
LITERARY REVIEW MAGAZINE – JULY 2026 PREVIEW



For a brief period before the First World War, oblique angles and angular planes were all the rage in Prague
Artworks documenting the Wild West are becoming increasingly sought-after – and collectors are paying big bucks to lasso the best ones

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘Britain’s Lost Decade After Brexit’…
It’s neatly ironic that the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote should have been marked this week by yet another prime ministerial resignation.
The two things aren’t directly related – the intense pressure put on Keir Starmer to step down was partly down to his own political flaws. But the rise in the polls of Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s populist rightwing party that morphed out of the Brexit-obsessed Ukip, was a key factor.
The fact that the country is now set for its seventh prime minister in the decade since Brexit speaks volumes. The vote in 2016 to leave the European Union deeply fractured Britain, a country that remains volatile and impatient for change to this day.
Change has come to the UK as a result of Brexit – only not for the better, as senior economics correspondent Richard Partington explains for our special report this week. We revisit the buildup to the vote as key figures at the time recall how it shook the country’s politics. And there’s even a quiz to test your memory of the more arcane sideshows of it all.
Spotlight | Iran’s regime survived the war. Will it make peace with its people?
If the conflict with the US and Israel triggered a rare moment of solidarity in the divided country, many doubt it will be used for reform, reports Saeed Shah
Spotlight | Why did Somali children become targets of US drone strikes?
Six months ago, at least 12 people, including eight children, died during a US attack. The US has never admitted the civilian deaths. Mark Townsend pieces together what happened that day
Environment | The online archive sharing scientific knowledge with everyone
The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt. Donna Ferguson reports
Opinion | There is still hope for international law
Even in this age of global rupture, do not despair: developments in Ukraine and Iran show that the military superpowers are not getting it all their own way, argues Nathalie Tocci
Culture | Why time is still on Keith Richards’ side
At 82, the Rolling Stones guitarist is still hale and hearty, enjoying life as a great-grandad and jousting with Mick Jagger like old times. Ahead of a new Stones album launch, Alexis Petridis caught up with him

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features…
Critical views of D. H. Lawrence’s notorious novel By Nicholas Murray
Thirty-four TLS writers share their holiday reading
The Declaration of Independence at 250
A showily ingenious novel about the exploitation of attention

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

HISTORY TODAY MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The Declaration of Independence’, Black Loyalists, how England learned Old English, sacrifice and early Christianity, and the Hans Crescent strike.
That the United States declared its independence in July 1776 is well known; that the British state commissioned, but never published, a counter-declaration is not.
Hoping to weaken the rebels’ cause, Britain offered freedom to enslaved people who joined the British army. At the end of the American Revolutionary War that promised freedom had to be honoured – but how and where?
Looking for a new route to Jerusalem, medieval crusaders turned to the Strait of Hormuz.

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features…

Claudia Sheinbaum must be doing something right. With a consistent approval rating of around 70% since becoming Mexico’s president in 2024, the former climate scientist – and protege of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador – is the world’s most popular leftwing leader. She is also the first female leader of one of Latin America’s most macho countries.
Yet despite her soaring popularity, driven in part by major universal healthcare reforms, there is a curious tension between Sheinbaum’s disciplined, scientific approach to governing and the messy, often violent politics of modern Mexico. Her handling of the country’s ongoing crisis of disappearances, the continuing influence of organised crime and the rising presence of the army in national life are all issues she has faced criticism over.
The big story | Counting the cost of the war on Iran
With a peace deal expected to be signed later this week, Oliver Holmes examines the human, economic and environmental toll of a conflict that appears to have achieved nothing
Science | How the loss of wild bees impacts human health
Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result. Gloria Dickie reports
Feature | How personal taste fell out of fashion
Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality – but algorithms have made us all sheep. Rachel Aroesti meets the style rebels fighting back
Opinion | If Kyiv has really got Putin on the run, he won’t accept peace meekly
Don’t expect the Russian president to pursue peace, says Simon Tisdall – instead, he could continue to expand the war beyond Ukraine’s borders, with dire risks for us all
Culture | The revolutionary art of David Hockney
Guardian critic Jonathan Jones pays tribute to the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasures

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

FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘the End of…The U.S.-Israel alliance…Neo liberalism…Trans-Atlanticism…Climate Politics…The United Nations…Asylum…Political parties…Chinese growth…Morality…The future….