Charlie Connelly
07 February 2024
Anna Anderson: The woman who claimed to be the daughter of the last Tsar
Once the toast of New York society, the mystery of why she did what she did remains
Read the full article07 February 2024
I’m a celeb.. get me a book deal
Serge Gainsbourg’s novel was unquestionably a stinker, but a surprising number of novels by famous people stand up to scrutiny
Read the full article31 January 2024
Fred Buscaglione: The Turin boy who was the face of post-war Italy
The singer almost came to embody the nation’s revival before it all ended at the dawn of a decade that could have been made for him
Read the full article31 January 2024
The page against the machine
A Russian author is declared a ‘terrorist’ for opposing Putin. American writers are banned in right-wing states. Where will this end?
Read the full article24 January 2024
Edward G Robinson: The Romanian all-American personification of prohibition
The role of Rico in Little Caesar proved as career-defining for Robinson as Frankenstein’s monster was for Boris Karloff or Dracula for Bela Lugosi
Read the full article24 January 2024
Pierre Boulle, from sabotage to screen
French Resistance spy Boulle took up writing almost on a whim – then created the basis for two all-time classic films
Read the full article17 January 2024
Nora Kovach: The dancer who defected
More famous dancers would follow her lead but Nora Kovach was the first, the pioneer, arguably the bravest of them all
Read the full article17 January 2024
Magic in the margins: what links Marlene Dietrich with Coleridge and Kerouac?
All were fans of writing their own thoughts on the pages of the books they read
Read the full article10 January 2024
Uta Hagen: The best – and most demanding – acting coach in the business
While she became one of the most highly respected names in the history of US theatre, Hagen brought a European sensibility to Broadway
Read the full article10 January 2024
The hippo who went shopping: a vivid portrayal of the refugee experience
A real-life zoo breakout is the first in a series of tumultuous events to befall the refugee hero of Leo Vardiashvili’s impressive debut novel
Read the full article03 January 2024
Mistinguett: The song-and-dance showgirl who owned the Paris stage
So emblematic of the city’s spirit did she become that Mistinguett seemed timeless even in her own lifetime
Read the full article03 January 2024
Welcome to this year’s must-reads
2024 should go down as a vintage year for female authors
Read the full article20 December 2023
Baba Yaga: The fairytale scourge of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
Attempting to steal children’s Christmas gifts from a kindly old man is only one item on the charge sheet of the cannibalistic witch
Read the full article20 December 2023
A year of magnificent exceptions in the world of books
The perfect combination of compelling narrative and wonderful writing is rare but when it works the results are unforgettable
Read the full article13 December 2023
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: The reformer who never quite understood the nation
His zeal doused by public apathy and establishment ambivalence, Albert became gradually overwhelmed by disillusionment
Read the full article13 December 2023
One ring and the right wing: Giorgia Meloni’s love of Tolkien
What draws Italy’s populist leader, along with a number of other far-right politicians, to the work of JRR Tolkien?
Read the full article06 December 2023
Luigi Pirandello: The relentless seeker for answers to the riddle of existence
The relentlessly prolific author of plays, poems, short stories and novels, Pirandello was always looking ahead
Read the full article06 December 2023
Writing in the present tense: books for under the Christmas tree
Tales of ice and lighthouses, the ghosts of Irish literary legends and the Iliad reborn: the books you should give this Christmas
Read the full article29 November 2023
Stéphane Grappelli: The violinist who changed the face of jazz in Europe
There was no other with his extraordinary improvising in the medium
Read the full article29 November 2023
The clot thickens: Nadine Dorries’ caffeine-fuelled torrent of words
The former Tory culture secretary and Boris Johnson superfan has written an astoundingly bad book
Read the full article22 November 2023
Shakespeare conquered the world elsewhere
The first recorded purchase of Shakespeare’s collected works came 400 years ago – and the compendium soon crossed into Europe
Read the full article22 November 2023
Louis Malle: The French director who was a cinematic maverick
Malle’s unique approach to cinema meant he was always on the hunt for ways to freshen things up, no matter the risk
Read the full article15 November 2023
Anne Michaels and the past that’s closer than we imagine
The Canadian author only writes one book each decade. But her latest novel, Held, shows why it’s worth the wait
Read the full article15 November 2023
Franz Joseph I: The Emperor who ushered in the end of the Habsburg Empire
The blame for the end of a glorious imperial story cannot be laid solely at his feet, but the longer he lived the more anachronistic his rule became
Read the full article08 November 2023
The greatest European autobiography of all?
He wrote three operas with Mozart and ended up working at a grocers in New York City: meet Lorenzo da Ponte
Read the full article08 November 2023
Robert Enke: The goalkeeper taunted by the cruelty of depression
For all the cod philosophy attached to the art, being a goalkeeper did not cause the Germany international to end his life
Read the full article01 November 2023
In cod we trust: why Britain’s national dish is nothing of the sort
The humble Friday night takeaway staple is a magnificent immigration success story
Read the full article01 November 2023
Henri Matisse: The secular artist whose masterpiece was a chapel
Never a religious man, at the end of his life converting a damp garage into a chapel became an unlikely obsession
Read the full article18 October 2023
Italo Calvino: the writer who was one of us
Born a century ago, the Italian author was the best kind of writer, because he understood what it was to be a reader
Read the full article18 October 2023
Viveca Lindfors: The Hollywood outsider with a second act on stage
The Swedish actress’s unhappy Hollywood experience prompted a lifelong questioning of what being herself actually meant
Read the full article11 October 2023
Dario Fo: The jester who spoke hard truths beneath the clowning
Few cultural figures can have combined political activism and theatre as successfully as Fo
Read the full article11 October 2023
How fascism grows: a chilling warning from history
A new translation of a novel on the rise of Nazism holds lessons for our current populist age
Read the full article