Books
Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart review – “The prime minister we never had”
This is a marvellous book, a memoir of Rory Stewart’s nine years in Parliament, and its greatest flaw is that it is not long enough. The original draft was...
The Conservative Effect, 2010-2024 review: “Comprehensive and damning”
If you only read one book on British politics this year, make it this one.
P.G. Wodehouse’s Ukridge at 100
It is unfortunate that P.G. Wodehouse's reputation in Oxford takes such a blow from...
Top 10 Summer Reads
Summer, Edith Wharton, 1917
I’m going to start with an obvious pick: Summer by Edith...
Lost in translation?
As someone who is half Japanese, I’ve become accustomed to reading literature in different...
Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart review – “The prime minister we never had”
This is a marvellous book, a memoir of Rory Stewart’s nine years in Parliament, and its greatest flaw is that it is not long...
The Conservative Effect, 2010-2024 review: “Comprehensive and damning”
If you only read one book on British politics this year, make it this one.
P.G. Wodehouse’s Ukridge at 100
It is unfortunate that P.G. Wodehouse's reputation in Oxford takes such a blow from his being a popular favourite among OUCA members. Still, he...
Top 10 Summer Reads
Summer, Edith Wharton, 1917
I’m going to start with an obvious pick: Summer by Edith Wharton. I read this for the first time recently, in...
Lost in translation?
As someone who is half Japanese, I’ve become accustomed to reading literature in different languages. Some books I’ve enjoyed so much that I’ve read...
The many voices of Franz Kafka: Reading The Metamorphosis
Spilling out of the gates of the Sheldonian Theatre and onto Broad Street, the lengthy queue for a public reading of Franz Kafka’s The...
Kafka: Making of an Icon at the Weston Library review: ‘Poignant and incredibly personal’
"Bodleian Libraries’ most recent exhibition at the Weston Library is an engaging dive into the life and legacy of the famous author."
RIP Dante, you would’ve loved fanfiction
When the trailer for an adaptation of Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel The Idea of You came out last month, it set the internet ablaze. Within a...
The Orwell Tour review: ‘A unique and first-rate travelogue’
Within the last year there have been countless new books on George Orwell, but Oliver Lewis’s The Orwell Tour, just released in paperback, is...
Christian Atheism by Slavoj Žižek review
‘And what did the twentieth century want with religion, already well worn and threadbare from its journey down the ages...What did we have to...
Ten Years to Save the West by Liz Truss review: Revenge of the lettuce
I have met Liz Truss only once. It was in Oxford Town Hall in November of last year and I had tried (without success)...
War, Peace and Writing
Throughout history, art has left an indelible cultural impact on humanity’s collective understanding of war. Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ is perhaps the most famous manifestation of...
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States, and the Middle East 1979-2003 by Steve Coll review
Tyrants should only be brought down by their own people; they become martyrs when brought down by foreigners.
Bust?: Saving the Economy, Democracy and our Sanity by Robert Peston and Kishan Koria- Review
"So long as we have an economic system geared towards the accumulation of wealth rather than the acquisition of it, inequalities will continue to widen"
