Ellen Alpsten
The Leaning Tower of Dresden
In his epic novel ‘The Tower’ Uwe Tellkamp brilliantlydepicts the grotesque idiosyncrasies of the GDR’s bureaucracy
Queen of Hearts
500 years ago Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s least known wife, best-selling author and England’s most married queen was born
The Wagner Family Soap Opera Rolls On
‘The Wagner family has never let Bayreuth and the festival out if its grip — today it is still run by two of Richard’s great-granddaughters’
Thank God for a Good Education
London became a better place to live after we became involved with our local church in a quest for a good school for our sons
Dreams for their Children
The rise of Kenya’s middle class offers the country, and the whole continent, hope for the future
Majority rule; minority rights
It is folly to treat UK race relations as totally divorced from the rest of human experience. We need to look at the larger global picture
American revolutions: Rewriting the language of the unheard
‘Dissenting viewpoints — for example, the belief that America is not an intrinsically racist country—are shunned as further proof of racist pathologies’
The favourites
From Piers Gaveston onwards, controversial courtiers have a long history in British politics.How unusual is Dominic Cummings?