History

The Grapes of Mirth

The traditions and development of a very special Spanish wine

World Politics

Peeling the Onion

Let us look at Trump – so we don’t have to have him again.

Irish History

A Different Kind of Republic

While it is part and parcel of a ritual reaffirmation of identity, republicanism in Ireland has no practical significance in everyday life: it does nothing…

World Literature

For the dark times ahead

In the early 1930s Bertolt Brecht fled Germany for Prague, then spent some time in Paris before escaping to Denmark, Sweden and eventually Finland, before…

‘Noble’ Nations, ‘Plebeian’ Nations

A comparative survey of the history of Catalonia, in its relations with Spain, and Scotland, in its relations with the United Kingdom, is erudite and…

World History

Between Memory and Hope

America’s founding generation, it has been said, was divided between the party of memory and that of hope, between those who saw the need for…

World Politics

Muddling Through

The surface noise of democratic politics can make leaders slow to recognise a crisis. The knowledge that previous crises have been overcome encourages delay; delay…

World History

Democracy’s Sphinx

A new study of Alexis de Tocqueville emphasises his French intellectual background and makes the case that his classic analysis of American democracy may be…