TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (June 25, 2025): In this week’s TLS , If all Russian writers are supposed to have come out of Gogol’s Overcoat, then “all American literature”, according to Ernest Hemingway, “comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn”. James Marcus reviews Ron Chernow’s 1,200-page biography of Twain – the Great American Novel seems fated to be twinned with the Great American Door-Stopper.
Inventing a history
How Stalin shaped the Soviet collective memory By Bryan Karetnyk
‘A dear little genius’
Mark Twain and the making of an American literary revolution By James Marcus
Triumph at Camp David, disaster in Iran
Jimmy Carter’s abrasive foreign policy adviser and rival to Henry Kissinger By Edward N. Luttwak
Tom Howells explores the mystery and magnetism of the thousands of ancient British monoliths and monuments, from Cornwall to the Orkneys
Going down in a blazer of glory
It is a favourite of royalty and rowers, worn from Augusta to the Oscars — can there be a more versatile jacket than the blazer, asks Harry Pearson
Country Life International
• Russell Higham uncovers the secret society of Cascais • Holly Kirkwood finds the age of chivalry alive and well in Valletta • Matthew Dennison searches for traces of the Venetian Empire in Greece • Tom Parker Bowles savours superb Spanish dishes • Eileen Reid tracks the influence of two intellectual giants of Avignon
Winging it
Mark Cocker welcomes the renaissance of the peregrine falcon, a raptor that stoops to conquer at up to 240mph
New series: Scale model
Overfishing threatens the very existence of the cod, but Gadus morhua remains a monster of the deep for David Profumo
Dick Bird’s favourite painting
The stage designer chooses a monumental example of early-19th-century political art
The virtues of history
John Goodall celebrates 100 years of the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, one of London’s Great Twelve City Livery Companies
The legacy
Leslie Hore-Belisha created a beacon of hope for road users everywhere, finds Kate Green
Luxury
Anniversary jewels and Art Deco delights with Hetty Lintell, plus Willow Crossley’s favourite things
Interiors
Arabella Youens admires the kitchen of a house in the Scottish Borders and considers the earthly pleasures of terracotta
Laying ghosts to rest
A spectacular garden now graces the grounds of the old Somerset-shire Coal Canal Company HQ, as Caroline Donald discovers
Water, water everywhere
John Lewis-Stempel delves into the depths of a field pond, mesmerised by the seemingly endless variety of aquatic life
Arts & antiques
A quartet of journeys with The King raised the profile of plein-air artist Warwick Fuller, who talks Royal Tours with Carla Passino
Making an impression
French Impressionism was a slow burner in Britain as Monet and Pissarro gradually influenced our art scene, reveals Caroline Bugler
It’s not easy to trust the President to make an optimal decision. For one thing, he is suspicious of nearly every source of information save his own instincts. By David Remnick
The DOGEfather Part II
Joe Gebbia, a RISD grad and an Airbnb billionaire, may soon lead the federal cost-cutting effort known as DOGE. Could there be clues to his methods in his art-school days? By Charles Bethea
How Donald Trump Got NATO to Pay Up
The Administration is strong-arming European nations to do more on behalf of their own defense. Is the strategy working? By Joshua Yaffa
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 6.22.25 Issue features Kevin Roose and Casey Newton on everyone using A.I.; Susan Dominus on creating A.I. avatars of loved ones; Bill Wasik on how A.I. will change the way history is written; Robert Capps on the jobs for humans A.I. will create; Charley Locke on the patterns A.I. can see in human behavior; Kim Tingley on therapy chatbots; and more.