London Review of Books

London Review of Books Europe’s leading magazine of politics, literature, history and ideas, published twice a month. Read and subscribe at lrb.co.uk

The London Review of Books is Europe’s leading magazine of politics, literature, history and ideas, published twice a month.

We're marking the LRB’s 45th anniversary with a series of 45 rpm vinyl singles.Ten poems from the paper, including Tony ...
01/08/2025

We're marking the LRB’s 45th anniversary with a series of 45 rpm vinyl singles.

Ten poems from the paper, including Tony Harrison’s ‘v’ and
Jorie Graham's ‘To 2040’, have been recorded in resonant locations and released in a limited edition box set.

Now available to purchase from the LRB store:

Why is the London Review of Books putting out records? Read more about this project on the LRB blog. A handmade box-set containing three 7-inch singles and an accompanying 40-page photographic booklet in a numbered, limited edition of just 360. In Volume 1, you’ll find three new recordings of sign...

‘Apart from a couple of hours one Christmas morning in maybe 2016, I hadn’t been back to Balmedie to see the nasty brand...
31/07/2025

‘Apart from a couple of hours one Christmas morning in maybe 2016, I hadn’t been back to Balmedie to see the nasty branding on the Trump International clubhouse or the magnificent wind turbines that spoil Trump’s view of the sea. So I went to take a look around on the Sunday afternoon before the great arrival.’

Jenny Turner on Trump in Scotland, new on the blog:

I don’t suppose Donald Trump or Keir Starmer saw the row of flags, black, white and green with a red triangle, on a...

‘It should never have come to this. Thousands of trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine are waiting to enter Gaza. The ...
30/07/2025

‘It should never have come to this. Thousands of trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine are waiting to enter Gaza. The sea offers further routes if needed. Experienced local and international aid workers are ready to help. But nothing will change so long as Israel is allowed to keep Gaza’s gates shut.’

Amjad Iraqi on starvation in Gaza:

Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to...

‘Compared to 2022, there has been a distinct lack of interest in this summer’s Euros. After England beat Italy last Tues...
29/07/2025

‘Compared to 2022, there has been a distinct lack of interest in this summer’s Euros. After England beat Italy last Tuesday to qualify for the final, I texted my nearest and dearest to say I would see them on Sunday. I hoped this loosely veiled threat would pay off. Does it matter if we don’t show our support for the women competing? If you follow football but have ignored this tournament, it matters.’

Natasha Chahal on the Euros final:

Compared to 2022, when England was the host nation, there has been a distinct lack of interest in this summer’s Euros...

‘Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to ...
28/07/2025

‘Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to allow in, as though food were a legitimate bargaining chip. Gazans cannot afford to wait for either. Every day that foreign governments stand by, devastating starvation becomes harder to avert.’

Amjad Iraqi on Gaza, new on the blog:

Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to...

‘Weren’t all Black people owed something for the dispossession that accumulated over generations? Or was the university’...
26/07/2025

‘Weren’t all Black people owed something for the dispossession that accumulated over generations? Or was the university’s primary function only to pursue knowledge about the history that gave rise to these questions?’

Vincent Brown reviews ‘Yale and Slavery’:

When challenged to justify past investment in slavery – or current investments in, say, fossil fuel extraction or arms...

‘Philip Roth and David Foster Wallace come to mind as antecedents, though Tony Tulathimutte has their wit without their ...
26/07/2025

‘Philip Roth and David Foster Wallace come to mind as antecedents, though Tony Tulathimutte has their wit without their warmth. He writes like a child holding a microscope over the ground, peering down at an insect burning to death.’

Becca Rothfeld reads ‘Rejection’:

Tulathimutte recognises that the internet has all the elements of great fiction: Talmudic feats of interpretation,...

‘Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to ...
25/07/2025

‘Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to allow in, as though food were a legitimate bargaining chip. Gazans cannot afford to wait for either.’

New on the blog: Amjad Iraqi on Gaza.

Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to...

‘The single-minded slaughter was mixed with admiration for the extraordinary courage of the enemy troops, who invariably...
25/07/2025

‘The single-minded slaughter was mixed with admiration for the extraordinary courage of the enemy troops, who invariably faced the British onslaught without flinching.’

Jonathan Parry on the British army in Egypt and Sudan in the late 19th century:

None of the British soldiers seems to have had much interest in the religious or tribal basis of the Mahdist uprising....

‘The golf space, like that of any other elite professional sport marketed to a global fan base of spectator-participants...
25/07/2025

‘The golf space, like that of any other elite professional sport marketed to a global fan base of spectator-participants, is at once a broadcast and streaming institution and a crucible of social media clickbait frottage.’

David Trotter:

Golf lends itself to spectacle. There’s a special thrill to the shape of the perfectly hit shot, a kind of lingering,...

‘Rats are unnerving in part because of their elusiveness, which makes the rat in the head seem more real than the rat in...
25/07/2025

‘Rats are unnerving in part because of their elusiveness, which makes the rat in the head seem more real than the rat in the sewer.’

Jon Day on Dr Calhoun and his rat cities:

Those who keep them as pets know them to be clean, gregarious creatures with a highly developed social life, but for...

‘At its best, the novel’s simmering moods and atmosphere of squandered potential and sexual deception recall Tennessee W...
24/07/2025

‘At its best, the novel’s simmering moods and atmosphere of squandered potential and sexual deception recall Tennessee Williams. Julia stalks around like Maggie in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.’

Nicole Flattery on John Broderick’s novels of Irish life:

Anyone who grew up​ in a small Irish town knows what it feels like to live under surveillance. Tech autocrats have...

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