From Neel Mukherjee to Gavin Stamp: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Sunken Lands by Gareth E Rees and The Spinning House by Caroline Biggs.
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.
A reckoning for the British Museum
Haunted by scandal, the museum has become a “black hole” for artefacts. It’s time to bring it down, says Noah…
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Women writers and the lure of deep England
The country lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann were studies in class, conflict and creativity.
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Inside the rise of Ziggy Stardust
How a hairdresser from Beckenham entered the court of David Bowie.
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How to mend a broken economy
The laissez-faire era is over, says Will Hutton – the next Labour government must find growth through intervention.
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From Alpa Shah to Michael Taylor: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Language City by Ross Perlin and The Observable Universe by Heather McCalden.
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The best children’s books for spring 2024
Find cinematic joy and heroes seeking comradeship in new books for young readers.
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From Bridget O’Connor to Grace Blakeley: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Performer by Richard Sennett and Cloistered by Catherine Coldstream.
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From John Berger to Jenny Kleeman: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Power Up by Yasmin Ali and Ghost Pains by Jessica Jezewska Stevens.
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Confessions of a City trader
Gary Stevenson’s rags-to-riches memoir exposes a system where the rich can’t lose and the economy is choked by inequality.
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From Marianna Spring to Jason Okundaye: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring a lost memoir by Harry Edward and The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes.
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The myth of “the West”
Our simplistic attitude to Western civilisation overlooks the global trade and culture that created it.
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How to get kicked out of the band
An entertaining study of sacked musicians reveals the tensions that give pop its power.
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Journal of an American plague year
Eric Klinenberg’s study of New York’s struggle with Covid in 2020 reveals a society riven by racism and discontent.
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Anna Burns’s Milkman and the politics of hatred
Her Belfast-set novel upended my understanding of the Catholic Church and its history of prejudice.
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From Lucas Rijneveld to Amitav Ghosh: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Unearthing by Kyo Maclear and Six Stories by Stefan Zweig.
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Keir Starmer’s thirst for power
A landmark new biography portrays the Labour leader as a man with an entirely abnormal drive and a narrow-eyed focus…
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The women that books built
How the bluestockings used wit and learning to subvert a deeply misogynist culture.
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From Lyndsey Stonebridge to Sophie Elmhirst: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Spent Light by Lara Pawson and Moral AI And How We Get There.
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The making of an American conservative
Rob Henderson’s memoir Troubled paints a bleak picture of poverty in the US. Are liberal “luxury beliefs” to blame?
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