The Latest Breaking News from William Makepeace Thackeray

Queen speaks of love for books with ‘life-enhancing power’ at charity’s festival

Camilla’s appearance comes after a series of allegations were made about the King in extracts from Earl Spencer’s memoir.

Evening Standard · Sep 19

Queen shares her love of reading amid the royal fallout from Earl Spencer’s book

Camilla’s appearance comes after a series of allegations were made about the King in extracts from Earl Spencer’s memoir.

The Independent UK · Sep 19

A waltz over evolutionary timescales: why it’s so hard for animals to invent a new mating dance

“Love makes fools of all of us,” wrote 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. A moment spent watching the pigeons at your local park suggests he was right: males with puffed-up, shimmering necks hop, pirouette, coo, and bow to capture the attention of unimpressed females.

The Conversation · Jun 14

Barry Lyndon at 50: why Kubrick’s most overlooked masterpiece deserves another viewing

Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, struggled at the box office when it was released. It remains one of the director’s most under-appreciated films. Unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey or The Shining, which have been endlessly dissected in books and essays, Barry Lyndon has received…

The Conversation · Apr 1, 2025

Seven Victorian paper craft projects that could cut your Christmas consumption

The Victorians are often credited with the invention of Christmas as we know it. That’s because the culture of Christmas was transformed during this period and expanded into a major holiday. It’s when several familiar Christmas staples emerged, such as decorated trees, cards and crackers.

The Conversation · Dec 11, 2024

Slavery, illusion and dead white men: Zadie Smith's The Fraud explodes the historical novel

Victorian England loved a juicy scandal and Zadie Smith situates The Fraud in one of the mid-19th century’s most toothsome cause célèbres: the Tichborne case.

The Conversation · Sep 20, 2023

40 best books to read before you die, from Great Expectations to Wolf Hall

Losing yourself in a great novel is one of life’s joys. Here our critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey pick the books you need to read

The Independent UK · Sep 14, 2023

40 best books to read before you die, from Wolf Hall to Wuthering Heights

Losing yourself in a great novel is one of life’s joys. Here our critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey pick the books you need to read

The Independent UK · May 4, 2023

White Noise review – director Noah Baumbach skilfully captures Don Delillo's 'unadaptable' novel

Never one to downplay the power of film, Stanley Kubrick once said that “almost every novel could be successfully adapted”. He carried this confidence into his own filmmaking, working not from original screenplays, but from adaptations of novels as different as William Makepeace Thackeray’s historical romp Barry Lyndon (1844) and…

The Conversation · Jan 6, 2023

40 best books to read before you die, from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall

Losing yourself in a great novel is one of life’s joys. Here our critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey pick the books you need to read

The Independent UK · Aug 5, 2022