Tag Archives: History

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – JANUARY 9, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The Donroe Doctrine’ – Donald Trump stakes his claim to the Western Hemisphere.

Donald Trump consigned the remnants of the rules-based international order to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea as US forces extracted Nicolás Maduro to face trial in the US. With allies and adversaries of Washington still adjusting to last weekend’s audacious assault on Caracas, Trump and his inner circle are thinking about their next steps to secure US interests in what they regard as “our hemisphere”.


Our reporting team, led by Latin American correspondent Tom Phillips, gauges the reaction to Maduro’s abduction on the ground in Caracas and among Venezuela’s closest neighbours, while Dan Sabbagh explains how the US military had planned and executed the operation.

Since the start of the US military buildup and blockade of Venezuela, Trump had claimed that Maduro needed to be “brought to justice” for his alleged role in drug trafficking, which Trump claimed had caused thousands of deaths in the US. But, as international commentators Julian Borger and Nesrine Malik explain, that has proved the thinnest of justifications and already by last Saturday it was clear that Venezuela’s huge oil reserves were uppermost on his mind.

Spotlight | Iran in turmoil
An ailing economy and plummeting exchange rate have prompted the biggest street protests in many years, report Deepa Parent and William Christou

Science | Is de-extinction really possible?
Bringing woolly mammoths and dire wolves back to life captured the public’s imagination last year but, Patrick Greenfield reports, there are questions around what can actually be achieved

Feature | The power and purpose of guilt
Psychologist Chris Moore saw first-hand how powerful and complex an emotion it is, as he explains to Emine Saner

Opinion | Adieu to the French art of lunch
Paul Taylor mourns the demise of a convivial lunch at a bistro serving freshly prepared food and the end of an unpretentious part of working culture

Culture | Is the crisis in masculinty just a joke?
It’s a ridiculous time to be male – and that’s good news for a new genre of social media comedy poking fun at the manosphere, finds Matthew Cantor

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT – JANUARY 9, 2026 PREVIEW

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features ‘Constable vs Turner’ by Ferdinand Mount….

As unalike as ever

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.

‘One day, they’ll find me out’

How the young Dylan Thomas repeatedly stole from others By Alessandro Gallenzi

Mother was always right

A love-hate relationship recalled by France’s ‘greatest living writer’ By Marie Darrieussecq

The notebook fallacy

Why stylish stationery won’t change your life By Ian Sansom

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JANUARY 7, 2026

Cover of Country Life January 7, 2026

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

Spreads from Country Life January 7, 2025

Pour show

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

Spreads from Country Life January 7, 2025

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

Spreads from Country Life January 7, 2025

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

Spreads from Country Life January 7, 2025

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 – WINTER 2026 PREVIEW

Winter-2026-foreign-policy-cover-world-minus-one-small

FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The World Minus One’ – The emergence of a post-American order.

The World-Minus-One Moment

Managing the global order with an antagonistic Washington. By Amitav Acharya

The Pillars of the Global Nuclear Order Are Cracking

U.S. allies and partners are taking steps toward a post-American nuclear order.Rebecca Lissner,  Erin D. Dumbacher

Can China Replace an Absent America in the Climate Fight?

Beijing never bought the argument that reducing emissions would cause economic harm. Kelly Sims Gallagher

Cyberdefense Enters a Dangerous New Phase

Allies fear that Washington is retreating from leadership at the worst possible time. Rishi Iyengar

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – JANUARY 2, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘Payback Time’ – Europe’s very big, very expensive problem with state pensions.

As populations age, the number of younger people entering the workforce is shrinking – and that’s a big problem for “pay as you go” state pension schemes where employees fund the pensions of an expanding cohort of retired people.

Confusingly, a new poll of six European nations reveals how most voters can see this problem and realise their state pensions will soon become unaffordable. But at the same time, they also believe state pensions are too low, and are unwilling to support reforms to them.

Where do governments under increasing pressure from populists go from here? For our first big story of 2026, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, reports on a ticking timebomb for the continent’s social contract.

Spotlight | The prospects for peace in Ukraine in 2026
As Russia inches forward on the battlefield and – despite Donald Trump’s optimism – peace talks remain deadlocked, Kyiv’s best hopes of progress may be on the economic and political fronts, writes Dan Sabbagh

Science | How great a threat is AI to the climate?
The datacentres behind artificial intelligence are polluting the natural world – and some experts fear the exponential rise in demand could derail the shift to a clean economy. Ajit Niranjan reports

Feature | Returning to the West Bank after two decades
The former Guardian correspondent Ewen MacAskill used to report frequently from the Palestinian Territory. Twenty years after his last visit, he went back – and was shocked by how much worse it is today

Opinion | Need cheering up after a terrible year? I have just the story for you
A single act of kindness reminded columnist Martin Kettle that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, the better angels of our nature are not necessarily doomed

Culture | The Brit boom
Whether it’s Charli xcx or chicken shops, UK culture is having a moment. Can it be future-proofed from the diluting forces of globalisation? Rachel Aroesti investigates

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 31, 2025

Country Life December 31, 2025 | Country Life

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Britain in 50 Treasures’ – The monuments that make the nation.

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

Magazine spread from Country Life 31 December 2025

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

Magazine spread from Country Life 31 December 2025

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

Magazine spread from Country Life 31 December 2025

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

Magazine spread from Country Life 31 December 2025

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

APOLLO MAGAZINE – JANUARY 2026 PREVIEW

January 2026

APOLLO MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘In search of Gerhard Richter’; the man who reinvented Notre-Dame; why won’t Labour help the arts? and announcing the Apollo 40

Gerhard Richter at full scale

A mammoth retrospective in Paris confirms the German artist as one of the world’s greatest living painters – and one of the most elusive

On Viollet-le-Duc, the punchbag of Notre-Dame

While the architect’s approach to restoring France’s medieval buildings remains controversial, his many and varied talents are still utterly awe-inspiring

Finishing the Sagrada Família

Antonio Gaudi’s masterpiece is nearing completion a century after the architect’s death

When it comes to views of Venice, Canaletto is still master of all he surveys

Demand for the best paintings of the city shows no sign of sinking, but some artists have a more buoyant market than others

Should museums be making spectacles of themselves?

If galleries and institutions want to grow their visitor numbers, they need to add style to their substance

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 24, 2025

An image of a young boy and girl waving at the flying scotsman as it steams past

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

Spread from Country Life 24 December 2025

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

Spread from Country Life 24 December 2025

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

Spread from Country Life 24 December 2025

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

Spread from Country Life 24 December 2025

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

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS – JANUARY 15, 2026

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features Susan Tallman – Fairness for the Dispossessed; Kevin Power – David Szalay’s Wretched Men; Jeremy Donk – How Erik Satie Freed the Notes…

‘Minimum Victory’

Weary of war and staring down the likelihood of an unjust peace, Ukrainian intellectuals are plotting out a road map for the future. 

East Side Story

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.

L’Affaire Carlson

Concern over antisemitism on the right has split the conservative world in two—and GOP gatekeepers have lost the ability to contain it.

‘They Killed Our People’

More than a century after white mobs in Elaine, Arkansas, murdered hundreds of black sharecroppers in 1919, the massacre’s memory remains contested. 

‘The Ancient and Long-Forgotten Language of Cinematography’

If the movies are dead, why does Bi Gan’s Resurrection feel so alive?

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – DECEMBER 21, 2025

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW: The latest issue features ‘Fight The Power’

John Darnielle: ‘Polish Literature Is a Whole Wondrous World!’

The novelist and musician is a voracious reader of books in translation. In “This Year,” he annotates the literary lyrics to 365 of his own songs.

Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape.

Rare recordings of E.E. Cummings, Mary Oliver and more offer a tour through literary history led by authors in their own words — and voices. Take a listen.

Once a Year the French Literary Scene Goes to the Dogs (Cats, Too)

It’s the day the “Animal Goncourt” is awarded. “Who better,” a judge says, “to talk about the fabulous relationship between animals and men than writers and philosophers?”