Putin’s War of Terror

Leader: Europe must break its fateful addiction to Russian energy

Putin’s assault on Ukraine is a moment to think the unthinkable and impose comprehensive sanctions on gas and oil.

Letter of the week: An exit plan for Putin

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How Russia descended into authoritarianism

As Putin cracks down on peaceful protest and free media, thousands are fleeing the country and a financial crash…

“Kyiv holds its breath”: Lyse Doucet’s diary from Ukraine

The streets of Ukraine are being either transformed into zones of defence or blasted into nothingness. History sits waiting.

“I’m the patron saint of the dumped”: Florence Williams on the science of heartbreak

Being heartbroken can have a devastating effect on our physical as well as mental health. In her new book,…

Editor’s Note: Putin’s malign ambition, and how the Syrian civil war exposed the perils of Western inaction

To get a sense of what is happening today in Ukraine’s cities, consider the fate of Aleppo.

Societies move left in times of war, so will this be Keir Starmer’s moment?

Tin-eared Tories are misjudging the national mood on Ukrainian visas, granting Labour an opportunity.

As a new Iron Curtain descends, Europe is already irreversibly changed

Short of an overthrow of Putin, we will be very far indeed from the post-Cold War vision of “Europe…

Switching off Russian gas could put the planet on the road to a green economy

The war in Ukraine must be the trigger for radical climate action.

Profits from fossil fuel energy power Russia’s war machine, and Ukraine suffers

The West’s failure to comprehend Russian geopolitical power in the age of nuclear weapons has resulted in tragedy.

Abramovich’s Faustian pact with Chelsea is a parable of English football

The Russian billionaire offered the west London club clout and stability in return for a visibility that shielded him…

Peter Hennessy’s manifesto for post-pandemic Britain is too sweeping to be useful

In A Duty of Care, the historian asks whether politics after Covid can match the reforming ambition of the…

In Sexual Revolution, Laurie Penny wages war against bad sex

This broad, ambitious book skilfully skewers everyday sexism, but Penny’s feminist uprising underestimates those they wish to save.

Shirley Hughes showed our world at its best

Her honest depictions of messy homes and weary parents proved that stories about ordinary children could be just as…

Reviewed in short: New books from John L Williams, Toni Morrison, Marlon James and Samuel Fisher

CLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries by Williams, Recitatif by Morrison, Moon Witch, Spider King by James and…

The rise of Jack Reacher: how Lee Child created the ultimate escapist hero

Jack’s back in a new TV series – and its immediate success proves there is such a thing as…

Caspar Wolf’s peak performances

The Swiss artist journeyed into the high mountains to paint what few had seen before.

Red Rocket is a mouth-watering study of an irredeemable narcissist

In Tangerine and The Florida Project, Sean Baker rendered hardscrabble lives in carnival colours. Now he turns his eye…

Why remake The Ipcress File?

Despite there being so many good spy novels waiting to be adapted, ITV proved it has no imagination by…

Neil MacGregor’s modern museums

In a new BBC radio show, the art historian tests his theory that museums are not just a window…

Combat rising energy costs and become greener

We can save money in the kitchen without skimping on ingredients – just by changing our cooking habits

In Mike Nichols’s inspiring life, I find a brief, defiant distraction from war

The director’s biography offers, I like to think, a giant “f*** you” to all murderous bastards, then and now.

I’m grappling with ageing. It means I’m alive at least, but I don’t have to like it

A spot has sprung up on my forehead, and reminded me of the grim advance of time.

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This England: Petty Polly

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…

Carl Erik Fisher Q&A: “There can be healthy forms of shame”

The addiction physician on Michel de Montaigne, mindfulness and the addictive power of Nintendo.