Bringing to life the stories of the gifted scientists who spawned the nuclear age
Bringing to life the stories of the gifted scientists who spawned the nuclear age
Book Reviews
When You Listen to This Song: A meditation on memory, silence and displacement
French novelist Lola Lafon holds a solitary overnight vigil in the Annex of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam
Reviews in brief - Books: A Manifesto or How to Build a Library; Artists and Pirates; Nymph
Ian Patterson makes a compelling case for physical books, Stephanie LaCava is entertaining as always and new offering explores golden age of visual satire
Best Westerns: Larry McMurtry and the true heroes of the old American West
Beyond the easy attraction of ‘cowboying’, the quartet’s true heroes are the women of the west, with their preternatural strength, humanity and dignity in such a noisome environment
Staging Beckett in London by Matthew McFrederick: New study traces 70 years of productions
A meticulously researched history argues that Godot’s dominance has overshadowed Beckett’s wider theatrical legacy
Motherland by Julia Ioffe: The unfairly forgotten women of the Soviet Union
A beautifully crafted tribute to remarkable women and a howl of condemnation at a country that ‘failed them’
New Selected Poems: 1978-2022 by Medbh McGuckian - Copious sunsetty pleasures
The Belfast poet cuts her words to fit, or suit, though her poems can also settle into the straightforwardness of a realist play
Could Napoleon have changed Irish history? James Quinn examines the 1798 Rebellion
New book explores the battles, atrocities, and political machinations of Ireland’s most violent insurrection
The Land Trap by Mike Bird: uncomfortable truths about the ground beneath our feet
Journalist with the Economist explores our relationship with this ‘zero-sum’ asset: you either have it or you don’t
Flats and Cottages: Herbert Simms and the Housing of Dublin’s Working Class 1932-48
Eoin Ó Broin and Mal McCann pay tribute to the Dublin Corporation chief housing architect who built 17,000 homes for the city’s poor
December’s YA picks: A Bluebeard retelling, realism and a murderously good mystery
New books by Marissa Meyer, Nikita Gill, Joelle Wellington, Hannah Marshall and Xixi Tian
Man Up by Cynthia Miller-Idriss: A bracing, vital intervention against misogyny
Miller-Idriss writes with clarity and urgency, showing how everyday sexism provides the scaffolding for extremism
This Is Not a Cookbook by Roxana Manouchehri: An elegant book from our Persian-Irish host
Female voices triumph in vignettes accompanied by recipes
The best Irish-language books of 2025
Gaeilge is possibly more popular now than at any time since the heyday of the Revival
William Golding: The Faber Letters – A genius rescued from the slush pile
The future Nobel winner’s near 40-year correspondence with the editor Charles Monteith is a fascinating record of an artistic collaboration and its evolution
I’m Glad You Asked Me That: The Political Years by Terry Prone - Caustic and entertaining
The long-time PR adviser to politicians has saved her juiciest material for this second volume of memoirs
The Great Gambon by Milly Ellis: A hilarious stocking filler about the Dublin-born actor
Among those contributing anecdoates are Charles Dance, Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hollander
Three Irish traditional music books from a piper, a flautist and a professor
The ‘profound artistry’ of Irish music through the words of Erick Falc’her Poyroux, Mick O’Connor and Seán Potts
Children’s books for Christmas: from a crime-fighting fox to the best encyclopaedias
Fiction can be a great gift thanks to authors such as Alexandra Benedict, Charlie Nutbrown and Tom McCaughren
New poetry: Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Audrey Molloy, Cian Ferriter and Sarah Howe
Martina Evans on Hymn to All the Restless Girls, Fallen, Brink and Foretokens
The Northern Bank Job by Glenn Patterson: a startling tale of audacious criminality
Families’ ordeal and the wider context of the peace process is examined in this methodically compiled study of the 2004 heist
How Canada coped with an influx of destitute and diseased Irish people during the Famine
Canada and the Great Irish Famine is a fascinating collection of essays on disparate aspects of a crisis that today’s ‘Ireland is Full’ crowd might do well to reflect upon
The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie: A new collection rich with pathos and reflection
The warmth with which Rushdie’s revisits the landscapes of his life results in humour and genuine sadness
Converts by Melanie McDonagh: Entertaining exploration of those who turned to Rome
Catholicism provided greater certainty than the Church of England, which was considered a wishy-washy institution by many in the 20th century
Beneath the Surface by Dr Harry Barry: An engaging quest for healing and meaning
Exploring an unromantic, multi-faceted idea of service to our fellow humans
Saints by Tim MacGabhann: Survival, struggle and the shadows of our times
Collection of nine short stories is darkly funny, humane and alive to everyday miracles
Best poetry of 2025: Our critics share their top picks
Mícheál McCann, Declan Ryan and Martina Evans on their favourite poetry from this year
Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America: a fresh take
Cultural biography of the global icon, set against the rise of Asian America, focuses on race and identity
Naoise Dolan on Things That Disappear by Jenny Erpenbeck: Subtle, wry and newly pertinent
This fresh English translation by Kurt Beals introduces new resonances and ironies
The Seven Rules of Trust by Jimmy Wales: Charming, interesting and at times startling
The Wikipedia founder’s book has plenty of business advice but could be useful and interesting to anyone
I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan: The exhausting life of a courier
Chinese bestseller has been touted as an everyman’s capitalism critique
The Hollywood History of Art: cinema’s ‘tortured artist’ myth has real-world impact
Christopher Frayling’s elegant exploration of how art and artists have been depicted in film questions how our society values both
Translated fiction: Explorations of trauma, loss, exile and memory
An Infinite Sadness by Antônio Xerxenesky’s; False War by Carlos Manuel Álvarez; Every Time We Say Goodbye by Ivana Sajko; and Not There by Mariusz Szczygieł
Books in brief – Jungle Days: Supporting Celtic in the 1980s; Dark Cloud Over Muckish; Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carré
New books from John Wight and Paul O’Donaghue, plus a collection of essays on the political espionage novelist edited by Federico Varese
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices