Empire’s final reckoning
Sathnam Sanghera’s Empireworld captures the complexity of British imperialism’s legacy – but can its injustices yet be undone?
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.
The Polish Revolution
Timothy Garton Ash’s account of the Solidarity movement shows how Poland has resisted Russian control, and led me to a…
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From Colin Barrett to Hannah Ritchie: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Deterring Armageddon by Peter Apps and Missing Persons, or My Grandmother’s Secrets by Clair Wills.
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József Debreczeni’s letter from the land of the dead
A rediscovered memoir from an Auschwitz survivor offers powerful lessons for our own reckonings with the Holocaust.
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The Wizard of the Kremlin takes us inside the mind of Putin’s spin-master
Giuliano da Empoli’s fictionalised portrait of Vladislav Surkov dramatises the birth of the post-truth world.
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From Bettany Hughes to Aniefiok Ekpoudom: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Our Moon by Rebecca Boyle and Trapped in History by Nicholas Rankin.
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The new age of magical thinking
The philosophy of magic inspired the founders of modern science. Now it feeds the delusions of Silicon Valley.
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How to escape the self-help trap
Vincent Deary’s exhilarating new book mixes science, philosophy and memoir to argue that self-acceptance is our best defence against the…
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2024: The year in fiction
This year’s books highlights include new works from Kevin Barry, Sarah Perry and Ali Smith.
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The best New Statesman reviews and cultural essays of 2023
Our pick of the best writing and biggest moments from the year in culture.
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The 20 best books of 2023
Our choice of the year’s essential fiction and non-fiction.
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The madness of Claude Monet
Jackie Wullschläger’s exemplary biography reveals the impressionist painter’s obsessive commitment to his art.
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Michel Faber’s tin ear
The novelist’s arresting study of the power of music is marred by a clumsy structure and snobbish tone.
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The best children’s books for Christmas 2023
There’s fantasy, folklore and friendship in the best new books for young readers.
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What video games taught me
A collection of essays on gaming confirms the rich complexity of an art form that remains widely misunderstood.
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Lexicon of loss
The history of the elegy reveals how the poetry of grief has the power to trouble, console and unite.
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The visions of Werner Herzog
In creating wild and strange new worlds, the German film-maker reveals the truth of our own.
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What it means to be German
Frank Trentmann’s history reveals how modern Germany found a new moral purpose after the horrors of Nazism.
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Inside the erotic mind
Psychoanalyst Darian Leader’s study of the motivations behind sex and desire is irredeemably bonkers.
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Elon Musk’s death drive
The tech billionaire built a world that he could rule – then allowed it to destroy him.
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