The New Statesman’s best books of 2021
The year’s essential reading in 20 titles.
ByHistory books
Discover all the New Statesman’s latest articles and reviews of history books. Here you can find expert opinion on the best reads for 2022.
How fear makes us human
The late David Graeber’s history of early human societies presents civilisation as a descent from anarchy into servility. But was…
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Misunderstanding Margaret Thatcher
How Margaret Thatcher consolidated her power – not thanks to the Falklands War, but because of an opposition that underestimated…
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History according to EH Carr
The historian was prescient in warning that the value of facts depends on who wields them.
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The madness of King Henry VI
The mental illness of monarchs has been a fruitful subject for historians, but in Henry VI’s case his illness led…
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Were men really accused of witchcraft?
For many, it is the Salem witch trials that immediately spring to mind when thinking about the topic. But there…
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The story of Adam and Eve: exploring the myth of the original sinners
Stephen Greenblatt’s book is a pellucid and absorbing account of the Biblical tale’s great significance.
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Myths and monstrosities of the Holocaust
Two histories of the Holocaust reveal the what we didn’t know about the concentration camps.
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Lewis Carroll: revelations about Alice and her wonderland
New studies by Edward Wakeling and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst uncover the story of one of literature’s most debated men.
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Homosexuality in the 18th century
The danger of using current terminology and identities when discussing the past, especially marginalised and oppressed pasts, is that it…
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The Churchill Factor: “One man who made history” by another who just makes it up
Reading Johnson’s The Churchill Factor is like “being harangued for hours by Bertie Wooster” writes Richard J Evans.
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