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Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Reviews, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JULY 15, 2026 PREVIEW

July 15, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features the magic, power and beauty of water, pays tribute to the king of British powerboating and enjoys the Victorian splendour of Scarborough.

Why our water is going down the drain

Investment, organisation and effort can guarantee secure water supplies for everyone in Britain, argues Lord Deben

The power of water

Kate Green surveys the surging strength of the Severn Bore, the haunting beauty of the flooded Somerset Levels, life on the edge at Dawlish and the capital’s mighty Thames Barrier.

Why every drop counts

People who work with water tell Kate Green and Mary Skipwith why we need to reconnect with our most precious resource

Up with the gulls, to bed with the owl

Patrick Galbraith experiences an eventful day in the life of the ever-changing, but enduringly beautiful Cley estuary in Norfolk

On peak form

Artists such as Turner, Bierstadt and Wolf took painting to new heights with their depictions of mountains, finds Michael Prodger

Let all the world sing

The 2026 BBC Proms promises to be a truly global spectacle, as Henrietta Bredin discovers

The queen of spas

Scarborough in North Yorkshire is the original Victorian seaside resort. Kathryn Ferry charts the development of its spa complex

The Revd Sam Wells’s favourite painting

The St Martin-in-the-Fields vicar chooses a painting where ‘magnificent humanity’ is laid bare

Country-house treasure

John Goodall unearths evidence of Bowood in Wiltshire’s wartime role as a ‘beacon of recovery’

Pooling assets

George Plumptre is charmed by the Anglo-Italian landscape at Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire

The legacy

Agnes Stamp pays tribute to speed merchant Sir Max Aitken, the king of British powerboating

Winging it

Mark Cocker assesses the anti-social antics of the herring gull

Luxury

Jonathan Self ponders the power of fine jewellery and Amie Elizabeth White finds coral for all

Interiors

Arabella Youens visits a kitchen giving a nod to history, and reveals that chequerboard floors are back

Travel

Rosie Paterson is looking for a New England in Nantucket

Arts & antiques

Carla Passino investigates the intriguing tale of ‘Mad Madge’, a pioneer of science-fiction

Truth, lies and somewhere in between

Michael Billington delves into a world of deceit and infidelity

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Reviews, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JULY 8, 2026 PREVIEW

July 7, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The Experts’ Experts’ – Country Life asks architects, designers and specialists on its Top 100 list to delve into their little black books to reveal the talented craftspeople and suppliers they turn to for inspiration on their own projects…

Magazine spread from Country Life 8 July 2026

Why haste creates waste

Hold off on that online-shopping impulse buy — there’s no substitute for carefully crafted quality

It’s getting hot in here

Ben Lerwill sets his tastebuds a-tingling as he meets the British chilli-sauce makers adding to the spice of life

Luxury

If you only buy one suitcase, make it a classic GlobeTrotter, suggests Amie Elizabeth White

Winging it

Mark Cocker looks beyond the raven’s grim reputation to seek the truth about our largest corvid

Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s favourite painting

The Speaker of the House of Commons is captivated by the Westminster riverfront in a work with a photographic quality

On top of the world

Kirsty Fergusson applauds the stamina of the hardy souls who tend the spectacular clifftop gardens at Chygurno, Cornwall

Country-house treasure

John Goodall stands in the stead of William Tyndale behind a preacher’s pulpit at Bucklebury House in Berkshire

The legacy

Agnes Stamp salutes Agnes Marshall, the Queen of Ices

While the cat’s away…

David Glasper lifts the lid on the cat flap, the means by which the regal feline can come and go precisely as it pleases

An architectural evolution

Jeremy Musson charts the rise of Selwyn College, Cambridge, from its origins as a memorial to a 19th-century missionary

The raw deal

Tom Parker Bowles savours the lip-smacking summer freshness of that Peruvian classic ceviche

Travel

Rosie Paterson unpacks the latest in luxury-yacht looks and follows in Frida Kahlo’s footsteps

Arts & antiques

Beauty and function were fused in the form of the sedan chair, the conveyance of choice for the upper echelons of Georgian society, reveals Carla Passino

Art to dine for

Intriguing art can be a meal-time conversation starter in country-house dining rooms, as Melanie Cable-Alexander discovers

Catch of the day

Collector Paul Martin shares his tips on amassing a school of exquisite antiquarian fish prints

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JUNE 24, 2026 PREVIEW

June 23, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Red Alert’ – Why you should buy Bordeaux now…

The legacy: Edmund Halley

Kate Green celebrates the astronomical achievements of Edmond Halley, who calculated the orbits of some 24 comets

Weeding out the wildflowers

John Lewis-Stempel explores Ralph Waldo Emerson’s view of a weed as ‘a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered’

The great escape

When wandering Ouessant ram Max goes walkabout, it makes for a testing shearing day for John Lewis-Stempel

On red alert

History suggests that Bordeaux is best in years ending in a five — and 2025 is promising to maintain the sequence, says Harry Eyres

Country Life International

Jack Watkins treads in the foot-steps of Lord Byron in Ravenna, Corinne Julius is seduced by ceramics in Puglia, Holly Kirkwood seeks out the best properties for sale, Anna Tyzack finds artistic inspiration in Mallorca and Russell Higham charts the story of the Scarlatti dynasty in Naples

Portraits of a lady

Obsessively painting her own image helped Frida Kahlo confront the pain that blighted her life, reveals Jessica Lack

Peter Layton’s favourite painting

The artist has his head in the clouds of a van Gogh classic

Country-house treasure

John Goodall takes a shine to an exceptional example of Italian craftsmanship at Highclere Castle in Hampshire

Wedded to the landscape

Kathryn Ferry commends the labour of love that Clough and Amabel Williams-Ellis created at Plas Brondanw in Gwynedd

Shepherd’s delight

Skies streaked with crimson hues are a spectacular sight for Deborah Nicholls-Lee

Winging it

Mark Cocker profiles the white-tailed eagle, the apex predator of the Unloved Birds’ Club

Luxury

Amie Elizabeth White eyes Egyptian jewels and Sir Quentin Blake clothing, plus a few of Corin Mellor’s favourite things

Interiors

Arabella Youens admires a restful bedroom transformation and Giles Kime celebrates the graceful ageing of verdigris

Seasons to be cheerful

Caroline Donald applauds the invention and imagination at play in the glorious gardens of Broadwoodside, East Lothian

Travel

Jo Rodgers unearths sheltered combes and steep coastlines as she heads far from the madding crowds in south Devon

Arts & antiques

Carla Passino meets Scotland’s first warriors as a new exhibition explores the long, bloody history of conflict north of the Border

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JUNE 17, 2026 PREVIEW

June 16, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Cover of Country Life June 17, 2026, featuring Van Gogh's Irises

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Why the iris charmed Van Gogh’; How Holbein survived Henry VIII; Making super salads; Piers of the realm: the British love of the seaside…

Everything, everywhere, all at once

Irises have inspired great artists from Vincent van Gogh to Sir Cedric Morris. Michael Prodger examines the flower’s allure

Green with envy

Why not take a leaf out of Tom Parker Bowles’s book and sample the very best salad flavours from around the world?

Pier into the future

Our seaside piers are the great survivors of the Victorian age and many are thriving in the 21st century, reveals Jonathan Lee

Arts & antiques

It is 500 years since artist Hans Holbein arrived on these shores, yet we remain captivated by his portraits, finds Carla Passino

Louise Farina’s favourite painting

The perfumer senses the zest of an Italian spring morning in a still life celebrating citrus fruit

Country-house treasure

John Goodall sees High Church spirit in a handwritten Bible at Treberfydd House in Brecon

History and fantasy

In the second of two articles, John Goodall delves into the fable-meets-fact history of Warwick Castle, Warwickshire

The legacy

Octavia Pollock adds a dash of colour to the illustrious history of Winsor & Newton, supplier to the stars of the art world

The importance of being Ernst

Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, head of the Courtauld Gallery, is optimistic about the future of the Arts, as he tells Carla Passino

Winging it

A beauty or a beast? Mark Cocker investigates how the exotic pheasant splits opinion

Luxury

Jonathan Self explores the royal enthusiasm for amethyst and Amie Elizabeth White weaves in some summer essentials

Interiors

An open-plan makeover wows Arabella Youens, plus perfect pitchers with Amelia Thorpe

Simply perfect

A 20-year revival of the Arts-and-Crafts garden at Fonthill House in Wiltshire catches the eye of Christopher Stocks

Travel

Sophia Money-Coutts savours all the fun of Florida on a trip to the party town of Palm Beach

A new sense of purpose

Robin Hereford is calling for a revival in the fortunes of brown furniture — pieces with style and sustainability on their side

A wrinkle in time

A new generation of American collectors is being charmed by exquisite English antique furniture, discovers Patrick Monahan

Cooking up a storm

Michael Billington is blown away by the RSC’s Tempest starring Sir Kenneth Branagh, but High Society delights without dazzling

History, Magazines, Photography, Reviews, Travel

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE – SUMMER 2026 PREVIEW

June 8, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘America at 250’ – The Revolutionary Spark. Celebrating the Daring Innovators & Visionary Insights That Forged A Nation.

George Washington Steps Down

Ted Scheinman

George Washington’s announcement that he wouldn’t seek a third presidential term helped define modern statesmanship: The Republic had no need for a king, even an American one. Writing from Europe, John Quincy Adams prayed the president’s retirement might “serve as the foundation upon which the whole system of [America’s] future policy may rise.” Washington’s decision set an informal precedent that largely held until term limits were codified by the 22nd Constitutional Amendment, ratified in 1951. Still, at the time of his farewell address, Washington’s opponents had serious complaints. Though Washington belonged to no party, he was associated with the Federalists—and many Anti-Federalist thinkers chastised the outgoing president for disparaging his ideological rivals while claiming neutrality. This dispute played out in newspapers and pamphlets—back when publishers always chose a side.

Among All the Great Things Benjamin Franklin Invented or Discovered, His Alter Egos Gave Him the Most Freedom

Silence Dogood. Richard Saunders. Benevolus. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim. All were pen names that allowed Franklin to say things he couldn’t have otherwise said

Harriet Beecher Stowe Wrote a Work of Fiction That Seemed So Real That It Changed the History of the Country

To fight against slavery, the author collected true stories then picked up a pen and distilled them into “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JUNE 3, 2026 PREVIEW

June 3, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Constable Country’ – The places the painter loved….

Taking the scenic route

History, hauntings and high-jinx figured in Britain’s first motoring guides, finds Jack Watkins

What a Derby day

Epsom hosts one of racing’s most thrilling spectacles. Jack Watkins picks 10 of the best winners

Monaco

Adam Hay-Nicholls explores the changing face of Monaco, Steven King treads the Prince Rainier III sculpture trail, Arabella Youens seeks out the best properties for sale in the Principality and Mark Hedges cruises serenely into town

His green and pleasant land

John Constable painted places he knew and loved the best. Susan Owens examines how insight influenced his landscapes

Outstanding in their fields

From ‘shoy hoys’ to Worzel Gummidge, Aeneas Dennison traces the story of scarecrows

Andy Wilman’s favourite painting

The television producer chooses a work that reveals a human response to the brutality of war

Country-house treasure

A godfatherly gift ensures that Sir Edwin Lutyens and Shilstone House in Devon are happy bed-fellows, discovers John Goodall

Building on the past

In the second of two articles, John Goodall reveals how Elizabethan Doddington Hall is thriving into the 21st century

The legacy

Octavia Pollock profiles Percy Shaw, the inventor of cat’s eyes, the 20th century’s top design

Winging it

The feral pigeon’s modern-day scavenging masks a more valiant history, suggests Mark Cocker

Drawn to the land

Katharine Freeland meets artists who are mapping estates in an echo of traditional landowners

London Life

Jack Watkins strolls the streets that became an artist’s muse, our writers have all you need to know this month, Will Hosie shares seven of the best homes on the market and Rupert Clague charts the rise of the capital’s coffee houses

Death, taxes and Tests with New Zealand

What next for England’s Bazball approach, asks James Fisher

Luxury

Amie Elizabeth White is on red alert — and gives pearl a whirl

Interiors

Arabella Youens admires an extended Cotswolds cottage and Giles Kime ponders going it alone

Dreaming of roses

Charles Quest-Ritson shares 1,000 reasons to fall in love with the restored walled garden at Dummer House, Hampshire

Arts & antiques

Rebecca Salter, president of the Royal Academy, outlines her ambitions to Carla Passino

Travel

A mountain-top encounter rings a bell with Pamela Goodman

And much more

Arts & Literature, Culture, Lifestyle, Magazines, Reviews, Travel

SPECTACLE MAGAZINE —- SPRING 2026 PREVIEW

May 7, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

SPECTACLE MAGAZINE: This inaugural issue features the “mechanical culture” of Lego to luxury watchmaking in sailing, profiling Gumball 3000 founder Maximillion Cooper and Eastnor Castle’s Imogen Hervey-Bathurst……

Gone fishing: In the Andean foothills of Northern Patagonia, the wild trout are biting

Ivo Dawnay

The casa grande could be an ancient chalet in the Austrian Tyrol. A steeply gabled roof to slough off the winter snow, dandelion-yellow paintwork, and inside a treasure trove of all an outdoorsman loves. Antlers jostle for space on every wall. There is a tack room thick with the leathery tang of saddles, a bathroom

Colm Tóibín explores the art of short story writing

Amy Raphael

hen I was 20 and tentatively trying to write, every single person I knew read Ian McEwan’s First Love, Last Rites (1975). It not only gave the short story a good name, but it also gave writing a good name. It was like a punk moment converted into fiction. People used the word “macabre,” but there was a sort of excitement about the characters, the strangeness of the stories, the shortness of some of the stories and just how much contemporary urban life was in them.

Zack Christenson

Exploring the world’s oceans with the world’s most interesting man

Zack Christenson

“You can just do things.”

It’s a popular phrase on X, usually in response to someone accomplishing something remarkable, taken to mean that there’s nothing stopping you from doing something out of the ordinary. SpaceX might post video of a rocket landing – “you can just do things.” Victor Vescovo might be the living embodiment of the phrase.

My first introduction to Vescovo was an email from him, extending an invitation to be a guest at his table for the Explorers Club Annual Dinner. The name was vaguely familiar to me but didn’t immediately register. Who was this mysterious correspondent?

Exploration, History, Magazines, Photography, Travel

National Geographic Magazine – April 2026

March 17, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The Mystery of a Byzantine Shipwreck’…

Can this medieval shipwreck rewrite ancient history?

What a Lost Treasure Could Reveal About the Medieval World

National Geographic explorations have uncovered remarkably preserved Byzantine shipwrecks, particularly in the Black Sea, where anoxic (oxygen-free) deep water preserves wooden structures for over a millennium. These discoveries, including vessels from the 9th century and earlier, provide unprecedented insights into ancient maritime trade, construction, and life.

Key Discoveries and Mysteries

The Ship’s Purpose: Investigations revealed the ship likely belonged to the Christian church (possibly the monastery of Samos) and was ferrying wine and olive oil to Byzantine troops fighting Persians in A.D. 626.

Innovative Design: Unlike other ships of its time, this vessel featured advanced facilities that provided “gracious” food and accommodation for passengers, who typically slept on open decks.

The Black Sea Finds: More recently, National Geographic has covered the discovery of over 40 remarkably preserved shipwrecks in the Black Sea’s “dead zone” (an oxygen-starved environment), including 1,000-year-old Byzantine trading vessels with intact masts and carvings.

The Croatia Wreck: Another significant find in the Adriatic Sea near Croatia challenged the narrative of simple coastal trading when archaeologists discovered a cargo that suggested a much more complex and “flipped” story of medieval commerce.

History, Magazines, Photography, Reviews, Travel

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE – MARCH 2026 PREVIEW

February 21, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘A New Dawn For The Sahara?’…

Shifting Sands

The Sahara has cycled between eons of bountiful life and arid desolation. What will it mean when the world’s largest desert turns green once again? By Henry Wismayer | Photographs by Marcus Westberg

Modern Moves

Choreography that changed the language of dance, avant-garde costumes by runway designers, music that defined a new American sound. As her company turns 100, an inside look at the enduring world of Martha Graham. Photographs by ioulex | Text by Jacoba Urist

Voice of Deception

She was known as Vicky With Three Kisses—a German radio star whose singing and sweet talk comforted weary Nazi soldiers. She was actually a secret weapon in a little-known Allied propaganda effort. By April White

Paw Patrol

In central Texas, ranchers are beset by threats, from coyotes to drought and foreign competition. To protect their flocks from predators and help preserve their own way of life, they’re turning to the ancient know-how of man’s best friend. By Chris Pomorski | Photographs by Jordan Vonderhaar

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – FEBRUARY 11, 2026

February 10, 2026 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Cover of Country Life 11 February, 2026 featuring The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The fine art issue, featuring Seurat, art in literature and Sir Antony Gormley, plus Ampthill Park House and the long-eared eagle owl.

Cast in the same mould

Sir Antony Gormley examines the parallels between his own Reflect and the Adriaen de Vries bronze of Antiope and Theseus

Don’t believe in modern love?

With Valentine’s Day looming and singlehood rising, Will Hosie seeks dating tips from the finest minds among the Ancients

Ford momentum

Harry Pearson enjoys the thrill of splashing through the countless fords criss-crossing the rivers and streams of the British Isles

Spread from Country Life February 11, 2026

Luxury

Jonathan Self is bewitched by the poetry of poesy rings and Amie Elizabeth White says ‘if you only buy one Derby boot…’

Life in the fast lane

Norfolk farmer Gavin Lane tells Julie Harding of the sleepless nights he has endured since taking the reins at the CLA

Sir Thomas Drew and Hélène Duchêne’s favourite paintings

His Majesty’s Ambassador to France and the French Ambassador to the Court of St James share their artworks of choice

Country-house treasure

John Goodall glimpses early-20th-century life at Mapperton House in Dorset in the form of a black-and-gold satin dress

A house of collections

In the second of two articles, Jeremy Musson explores the exceptional modern collection in the historic setting of Ampthill Park House in Bedfordshire

The legacy

Carla Passino hails the artworks amassed by Sir William Burrell

Where the wild things are

Exotic animals from around the world were unveiled to European eyes by artists such as Dürer and Stubbs, finds Michael Prodger