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Literary Review

@litreview.bsky.social

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Britain's leading monthly literary magazine. For people who devour books. Read our latest: literaryreview.co.uk Get our free newsletter: http://eepurl.com/daK84f

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Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · 7d

Out now! Literary Review's October 2025 issue, featuring

John Adamson on the origins of news
Ritchie Robertson on Goethe
Stephen Smith on Basquiat
Anna Reid on oil and the First World War
Robert Hazell on constitutional monarchy

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · 7d

Out now! Literary Review's October 2025 issue, featuring

John Adamson on the origins of news
Ritchie Robertson on Goethe
Stephen Smith on Basquiat
Anna Reid on oil and the First World War
Robert Hazell on constitutional monarchy

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Sep 1

Out now! Literary Review's September 2025 issue, featuring

@willtosh.bsky.social on Christopher Marlowe
@claireharman.bsky.social on Muriel Spark
Seamus Perry on Tennyson
Lucy Hughes-Hallett on the stiff upper lip
Patrick Wilcken on Easter Island

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books

In the Current Issue: Will Tosh on Christopher Marlowe * John Banville on Christopher Clarke * Claire Harman on Muriel Spark * Seamus Perry on Tennyson * Lucy Hughes-Hallett on the stiff upper lip * L...

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Aug 21

19th-century America runs through the life and work of Mark Twain, who was a typesetter, a gold rush prospector, a Confederate soldier and more.

Edward Short investigates where Samuel Clemens ends, and Twain begins.

literaryreview.co.uk/in-search-of...

Edward Short - In Search of Samuel Clemens

Edward Short: In Search of Samuel Clemens - Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Aug 11

Like many trains in this country, HS2 has been blighted by delays and rocketing costs.

David Leeder asks who is to blame for the project's failures.

literaryreview.co.uk/one-track-mi...

David Leeder - One-Track Minds

David Leeder: One-Track Minds - Off the Rails: The Inside Story of HS2 by Sally Gimson

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Aug 6

Students of Ancient Rome have long wondered, why would you enjoy watching a man being hacked to death in front of you?

@bijanomrani.bsky.social digs for an answer.

literaryreview.co.uk/colosseum-co...

Bijan Omrani - Colosseum Confidential

Bijan Omrani: Colosseum Confidential - Those Who Are About to Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind by Harry Sidebottom

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Aug 5

Out now! Literary Review's August 2025 issue, featuring

Edward Short on Mark Twain
Angela Tilby on St Augustine
Mark Ford on James Schuyler
Dmitri Levitin on Albert Einstein
Howard Davies on Trump's tariffs

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books

In the Current Issue: Edward Short on Mark Twain * Mark Ford on James Schuyler * Angela Tilby on St Augustine * Dmitri Levitin on Einstein * Howard Davies on Trump's tariffs * Peter Marshall on James ...

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jul 15

Giovanni Boccaccio’s life was one of change and reinvention, ranging from banking to studying canon law, and culminating in his eventual exile from Naples.

Alexander Lee explores how these experiences can be found in the poet’s restless work.

literaryreview.co.uk/man-of-glass

Alexander Lee - Man of Glass

Alexander Lee: Man of Glass - Boccaccio: A Biography by Marco Santagata (Translated from Italian by Emlyn Eisenach)

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jul 15

In the July issue of Literary Review:

@willwiles.bsky.social
on the Frenchman who brought modernism to London

Giles Fraser
on Hitler and the vicar

Also: Rhodes on trial, Boccaccio in love, Plato gets political - and much, much more.

Out now!

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books

In the Current Issue: Will Wiles on Purism * Dennis Duncan on ephemera * Alexander Lee on Boccaccio * Allan Massie on Horace * D J Taylor on Lawrence Durrell * Paul Morland on why we need more people ...

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 30

Virginia Woolf is the subject of thousands of books, articles and dissertations. Is there anything new to say about her life and work?

Possibly. @zoeguttenplan.bsky.social considers nearly 1,500 previously uncollected letters.

literaryreview.co.uk/to-the-postbox

Zoe Guttenplan - To the Postbox

Zoe Guttenplan: To the Postbox - The Uncollected Letters of Virginia Woolf by Stephen Barkway & Stuart N Clarke (edd)

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 18

It wasn’t until 1825 that Samuel Pepys’s diary became available for the first time. How it was eventually decrypted and published is a story of subterfuge and duplicity.

Kate Loveman tells the tale.

literaryreview.co.uk/publishing-p...

Kate Loveman - Publishing Pepys

Kate Loveman: Publishing Pepys

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 17

Arthur Christopher Benson was a pillar of the Edwardian establishment. He was supremely well connected. As his newly published diaries reveal, he was also riotously indiscreet.

Piers Brendon compares Benson’s journals to others from the 20th century.

literaryreview.co.uk/land-of-dope...

Piers Brendon - Land of Dopes & Tories

Piers Brendon: Land of Dopes & Tories - The Benson Diaries: Selections from the Diary of Arthur Christopher Benson by Eamon Duffy & Ronald Hyam (edd)

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 11

Of the siblings Gwen and Augustus John, it is Augustus who has commanded most attention from collectors and connoisseurs.

Was he really the finer artist, asks Tanya Harrod, or is it time Gwen emerged from her brother’s shadow?

literaryreview.co.uk/cut-from-the...

Tanya Harrod - Cut from the Same Canvas

Tanya Harrod: Cut from the Same Canvas - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 10

As Apple has grown, one country above all has proved able to supply the skills and capacity it needs: China.

What compromises has Apple made in its pivot east? Carl Miller investigates.

literaryreview.co.uk/return-of-th...

Carl Miller - Return of the Mac

Carl Miller: Return of the Mac - Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 4

We are saddened to hear of the death of Edmund White.

We've lifted the paywall on Richard Davenport-Hines's 2014 review of White's Paris memoir.

literaryreview.co.uk/scenes-from-...

Richard Davenport-Hines - Scenes from a Literary Life

Richard Davenport-Hines: Scenes from a Literary Life - Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris by Edmund White

literaryreview.co.uk

Reposted by Literary Review

Jude Cook @judecook.bsky.social · Jun 2

I reviewed @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social's terrific, polyphonic debut novel, The Benefactors, in the June issue of @litreview.bsky.social literaryreview.co.uk/trouble-strife

Jude Cook - Trouble & Strife

Jude Cook: Trouble & Strife - The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Jun 2

Out now! Literary Review's June 2025 issue, featuring

Piers Brendon on A C Benson
Richard V Reeves on the manosphere
@zoeguttenplan.bsky.social on Virginia Woolf
Tanya Harrod on Gwen & Augustus John
Carl Miller on Apple in China

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books

In the Current Issue: Piers Brendon on A C Benson * Richard V Reeves on modern masculinity * Zoe Guttenplan on Virginia Woolf * Tanya Harrod on Gwen and Augustus John * Carl Miller on Apple in China *...

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · May 19

Johannes Gutenberg cut corners at every turn when putting together his bible. How, then, did his creation achieve such renown?

@josephhone.bsky.social investigates.

literaryreview.co.uk/start-the-pr...

Joseph Hone - Start the Presses!

Joseph Hone: Start the Presses! - Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books by Eric Marshall White

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · May 16

Convinced of her own brilliance, Gertrude Stein wished to be ‘as popular as Gilbert and Sullivan’ and laboured tirelessly to ensure that her celebrity would outlive her.

Sophie Oliver examines the real Stein.

literaryreview.co.uk/the-once-fut...

Sophie Oliver - The Once & Future Genius

Sophie Oliver: The Once & Future Genius - Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · May 7

Princess Diana was adored and scorned, idolised, canonised and chastised.

Why, asks Nicola Shulman, was everyone mad about Diana?

literaryreview.co.uk/kind-hearts-...

Nicola Shulman - Kind Hearts & Coronets

Nicola Shulman: Kind Hearts & Coronets - Dianaworld: An Obsession by Edward White

literaryreview.co.uk

Reposted by Literary Review

Rhodri Lewis @rhodrilewis.bsky.social · May 1

I reviewed Zachary Leader's new book about Richard Ellmann (and Ellmann's Joyce biography) for The Literary Review (@litreview.bsky.social).
literaryreview.co.uk/portrait-of-...

Rhodri Lewis - Portrait of the Biographer as a Young Man

Rhodri Lewis: Portrait of the Biographer as a Young Man - Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and Its Maker by Zachary Leader

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · May 6

Out now! Literary Review's May 2025 issue, featuring

Nicola Shulman on Princess Diana
Sophie Oliver on Gertrude Stein
Costica Bradatan on Pascal
Howard Davies on the dollar's decline
@josephhone.bsky.social on Gutenberg

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books

In the Current Issue: Nicola Shulman on Princess Diana * Sophie Oliver on Gertrude Stein * Costica Bradatan on Pascal * Howard Davies on the dollar * Joseph Hone on Gutenberg * Adam Douglas on rare bo...

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Apr 30

Under its longest-serving editor, Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair was that rare thing – a New York society magazine that published serious journalism.

Peter York looks at what Carter got right.

literaryreview.co.uk/deluxe-editi...

Peter York - Deluxe Editions

Peter York: Deluxe Editions - When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Apr 29

Henry James returned to America in 1904 with three objectives: to see his brother William, to deliver a series of lectures on Balzac, and to gather material for a pair of books about modern America.

Peter Rose follows James out west.

literaryreview.co.uk/the-restless...

Peter Rose - The Restless Analyst

Peter Rose: The Restless Analyst - Henry James Comes Home: Rediscovering America in the Gilded Age by Peter Brooks; On Writers and Writing: Selected Essays by Henry James (Edited by Michael Gorra)

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Apr 29

Vladimir Putin served his political apprenticeship in the KGB toward the end of the Cold War, a period during which Western societies were infiltrated by so-called ‘illegals’.

Piers Brendon investigates how the culture of Soviet spycraft shaped his thinking.

literaryreview.co.uk/tinker-tailo...

Piers Brendon - Tinker, Tailor, Sleeper, Troll

Piers Brendon: Tinker, Tailor, Sleeper, Troll - The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker

literaryreview.co.uk

Literary Review @litreview.bsky.social · Apr 16

In both the USA and Latin America, there is a long-standing belief that the countries of the Americas have a common interest and destiny.

Anthony Pagden assesses the prospects for transcontinental collaboration today.

literaryreview.co.uk/pax-americana

Anthony Pagden - Pax Americana

Anthony Pagden: Pax Americana - America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin

literaryreview.co.uk