Books in brief: A history of plaster; Einstein for the general reader; influencers’ literary antecedents
Reviews of new works by Alain Corbin, Diana Kormos Buchwald and Michael D Gordin, and Nicola Wilson
By NJ McGarrigle
Collected Poems by Gerard Fanning: Elliptical, at times cryptic works built on mood and atmosphere
Women’s Prize for Fiction winner on The Safekeep, being intersex and her childhood in Israel
Poem of the Week: Us
My Name is Emilia del Valle: A lighthearted and comical late-Victorian adventure
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch: Serviceable, highly readable but a bit preachy
Timothy O’Grady: ‘You feel miserable most of the time when you’re writing’
Military Maverick: a British war hero who later aided the IRA
SHORT STORIES
Book Club
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POETRY
Claire Adam on childhood summers in Ireland: ‘My grandmother from Skibbereen lived to 108’
By Martin Doyle
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The lives and loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell - pithy, incisive and fascinating
By Jessica Traynor
Perfect Storm by Thane Gustafson: A thorough study of the use and abuse of sanctions on Russia, and what could happen next
By Conor O’Clery
Europe without Borders: a detailed history of the Schengen system - Skilful account of a tense balancing of freedoms
By Paul Gillespie
Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal: A novel of immense range that deserves a very wide readership
By Naoise Dolan
