An impressive examination of the conjoined fates of Iraq and the United States
Steve Coll’s title alludes to Homer, and his subject matter has the arc of Greek tragedy
Book review
Sunday
An unvarnished insight into the mind of Sonny Rollins
Even if jazz has developed stylistically in ways the jazz saxophonist might not have foreseen, its founding attitudes are enduring
A look into Billie Holiday’s final year
Paul Alexander is on a mission to correct what he sees as misrepresentations of the singer’s life and personality
Who’s afraid of Judith Butler?
The gender theorist’s first mainstream publication is unconvincing
Thursday
Who’s really behind the Biden administration’s foreign policy?
Alexander Ward’s carefully researched new account argues Biden is POTUS in name only
Coleman Hughes’s case for a colorblind future
The End of Race Politics expands on the arguments the writer has made for several years
War hero, bon viveur, Japanese spy: Frederick Rutland wore many masks
Beverly Hills Spy is the story of the espionage war with Japan, and the damaging rivalry between intelligence services that prevented them from working together
The wit and wisdom of Margaret Cavendish
As a portrait of the thrilling, rackety milieu of the seventeenth-century literary world, Francesca Peacock’s Pure Wit is truly delightful
Friday
What Really Happens in Vegas doesn’t tell you what really happens in Vegas
James Patterson and Mark Seal attempt to reveal the ‘magic’ of Vegas
Sunday
Pat Yale follows her hero across Turkey
Following Miss Bell has a homely tone one doesn’t associate with the majestic Gertrude Bell
Tuesday
The notorious feud between John Ruskin and James Whistler
The trial at Falling Rocket ’s center stands for something larger than a critic’s dislike of a painting
Relive Lou Reed’s wild, contradictory life
In Lou Reed: The King of New York , Will Hermes seems unusually well attuned to his subject, while resisting any temptation to soft-pedal
Cahokia Jazz is enormous fun
Francis Spufford’s latest is a gorgeously rich and multilayered story, packed with gunfire, music and superstition
Wednesday
The heart of Maria Callas’s genius
Daisy Goodwin’s Diva is unequivocal in presenting Callas as a heroine struggling to choose between art and love
A vigorous and persuasive defense of capitalism
Johan Norberg’s A Capitalist Manifesto has much to commend it
A definitive biography of Liz and Dick, Hollywood’s most controversial and glamorous couple
Roger Lewis answers what it is about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor that still hooks us in
Wolves of Winter focuses on the brutality of the past
Dan Jones confidently evokes the whorehouses, the illnesses, the death and depravity
Saturday
The life of the revolutionary Albrecht Dürer
In his new book, Philip Hoare moves beyond his own hand to make something reckless, marvelous and unforgettable
Tuesday
Britney Spears’s much-anticipated memoir is a desperate cry for help
Once again, America owes the singer an apology — just not for the reasons she suspects
Sunday
What lies behind the obsession with race transforming universities?
Doug Stokes challenges the dominant cultural and political narrative which portrays Britain as endemically racist
