Charlie Connelly
15 September 2022
Karl Popper: The Austrian-British philosopher who had no time for ignorance
Popper never accepted the idea that people did not know about the Holocaust or the gulags, rather they chose not to know. For him, knowledge was a moral obligation
Read the full article15 September 2022
Maggie O’Farrell fills the empty spaces of a lost life
Hamnet’s Maggie O’Farrell creates another major work from one of history’s minor characters
Read the full article08 September 2022
Pier Angeli: The actress as enigmatic in death as she was in life
There was far more to Anna Maria Pierangeli than what cinema-goers saw on the screen and friends saw off it
Read the full article08 September 2022
Literature’s changing climate: The responsibility of raising awareness
The ‘cli-fi’ genre looks set to play an important role in raising awareness of the environment emergency
Read the full article01 September 2022
Jean-Paul Belmondo: The unlikely face of the French new wave
He baffled and fascinated his critics, but the actor somehow became the absolute personification of insouciant cool
Read the full article01 September 2022
Venice: The city which is shaped by and shapes outsiders
Venice has produced few major writers – yet few places have inspired so many authors
Read the full article25 August 2022
Le Corbusier: The architect who revolutionised the 20th-century city
City skylines of tower blocks, motorway networks, urban plazas - everywhere you look today there are traces of the Swiss-French architect
Read the full article25 August 2022
The violence and the silence: Salman Rushdie and the bravery of writers
Authors and readers love live events. But will they survive the attack on Salman Rushdie?
Read the full article18 August 2022
Sacco and Vanzetti: The anarchist immigrants whose execution sparked global riots
Individually their fates were an immeasurable tragedy for two families, together they were a cause
Read the full article18 August 2022
Posts from Paris under the Nazis
Ten days before Hitler’s suicide, Felix Hartlaub disappeared. But his notebooks live on
Read the full article11 August 2022
Tazio Nuvolari: The racing genius who let his driving do the talking
The Italian's driving walked the line between skill and recklessness but never crossed it
Read the full article11 August 2022
Grief and ghosts haunting Britain
A stunning new novel captures the weight of history on a country rinsed with regrets
Read the full article04 August 2022
Anna Piaggi: The fashion journalist whose style trumped even the most avant-garde designers
Celebrated as one of Europe’s leading fashion writers, the Italian was better known for her sheer presence on the scene
Read the full article04 August 2022
HV Morton: Terrific writer.. terrible man
HV Morton was a pioneering travel writer of genius.. and also a philandering, racist snob
Read the full article28 July 2022
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The photographer always seeking the decisive moment
The Frenchman was no newshound but had a knack of witnessing some of the 20th century’s key episodes
Read the full article28 July 2022
Sri Lanka in purgatory
As the country faces its greatest crisis, a writer has delivered one of its greatest novels
Read the full article14 July 2022
Rutger Hauer: The European who brought pioneering nuance to Hollywood
The Dutch actor brought depth at a time when the industry expected little more from roles than grunting henchmen, murderous Nazis or ring fodder for Rocky Balboa
Read the full article14 July 2022
Novel ways to spend the summer
For many of us, holidays offer a chance to catch up on our reading and in our post-Covid, post-Brexit world, so too does tortuous travel. CHARLIE CONNELLY has you covered
Read the full article07 July 2022
The last voyage of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Two centuries since his dramatic death at sea, the legacy of Percy Bysshe Shelley lives on
Read the full article07 July 2022
Arnold Schoenberg: The father of atonal music who feared the number 13
The Austrian-American composer was convinced atonality was the future of music. Sadly, his fear of the number 13 led to his death before this day could arrive
Read the full article30 June 2022
Raffaella Carrà: The TV personality whose midriff scandalised Italy
The presenter managed to stay at the top for six decades, winning hearts whether baring her monochrome midriff to a startled nation or holding that same nation’s politicians to account in full colour
Read the full article30 June 2022
Trespassing in the deadliest place on earth
A remarkable account of illegal travels through the deserted villages and towns near Chernobyl
Read the full article23 June 2022
Philippe Halsman: The photographer who captured the 20th century
One of the greatest portrait photographers of all time, Halsman was able to easily win the trust of some of the greatest figures in modern cultural and political history
Read the full article23 June 2022
The fantastic worlds of ETA Hoffmann
He wrote fantasy, horror and crime, invented music criticism.. and had time for a day job too
Read the full article16 June 2022
Fritz Walter: The World Cup hero whose life was saved by football
The 1954 West Germany captain will always be remembered for the Miracle of Bern but an earlier game was far more important
Read the full article16 June 2022
A continent obsessed with looking back
A newly translated novel portrays Europe as a dilapidated hotel that’s wallowing in nostalgia
Read the full article09 June 2022
Isabelle ‘Ultra Violet’ Collin Dufresne: The Factory superstar closest to being Warhol’s muse
A self-confessed “unleashed exhibitionist, chasing headlines”, Collin Dufresne lived the life but on her terms
Read the full article09 June 2022
The ultimate in shelf gratification
Spine-tingling stories of our relationship with the most perfect format of them all.. the book
Read the full article02 June 2022
Jean Arp: The living embodiment of the absurdity of borders and barriers
The early leader of the Dadaist movement blurred the boundaries of style and genre, writing poetry as good as his art, making sculptures as good as his collages
Read the full article02 June 2022
She got on her bike and looked for the world
The death of the travel writer Dervla Murphy marks the end of an era of great adventurers
Read the full article26 May 2022
The unreliable narrators of audiobooks
A new auto-narration service turns any book into an audio version. And it’s terrible
Read the full article26 May 2022
Joseph Haydn: The composer who brought happiness to John Keats’ last days
He is underrated today compared to the likes of Mozart and Beethoven, but Haydn’s impact on European classical music is immense
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