectic Britain of 1963…
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From Nathalie Olah to Stephen Marche: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Alexandria by Islam Issa and The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada.
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Karl Ove Knausgaard’s thought experiment
The Norwegian novelist doesn’t just want to show his characters’ inner lives, he wants us to take leave of our…
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lessons for losers
In his unlikely fourth act, the former movie star is a self-help guru who trades in the toughest of tough…
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Britney Spears’s American horror story
The singer’s memoir of her conservatorship is full of cartoonish villains and medieval misogyny. But this isn’t a fable – it’s…
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The New Statesman’s best books of the academic presses
Our choice of the highlights from the universities in 2023.
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From Naomi Alderman to Francis Spufford: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Revolutionary Temper by Richard Darnton and The Wisdom of Sheep by Rosamund Young.
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How the Barclay brothers built and wrecked an empire
The twins accrued hotels, newspapers and a fortress on their own island – then their fortune vanished.
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How the centre right was lost
Shattered by Brexit, the Tory party has been captured by populist disrupters. Can true conservatives win it back?
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Inside the mind of Hilary Mantel
The novelist’s collected non-fiction reveals her extraordinary range, depth and independence of thought.
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What Daniel Dennett gets wrong
Is consciousness an illusion? Only a philosopher could convince himself of something as implausible.
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John le Carré, the great deceiver
The duplicity that defined his spy novels also enabled his relentless pursuit of sexual pleasure.
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JM Coetzee’s cold realism
The South African writer’s steely eye gives his stories of emotional restraint the feel of modern allegories.
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From Thurston Moore to Camilla Nord: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Book at War by Andrew Pettegree and a collection from the Complete Works Poets.
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Rupert Murdoch’s portrait in the attic
Michael Wolff’s account of the fall of the media strongman is an ugly, scurrilous tale of profit’s triumph over democracy.
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David Brooks’ delusions of moral decline
How to Know a Person argues that public life no longer values honour and empathy – but the evidence is…
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