Latest features and reviews

<p>Protesters gather in Harlem, New York, to protest the death of George Floyd</p>

McCrum on Books

Can this book really teach people how not to be racist?

As a white, middle-aged man Robert McCrum concedes that there is a lot to learn about DEI, racism and unconscious bias. It’s just a pity that a Gladwellian tome that promises to unlock the science of racism doesn’t teach us the lesson he hoped..

<p>Torrey Peters wants to write trans stories for the rest of her career</p>

Interview

Author Torrey Peters on why she won’t stop writing trans stories

<p>‘I don’t see my life as being forever in writing’</p>

Interview

Natasha Brown on Universality: ‘There was absolutely a lot of cringe’

<p>Emma Barnett on maternity leave: ‘I was surprised and bewildered not to feel fulfilled the whole time’</p>

Interview

Emma Barnett: ‘I talk to politicians the same way I’d talk to anyone’

<p>March highlights include books on the healing power of reading; underwater cables that carry the world’s information; and the fragility of memory</p>

What to read this March from a twisty thriller to Julian Barnes

<p>Minority Rule: In her new book, Ash Sarkar argues people are angry about the wrong group of minorities</p>

interview

Ash Sarkar: ‘I no longer care about microaggressions’

<p>Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during Donald Trump’s inaugural parade in Washington DC</p>

McCrum on Books

Nine warnings from history about the Nazis that already strike a chord

<p>Vexed virgins: incel stories are emerging as a trend in literature as new writers find inspiration in a shadowy subculture</p>

The Reading List

Misogynistic and... sympathetic? Welcome to the incel age of fiction

<p>A couple at the Lesbian and Gay Pride event, London, 1994 </p>

In Focus

How a lesbian helpline became a 90s sanctuary for queer British women

<p>The start of something special: ‘White Teeth’ launched Zadie Smith to stratospheric heights</p>

Interview

Zadie Smith on White Teeth, 25 years on: ‘I need to keep moving’

<p>Both Sides Now: Henry Alford’s new book sheds a new, humorous light on the folk music legend Joni Mitchell </p>

In Focus

Joni Mitchell: Hilarious, cutting, and not one to suffer fools

<p>Brooke Shields reflects on aging as a woman in the spotlight for her new book </p>

The Reading List

Brooke Shields’s book about ageing fails to realise one crucial thing

Reviews

<p>‘Source Code’ is the first of a memoir trilogy, looking back on Bill Gates’s early years in Seattle to the 1975 foundation of Microsoft</p>

Amid cyborg tech tycoons, Bill Gates’s memoir offers a more human view

<p>Readers’ history: Orlando Reade’s new book explores the response to ‘Paradise Lost’ over the centuries </p>

The book unearthing the subversive history of Paradise Lost

<p>Compelling: Dalrymple highlights India’s ‘often forgotten position’ as a motor of global trade in ancient and early medieval times </p>

The history book that will transform your view of early civilisation

<p>The admission of ‘goofs’ is about as near as Johnson gets to self-discovery </p>

Boris Johnson’s memoir Unleashed is twisted, sour and full of lies

Lists

<p>Must-reads: the books you can’t miss in 2025 </p>

The books to read in 2025, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Adam Kay

<p>Thriller: Meghann Fahy is part of ‘The Perfect Couple’s starry cast </p>

Love The Perfect Couple? These are the books and TV shows to try next

<p>With the rise of Instagram and BookTok, the importance of aesthetics in literature is on the rise </p>

Don’t judge a book by its cover: 15 of the most iconic book covers

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