In his Life of Utamaro, Edmond de Goncourt, in exquisite language and with analytical skill, interpreted the meaning of the form of Japanese art which found its chief expression in the use of the wooden block for colour printing. To glance...
“The spirit of Greek sculpture is synonymous with the spirit of sculpture. It is simple, and therefore defies definitions. We may feel it, but we can not express it. (…) “Open your eyes, study the statues, look, think and look...
IT IS WORTH TRYING to understand why this extraordinary essay, first delivered as a lecture in Oxford, then reprinted in an obscure Slavic studies journal in 1951, then re-titled and re-published in 1953, has been enjoying such a robust and enduring...
"I just did it, and I probably made more mistakes than the average person who makes a first film. I didn’t really have any help, and I wouldn’t take any help. I had to do it on my own. Once I made my first film I considered myself a film-maker....
Why, asks Daniel Rancour-Laferriere in this controversial book, has Russia been a country of suffering? Russian history, religion, folklore, and literature are rife with suffering. The plight of Anna Karenina, the submissiveness of serfs in the 16th...
On August 19, 1991, eight high-ranking Soviet officials took over the government of the USSR and proclaimed themselves its new rulers. Less than seventy-two hours later, their coup had collapsed, but it would change the course of history in a way...
A portrait of Delhi and its new elites — and a story of global capitalism unbound.
Commonwealth Prizewinning author Rana Dasgupta examines one of the most important trends of our time: the growth of the global elite. Since the economic...
The remarkable story of the Renaissance's preeminent financiers. "A swift and brilliant synthesis of finance, politics, and history."Ben Sisario, New York Times Book Review.
Their name is a byword for immense wealth and power, but before their...