Book of the Day Kamila Shamsie’s Best of Friends reveals the complexities of female relationships The author’s portrait of two women growing up in 1980s Karachi exposes the contempt that can often lie beneath love. By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Long reads Hadley Freeman’s House of Glass: a moving memoir told through clothes By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Fear, shame, guilt, suicide: ordinary Germans at the end of the Second World War The German people were seduced by Hitler’s message of glorious blood sacrifice – right up until it needed to… By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
How the appeasement of Hitler played into his hands The word “appeasement” smells a bit off nowadays. There’s a tang of cowardice about it, a whiff of turpitude.… By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
From Bismarck to Hitler, how German rulers rewrote history Christopher Clark’s new book explores how Germany’s leaders learnt to bend the past to suit the present. Today’s politics… By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
When writers revolt The events behind the short-lived writers’ revolution in Germany in 1918. By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
How Winston Churchill used his storytelling skills to shape his country’s history Fake news, disinformation, propaganda – call it what you will – the dissemination of untruths and half-truths is part of… By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Matrons and murderers: the blood-thirsty women of Rome The women of Rome’s imperial family matched the men for ruthlessness, but their reward was ingratitude rather than power. By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
John Law: the 18th-century Scot who became richer than the king of France The remarkable story of how John Law transformed the French economy after establishing a national bank. By Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Why dictators find the lure of writing books irresistible Daniel Kalder investigates why dictators have aspired to be, as Stalin put it, “engineers of souls”, and – in pursuit of… By Lucy Hughes-Hallett