How the centre right was lost
Shattered by Brexit, the Tory party has been captured by populist disrupters. Can true conservatives win it back?
ByNon-fiction
Discover the latest non-fiction books and must-reads with the New Statesman’s expert reviews. Including biographies, music books, political writing and more.
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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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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Why we go to war
Two new studies of the evolution of warfare reveal the fragility of peace in a world ruled by irrational actors.
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The bones that built Britain
Winchester Cathedral’s mysterious “bone chests” tell a story of how warring kings and queens forged a new nation.
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From Gordon Brown to Natalie Haynes: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Family Meal by Bryan Washington and Pure Wit by Francesca Peacock.
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Myths of the miners’ strike
An oral history of the bitter Eighties dispute reveals a conflict that went far deeper than just government vs trade…
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Who owns your face?
How the shadowy start-up Clearview sold the power of facial recognition to corporations and states across the globe.
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From Ben Lerner to Simon Heffer: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang and Stay True by Hua Hsu.
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Bernie Taupin: good lyricist, bad writer
The songs he wrote with Elton John may be works of art. His bloated memoir is not.
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Hobbes was wrong
John Gray’s latest book argues that the new Leviathans of liberalism have led to a war of all against all.
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Europe’s race delusions
Built on imperial amnesia and competing nationalisms, the EU has never been the beacon of inclusion it claims to be.
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From Daljit Nagra to Charlie Porter: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring National Dish by Anya von Bremzen and Metropolitan by Andrew Martin.
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Simone de Beauvoir and the art of loss
Sixty years ago, the French writer’s unflinching memoir of her mother’s death tested the limits of her existentialism.
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The mysteries of late style
Christopher Neve’s study of great painters reveals the risks and rewards of creating art at the end of life.
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Milan Kundera’s identity crisis
In renouncing his homeland and despairing of European culture, the Czech novelist walks in the footsteps of Kafka.
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Goodreads is degrading our literary culture
Everyone can, and should, be a critic. But the reviews website is having a sinister effect on books.
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A world built on sand
Ed Conway’s Material World shows that despite our digital lives it is rocks and minerals that power the global economy.
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Susan Sontag’s women problem
In the feminist thinker’s essays of the 1970s, members of her sex are portrayed as political pawns rather than human…
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The ultra-processed food swindle
Engineered to trick our taste buds and appetites, artificially produced food is ruining our health and damaging our children. But…
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