The Latest Breaking News from Tolstoy

It took me 10 years to read this beast of a book – but it was worth it

First published in 1941, Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is not quite War and Peace. But it comes close

The Guardian - UK · Sep 3

Genghis Khan got lucky with the weather. Mark Zuckerberg was lucky too, says the Pulitzer-winning author of ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’

Author Jared Diamond told Fortune that a leader’s impact depends almost entirely on the industry—and utility bosses may be the most replaceable of all.

Fortune · Sep 1

I devoured classic novels as a teenager. In a world of distractions, can I relearn how to read them?

In less than a decade, surrounded by screens, I lost my ability to read some of the best books ever written. But, inspired by the Guardian’s 100 best novels list, I was determined to get it back

The Guardian - UK · Jun 2

Long Story Short: this Jewish family comedy from the creator of BoJack Horseman is painfully beautiful

A sweeping, hilarious family saga told in multiple timelines from the 50s to the present day. Yes, that’s right – it’s basically Bluey meets Tolstoy

The Guardian - UK · Aug 16, 2025

Billy Corgan on launching his new podcast, the future of music and the 'shocking shift' brewing with AI

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has parlayed his music success into various businesses, from wrestling to a tea shop. This year, he launched his podcast "The Magnificent Others" with Bill Maher's Club Random Studios.

Fortune · Apr 6, 2025

Cynthia Ozick: ‘Alice in Wonderland seems calculatedly cruel’

The American author on the wonder of Little Women, re-evaluating Lolita and her belated discovery of Thoreau

The Guardian - UK · Mar 28, 2025

Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah review: tightly-plotted excellence

I’ve just finished a story about a man who has everything,” says Karim, the ostensible hero of Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah’s 11th novel, set in 1990s Tanzania. “How do you think the story will end?” he asks Badar, his mother’s servant boy, in a cruel taunt disguised as a…

Evening Standard · Mar 14, 2025

Ben Okri: ‘Is A Tale of Two Cities the greatest English novel? Meet me in a pub to discuss’

The poet and novelist on having his heart broken by Animal Farm, imagining Ibsen and Chekhov characters as Nigerian, and ditching physics for Plato

The Guardian - UK · Feb 21, 2025

Open Socrates by Agnes Callard review – a design for life

A bracing conteporary account of the philosopher’s age-old prescription for living

The Guardian - UK · Jan 16, 2025

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at the Donmar Warehouse review: exciting, audacious and infuriating

3/5 Based on 70 pages of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, this is maddening and brilliant in equal measure

Evening Standard · Dec 17, 2024