Books & Poetry

,

Jews Don’t Count ★★★★

,
Jews Don’t Count ★★★★

Since my schooldays, I’ve had a thing for TS Eliot – despite overtly antisemitic lines in his poetry. “Rachel née Rabinovitch tears at the grapes with murderous paws” (Sweeney Among the Nightingales, 1920) gave me pause for thought all right. Our English teacher called him out…

,

Never a Native ★★★★★

,
Never a Native ★★★★★

Never a Native is for every woman who has ever yearned, aspired or been driven to activism against unethical attitudes and behaviours to women. It is also for every woman who, like the author Alice Shalvi, has the courage to face her failures, doubts and guilt resulting from her…

,

The lessons of Jewish Book Week

,
The lessons of Jewish Book Week

This year’s Jewish Book Week was a huge success. Events were packed, Kings Place was buzzing and there was a terrific line-up of big names and fascinating subjects, from Simon Schama and Edmund de Waal to Einstein, Ben-Gurion and fashion designers from Weimar Berlin…

,

Interview: John Dyson

,
Interview: John Dyson

From judges being denounced as ‘Enemies of the People’, to speculation on the symbolism of Supreme Court Judge Lady Hale’s spider brooch, the UK’s justice system has been a surprising subject of recent media attention. A former Supreme Court Judge himself, John Dyson is no…

, ,

Tales of Amazing Animal Heroes

, ,
Tales of Amazing Animal Heroes

It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Lizzie the elephant that is. The story of this helpful giant, who carted steel around Sheffield for use in World War I when all the horses were at war, is just one of many in Tales of Amazing Animal Heroes: Real Life Stories of Animal Bravery…

,

Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad

,
Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad

Robert Chandler is one of the great translators of our time. Together with his wife Elizabeth he has translated a number of astonishing books by Vasily Grossman, including, most recently, Stalingrad, which reviewers have already compared to War and Peace. Next Thursday at London Review…

,

Author Judith Kerr dies age 95

,
Author Judith Kerr dies age 95

This morning it was announced that the author and illustrator Judith Kerr passed away at her home yesterday aged 95. She was best known for her debut children's book, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which was first published in 1968 and has been in print ever since. Born in Weimar…

,

A dinner date with a difference

,
A dinner date with a difference

The 14-foot-long winged bull currently perched amongst Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth has prompted a new cookbook. The statue, which is covered in 10,500 empty Iraqi date syrup cans, was erected last year after Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz won the Fourth…