Reviews

A poster of the Stalinist era with the inscription: 'The whole world will be ours!', 1935

‘Goodbye Eastern Europe’ by Jacob Mikanowski review

Is it time to say goodbye to Eastern Europe, a world remade so frequently by empires, war and political ideologies that it scarcely stays the same for two generations in a row?

Othello weeping over Desdemona's body, by William Salter, c.1857

‘The Great White Bard’ and ‘Shakespeare Without a Life’ review

Two significant new publications push the parameters of how we engage with the most revered writer in the English language.

‘The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover’ by Lerone A. Martin review

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, thought the Bureau’s mission was to defeat the godless forces of liberalism, feminism and civil rights.

Cromwell in the Battle of Naseby in 1645, by Charles Landseer, 1851

‘The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Volume I’, ‘II’ and ‘III’ review

From backbench MP and minor gentleman to Lord Protector and almost-king, a new edition provides the most complete and accurate version of Oliver Cromwell’s writings to date.

Madrid nunca duerme (‘Madrid never sleeps’), by Paolo Monti, 1980

‘The Penguin History of Modern Spain’ by Nigel Townson review

An up-to-date history of modern Spain, from 1898 to the present.

President Woodrow Wilson with his war cabinet, 1918.

‘The Madman in the White House’ by Patrick Weil review

Delusions of grandeur: a ‘psychobiography’ of Woodrow Wilson.

Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials, 1945.

‘Never Again’ by Andrew I. Port review

‘Real world’ German responses to postwar genocide.

The Reichstag on fire, Berlin, February 1933.

‘February 1933’ by Uwe Wittstock review

Germany in February 1933 as it unfolded day-by-day.

Dividend Day at the Bank of England, 1770.

‘Virtuous Bankers’ by Anne L. Murphy review

‘A day in the life’ of the 18th-century Bank of England.

On the barricades on the Rue Soufflot, Paris, 1848, by Horace Vernet.

‘Revolutionary Spring’ by Christopher Clark review

In January 1848, in the Sicilian city of Palermo, the streets began to fill with crowds. From here, revolutionary sparks flew to almost all of Europe’s cities.