Charlie Connelly
17 February 2022
Max Schreck: The forgotten man who changed cinema in just nine minutes
CHARLIE CONNELLY on the actor behind the most terrifying cinematic performance of all time
Read the full article17 February 2022
Books of the dead: capturing the pandemic in fiction
When is the right time for a literary response to the Covid pandemic?
Read the full article10 February 2022
Sergei Eisenstein: The visionary genius who changed cinema forever
CHARLIE CONNELLY on the committed revolutionary behind a scene which endures as one of the major turning points in the history of film
Read the full article10 February 2022
The madness in their methods: Authors and their quirks
From inhaling rotten apples to lying in an open coffin, the bizarre rituals of great writers
Read the full article03 February 2022
Gustav Klimt: The son of a goldsmith who managed to outrage Viennese morals
CHARLIE CONNELLY on the Viennese artist who shocked the laissez-faire populace of his native city
Read the full article03 February 2022
Double jeopardy: The Anomaly is plane brilliant
How the story of a plane full of doppelgängers became a literary sensation in France. By CHARLIE CONNELLY
Read the full article27 January 2022
Lilli Palmer: The refugee who starred alongside Fred Astaire and Clark Gable
CHARLIE CONNELLY on a Jewish actress who considered a kick in the behind from Hitler the luck of her life
Read the full article27 January 2022
The write stuff: A Polish great’s advice for authors
Advice for authors is rarely as honest and valuable as in a posthumous book by a great Polish poet. By CHARLIE CONNELLY
Read the full article20 January 2022
Claude Duval: The archetypal dandy highwayman and embodiment of the English Restoration
CHARLIE CONNELLY on a stick-up merchant whose victims were often left feeling almost flattered
Read the full article20 January 2022
Nellie Bly: The woman who blew Fogg away
Remembering Nellie Bly, the pioneering journalist who eclipsed Jules Verne’s hero. By CHARLIE CONNELLY
Read the full article13 January 2022
Rudolph Moshammer: The flamboyant fashion designer dubbed Germany’s only genuine eccentric
CHARLIE CONNELLY on the chat show staple often described as the closest thing Munich had to royalty.
Read the full article13 January 2022
The deaths of five great writers sees the world lose a little of its sparkle
Assessing the legacies of five great women writers who left us in just 17 December days.
Read the full article06 January 2022
Alexis Mardas: The TV repairman who became John Lennon’s ‘magic’ guru
CHARLIE CONNELLY on arguably the most enigmatic figure to orbit the strange world of The Beatles
Read the full article05 January 2022
A great new chapter for women writers
2022 promises more great fiction by women and writers of diverse nationalities and backgrounds
Read the full article16 December 2021
Hans Gruber: The author-turned terrorist who led the attack on the Nakatomi Plaza building
On Christmas Eve 33 years ago, he died a criminal, but perhaps Hans Gruber should've been remembered for something else...
Read the full article16 December 2021
The Books of 2021: Fiction and non-fiction’s high flyers
CHARLIE CONNELLY rounds up the best titles of 2021 and names one absolute favourite.
Read the full article09 December 2021
Heinz Wolff: The unmistakable eccentric scientist
Wolff was almost impossible to mistake for anyone else. Yet, he was in The Sun's obituary section.
Read the full article09 December 2021
Charlie Connelly: Presenting my Christmas reads
CHARLIE CONNELLY rounds up some of the best titles to give as stocking fillers – and put you in your loved ones’ good books.
Read the full article02 December 2021
Amrita Sher-Gil: The painter whose greatest critic was herself
It was in her art that she truly lost herself, but this didn't stop Amrita Sher-Gil from finding fault with her work.
Read the full article02 December 2021
Book tokenism? No, women are finally getting the rewards they deserve
CHARLIE CONNELLY on the truth behind a ludicrous “woke” controversy over the Costa Book Awards.
Read the full article25 November 2021
Lotte Lenya: The free-spirited actress who perpetuated her husband’s legacy
The Austrian-American singer and actress shone on stage. But, her greatest role was a matter of the heart, and she undertook it out of obligation.
Read the full article25 November 2021
America’s book banning fever is approaching Fahrenheit 451
CHARLIE CONNELLY on new efforts by the US right to burn or ban books they consider dangerous.
Read the full article18 November 2021
Marcel Proust: The genius writer who was a disappointing conversationalist
For all his undoubted literary genius, Marcel Proust was an underwhelming dinner guest.
Read the full article18 November 2021
Jenny Erpenbeck, a German voice from the East
The German writer was one of Europe's greatest literary talents, even if she did sleep through the fall of the Berlin Wall
Read the full article11 November 2021
Jean Sylvain Bailly: The scientific revolutionary
Even without his leading role in the French Revolution, Bailly would have been remembered as an exceptional man.
Read the full article11 November 2021
This year’s Booker Prize awards were filled with snobs, sauvignon, and safe bets
The recently awarded Booker Prize is a very far cry from the early days of the competition.
Read the full article04 November 2021
Anita Berber: The dancer who refused to shy away from taboos
She was the most Weimar of the Weimar figures, with scandal following her wherever she went.
Read the full article04 November 2021
Sally Rooney’s stance on Israel is not lost in translation
The decision to block a Hebrew version of her latest book because of her dislike of what she sees as an apartheid state in Israel has seen the author come under fire.
Read the full article28 October 2021
Jenny Lind: The very modern career of a 19th century superstar
The "Swedish Nightingale" soared to fame, burned brightly, but then burned out retiring in her early thirties.
Read the full article28 October 2021
The Wolf Age: Bloodsoaked Britain’s age of terror
CHARLIE CONNELLY on a page-turner which brings to vivid, often gruesome, life one of the most violent periods in the history of Britain
Read the full article21 October 2021
Paul Cézanne: The self-doubt of an artistic genius
His work stood out amongst Post-Impressionism, but the artist was still crippled by a lack of self-belief
Read the full article21 October 2021
The forgotten proto-feminist who ripped up the rulebook
The little-known writer was responsible for one of literature's truly great landmarks.
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