Engelsberg Ideas is free to read, providing access to excellence.
Engelsberg Ideas is the home to great writing from the world’s leading thinkers on history, culture, and ideas, featuring essays, historical portraits and regular podcasts.
13/10/2025
A new aerial war is being fought over Europe, just as it was fought during the Second World War. It, too, is reliant on cutting-edge technology, whose potential has yet to be fully realised.
Drone warfare’s new old era | Peter Caddick-Adams
A new aerial war is being fought over Europe, just as it was fought during the Second World War. It, too, is reliant on cutting-edge technology, whose potential has yet to be fully realised.
13/10/2025
The fictions of Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai are the latest in a rich tradition of allegorical speculation that can be traced back to the ruined visions of Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett.
László Krasznahorkai’s universe | Jared Marcel Pollen
The fictions of Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai are the latest in a rich tradition of allegorical speculation that can be traced back to the ruined visions of Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett.
10/10/2025
Josephine Tey’s early death denied her a rightful place among the pantheon of crime writers.
Alec Marsh on the forgotten queen of crime fiction. Click the link in bio to read.
Josephine Tey's early death denied her a rightful place among the pantheon of crime writers.
The forgotten queen of crime fiction | Alec Marsh
Josephine Tey's early death denied her a rightful place among the pantheon of crime writers.
09/10/2025
Donald Trump’s plan to bring peace to Gaza – and the wider Middle East – may ultimately depend on the US president himself.
The perils that remain on Gaza’s path to peace | Jack Dickens
Donald Trump’s plan to bring peace to Gaza – and the wider Middle East – may ultimately depend on the US president himself.
09/10/2025
The 18th-century philosopher Thomas Day, a fanatical believer in the virtues of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational methods, tested his theories to destruction.
The madness in Rousseau’s method | Nigel Andrew
The 18th-century philosopher Thomas Day, a fanatical believer in the virtues of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational methods, tested his theories to destruction.
09/10/2025
A failed rebellion led by a Kurdish holy man a century ago still looms large over tensions between the Turkish government and its country’s largest minority.
The roots of Kurdish discontent | William Gourlay
A failed rebellion led by a Kurdish holy man a century ago still looms large over tensions between the Turkish government and its country’s largest minority.
08/10/2025
As the AI revolution continues to gather pace, Western nations need to rethink their relations with African governments. If they do not, China and Russia will win the geopolitical game for the continent’s strategically vital minerals.
Paul Josephson and Viktoriya Zakrevskaya on why the West is missing out on Africa’s minerals. Click the link in bio to read.
Image: A mine in Mauritania. Credit: frederic REGLAIN
08/10/2025
Vogue model, photographer, Surrealist muse, war correspondent and gourmet chef – Lee Miller’s life was one of constant reinvention.
Katie Tobin on Lee Miller’s life on both sides of the lens. Click the link in bio to read.
Image: ‘Women with Firemasks’, London, Lee Miller (1941). Credit: Lee Miller Archives.
08/10/2025
As the AI revolution continues to gather pace, Western nations need to rethink their relations with African governments. If they do not, China and Russia will win the geopolitical game for the continent's strategically vital minerals.
Why the West is missing out on Africa’s minerals | Paul Josephson & Viktoriya Zakrevskaya
As the AI revolution continues to gather pace, Western nations need to rethink their relations with African governments. If they do not, China and Russia will win the geopolitical game for the continent's strategically vital minerals.
08/10/2025
Vogue model, photographer, Surrealist muse, war correspondent and gourmet chef – Lee Miller's life was one of constant reinvention.
Lee Miller’s life on both sides of the lens | Katie Tobin
Vogue model, photographer, Surrealist muse, war correspondent and gourmet chef – Lee Miller's life was one of constant reinvention.
08/10/2025
More than institutional rewiring, France needs to transform its political culture, away from grandiose ideals and toward common sense.
France’s common sense vacuum | Marc Le Chevallier
More than institutional rewiring, France needs to transform its political culture, away from grandiose ideals and toward common sense.
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Engelsberg Ideas is a new home for great writing and podcasts on history and culture, featuring leading writers and thinkers.
Although this is an exciting new publishing venture, it also has deep roots – in the Engelsberg Seminars that have taken place for more than two decades every June in Engelsberg, Sweden, at the centre owned by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. An illustration of Engelsberg is above.
The Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit is a private foundation, founded in 1947, with the primary purpose of promoting scientific and scholarly research. Its focus today is on the humanities, and on social sciences, working with leading scholars and universities around the world.
Engelsberg Ideas features essays, historical portraits and notebooks from our editorial team. There is a regular podcast – History Lessons – each featuring a leading historian, and a monthly podcast on the big themes and trends shaping geopolitics.
Sign up to the weekly email from the editorial team to hear from us – once a week.
We hope you will find much that is stimulating and enjoyable on Engelsberg Ideas.
Welcome.
Mattias Hessérus (Publisher) and Iain Martin (Editor)
