Surviving 491 days in Hamas captivity
Eli Sharabi’s agonising memoir explores how the world nearly forgot the Gaza hostages
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Discover the latest non-fiction books and must-reads with the New Statesman’s expert reviews. Including biographies, music books, political writing and more.
Andrew O’Hagan’s ode to friendship
In his memoir/manifesto, the author suggests the close relationships we make with peers shape our lives
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The World Cup in the age of extremes
Next year’s edition, to be held in Donald Trump’s America, will only be the latest in a long history of…
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When did opera become elitist?
Alexandra Wilson’s history of the art form in Britain shows how it used to appeal to everyone, from miners to…
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The price of revolution
Jason Burke chronicles how radical activists in the 1970s found violent new ways to pursue their causes
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An Afghan hotel that has seen it all
Lyse Doucet’s The Finest Hotel in Kabul is a vivid and personal display of Afghanistan’s turbulent political history
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The liberating power of vodou
Slave risings across the Caribbean, argues Sudhir Hazareesingh’s new book, drew less on Enlightenment ideas than African spirit lore
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Annie Ernaux’s clinical self-examination
In The Other Girl, the writer is as objective about her life as she is the act of writing
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The terrible contradictions of Tolstoy
Maxim Gorky’s reminiscences about his literary hero are just as avant-garde today as they were in the 1920s
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Kamala Harris cares too much about being nice
The presidential candidate’s new book, 107 Days, shows a lack of curiosity about what voters want
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Christopher Marlowe’s stage fright
Stephen Greenblatt’s attempt to reconstruct the playwright’s story is brilliant – but Marlowe the man remains a mystery
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Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary is a fierce chronicle of self-invention
The novelist and activist details how she fashioned herself out of collisions with her mother
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Whigs and Tories shaped modern Britain
George Owers’s new book about the two-party political system is rich in history – but it misses one vital detail.
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A glimpse into fractured France
Andrew Hussey’s book on a “divided nation” veers too close to the personal over the political when diagnosing the Fifth…
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Jung Chang’s critical distance
In her sequel to Wild Swans, the exiled author reflects on China from her adopted British home.
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The quiet power of noble craft
James Fox’s stories of stonewalling and lettercutting take readers a world away from craft-shop kitsch.
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Do youth clubs still matter?
British youth clubs began as social experiments and ended up safe havens for creativity and culture. What happens when they…
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The struggle for Greenland
As Elizabeth Buchanan’s new history shows, Donald Trump is not the first foreigner to covet the Arctic territory. But his…
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Christianity’s political ascent
Alice Roberts’ history of the late Roman empire dispels the notion of a faith for the poor and oppressed –…
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Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventures in storytelling
A new biography reveals the author as shaped by conflicting influences – and affirms his status as a serious writer.
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