TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features ‘The state of British poetry’ by Tristram Fane Saunders…
The forward march of British poetry
A history of childbirth and a defence of the C-section
By Leah Hazard
Newly discovered photographs of Baudelaire’s muse
The thrill of marine archaeology
By Alan Jenkins
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Can Science Build a Better Beer?’ – How breakthroughs in the lab could upend a global industry…
On a Bahamian island, in a landlocked lagoon, the planet’s densest collection of seahorses is offering scientists new insights into the secret lives of one of the world’s most mysterious fish.
After buying his own liberty, the Marylander covertly assisted conductors on the Underground Railroad, including Harriet Tubman. But his possession of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” turned him into an abolitionist hero
Inexpensive to raise and insatiably hungry for trash, black soldier fly larvae are already on the menu for livestock, pets and, maybe soon, people
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features ‘Constable vs Turner’ by Ferdinand Mount….
Turner is on our banknotes, Constable in our hearts By Ferdinand Mount
Coming out of Tate Britain just before noon on Budget Day, you are blinded by a blistering white sun behind Vauxhall Cross. The steepling glass towers south of the river are washed in an opal mist, the ziggurats of the MI6 HQ eclipsed to a ruined beige. Vauxhall Bridge gleams in the scarlet and yellow of a Turner sunset. J. M. W. would have rushed to the Embankment, whipped out his sketchbook, then worked up the whole shimmering scene into a six-footer and called it something like “The End of England”. John Constable would probably have turned away to catch the next coach to Hampstead Heath to paint Branch Hill Pond again.
How the young Dylan Thomas repeatedly stole from others By Alessandro Gallenzi
A love-hate relationship recalled by France’s ‘greatest living writer’ By Marie Darrieussecq
Why stylish stationery won’t change your life By Ian Sansom
COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Portmeirion’ – A vision of the picturesque.
A peculiar genius
Kathryn Ferry salutes the fore-sight of Clough Williams-Ellis a century on from the opening of his Picturesque confection at Portmeirion in Gwynedd
The winter ritual of wassailing is an ancient plea for abundant apple harvests that is indulged in to this day, finds Laura Parker
Shoot for the stars
Relive the most memorable moments of the past 100 years with 22 incredible images chosen by Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson and Carla Passino
London Life
Will Hosie considers how water defines and divides Londoners and ponders the possible renewal of a rivalry between the National Gallery and Tate Modern, plus our writers have all you need to know this month
In the garden
Grow ground nuts, says Mark Diacono, and enjoy tubers with a taste of nutty new potatoes
Helen Allen’s favourite painting
The executive director of the US Winter Show picks an intriguing portrait sporting a quizzical look
Country-house treasure
John Goodall is captivated by the fighting cats in a 17th-century mosaic above the Long Library fireplace at Holkham Hall, Norfolk
The legacy: Agatha Christie
Kate Green acclaims murder-mystery-writing maestro Agatha Christie, whose 66 detective novels have sold more than two billion copies worldwide
Playing your cards right
Matthew Dennison is holding all the aces as he traces the history of playing cards right back to 9th-century China
The good stuff
Glide seamlessly into 2026 with Amie Elizabeth White’s stylish selections for the ski slopes
Interiors
Giles Kime welcomes the world of possibilities offered by free-standing kitchens and Arabella Youens admires the boot room of a house in Gloucestershire
Shining a light on the past
Carl Linnaeus’s glorious 18th-century herbarium is showcased in a new collection of exquisite photographs by Lena Granefel, discovers Christopher Stocks
Travel
Pamela Goodman takes in peerless Himalayan panoramas from a remote luxury lodge in India and, in her monthly column, wonders what the Normans did for us
Arts & antiques
Actor and poet Leigh Lawson tells Carla Passino why he will never part with memorabilia dedicated to music-hall queen Marie Lloyd, his great-aunt
Scale model
Abundant mackerel was once greeted with garlands thrown into the sea. David Profumo profiles Scomber scombrus
FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The World Minus One’ – The emergence of a post-American order.
Managing the global order with an antagonistic Washington. By Amitav Acharya
U.S. allies and partners are taking steps toward a post-American nuclear order.Rebecca Lissner, Erin D. Dumbacher
Beijing never bought the argument that reducing emissions would cause economic harm. Kelly Sims Gallagher
Allies fear that Washington is retreating from leadership at the worst possible time. Rishi Iyengar
Dangerous libations
How do you cope with a Kung-Fu Panda? What do you do when the Temple of Doom strikes? Olly Smith reveals how to deal with hurricane-force hangovers
Interiors
Is design destined to be more Moorish or will Egyptomania rule? Country Life predicts the shape of things to come in 2026 and Giles Kime says painted furniture is key to a laidback look
Jacu Strauss’s favourite painting
The creative director of the Lore Group chooses an intriguing unfinished 1830s painting that is still confounding art experts almost 200 years on
Learn it by art
The story of the British Isles is peppered with ancient artefacts and much-loved monuments. Charlotte Mullins surveys the centuries through 50 treasures, from the Ice Age caves of Derbyshire’s Creswell Crags to Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle at Greenwich in London
Are you ready to order?
Artfully designed menus have long been a tasty proposition for collectors, aided by designs from leading artistic lights such as Ravilious, Bawden and David Hockney, finds John F. Müller
Country-house treasures
John Goodall treads the silver-grey elm floorboards of the remarkably well-preserved 1630s hall dais at Restoration House in Rochester, Kent
Culture and commerce
John Martin Robinson marvels at the rejuvenation of Salts Mill, a vast Victorian factory building at Saltaire in West Yorkshire, founded on the prosperity of the British wool trade
The good stuff
Enter the new year fresh-faced and on tip-top form with the help of Amie Elizabeth White’s selection of skincare stars
Glistens like coral
The proliferation of new types of Japanese flowering quince prompted a four-year RHS trial. Charles Quest-Ritson cheers the rise of Chaenomeles and reveals his favourite varieties
Arts & Antiques
The exquisitely rendered Cornish luggers sailing serenely across Henry Scott Tuke’s 1908 new year card to a friend make it a prized possession for Michael Grist, as he tells Carla Passino
A mammoth retrospective in Paris confirms the German artist as one of the world’s greatest living painters – and one of the most elusive
While the architect’s approach to restoring France’s medieval buildings remains controversial, his many and varied talents are still utterly awe-inspiring
Antonio Gaudi’s masterpiece is nearing completion a century after the architect’s death
Demand for the best paintings of the city shows no sign of sinking, but some artists have a more buoyant market than others
If galleries and institutions want to grow their visitor numbers, they need to add style to their substance
COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Just The Ticket’ – The Golden Age of the Railway
Full steam ahead
Jonathan Self recalls the ‘railway mania’ that gripped the nation after the inaugural 26-mile run of Stephenson’s Locomotion No.1 from Shildon to Stockton
Mind the (hungry) gap!
Starched tablecloths and wood panelling have Emma Hughes dreaming of a return to the golden age of railway dining
Nature on track
The 20,000 miles of railway lines criss-crossing the country are welcome ‘green corridors’ for wildlife, finds Vicky Liddell
Small, but mighty
Octavia Pollock marvels at the magic of miniature railways tracing small-gauge tracks across the British countryside
Rhythm of the night
There is a wonderful sense of romance and adventure in over-night rail travel. Mary Miers revels in the sleeper-train experience
All signals green
From Suffolk to Scotland, via the Settle-Carlisle line, blooming station gardens are a sight to behold for Andrew Martin
Picking up steam
All aboard! Octavia Pollock hails the heroes of heritage railways who ensure our fascination with the age of steam rolls on and on
Drawing tracks
Carla Passino explores art’s love affair with the railway, seen in the bustle of Earl’s platforms and the serenity of a Ravilious carriage
Why don’t we ask the next train to take our love to Daddy?
The much-loved locomotives of literature reveal the softening of our attitudes to steam travel, suggests Deborah Nicholls-Lee
Rail travel
Emma Love lets the train take the strain as she rounds up the latest in luxury journeys, calling at stations from Rome to Rajasthan
The missing lynx in the food chain?
Roger Morgan-Grenville weighs up the pros and cons of calls to reintroduce an apex predator — the lynx — to the British Isles
Properties of the week
Julie Harding gets the party started with a quintet of homes boasting entertaining spaces
Sacred grounds
Tim Richardson applauds Paulo Pejrone’s revival of the 16th-century monastic gardens of Il Redentore in Venice, Italy
Weary of war and staring down the likelihood of an unjust peace, Ukrainian intellectuals are plotting out a road map for the future.
Josh Safdie’s new film, starring Timothée Chalamet, is both a character study of monomania and a moving fable of how the American century of table tennis was lost.
Concern over antisemitism on the right has split the conservative world in two—and GOP gatekeepers have lost the ability to contain it.
More than a century after white mobs in Elaine, Arkansas, murdered hundreds of black sharecroppers in 1919, the massacre’s memory remains contested.
If the movies are dead, why does Bi Gan’s Resurrection feel so alive?
Boomers Daily 