“... from the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. ‘Frustrating though this may be,’ Porter argues, ‘confusion and complexity are generally a truer way of looking at things than certainty and simplicity.’ He proposes as a fanciful discipline that ‘we imperial historians agree to a moratorium on the “e”, “i”, and ...”

“... hoped; and Stargardt eventually recognises this when he concedes that ‘the parties themselves may have been suppressed, but the Nazi regime knew that their subcultures remained.’ Despite this concession, he generally writes as if working-class consciousness had altogether disappeared under the Nazis. One of his individual subjects, Karl ...”

“... if I drink one in Australia? But actually, I realise, I won’t be there. The Russian public may be indifferent to the centenary of their Revolution, but international scholars are off on the academic pilgrimage trail, giving the Revolution a ‘deep, objective, professional evaluation’ at conferences from Sundsvall to Santiago. The title of my as yet ...”

“... bars’ in many British clubs and dance halls during the war, ‘however convenient it may have been to blame white Americans for the[ir] introduction’. The Casino dance hall in Warrington was forced to shutter its doors after its manager refused to bar coloured servicemen from the club, as requested to by a US army officer. Shortly before the ...”

“... female, even slave and free, melted away in the fires of war. ‘Our fathers, husbands and sons may perhaps be the victims of our enemies’ fury,’ a petition from the Société Fraternelle des Minimes declared, signed by three hundred women. ‘Could we be forbidden the sweetness of avenging them or dying at their sides?’ The axioms of 1789 had to be ...”

“... day, reading a heavy book and boring herself to death’. She adds, defending herself, ‘You may say I shouldn’t have enlightened her – I should have let her alone. There’s a good deal in that, but I acted conscientiously; I thought she was meant for something better. It occurred to me that it would be a kindness to take her about and introduce her ...”

“... Sheetrock’) without furniture. I didn’t own so much as a lamp or a pillow and sheets. When May came around, I would stash everything I possessed in a trunk and slide it under the desk in my office; the bicycle I left chained up in a garage. My being there, in G (like Persephone’s), was actually a form of non-existence. Then in January I would unpack ...”

“... and so on. ‘What can we learn from literature?’ the protagonist asks. ‘Sometimes things may feel like they’ve been going on forever, but really it’s only been about forty pages.’ This is true of the book as a whole. Soon afterwards, the narrator sets up a writing group with another American expat, but doesn’t bring any writing ...”

“... endure are far more injurious to their health than doping. Used carefully, ergogenic drugs may even protect them from harm. ‘Training at the Olympic level,’ he writes, ‘puts significant strain on the body. Steroids reduce fatigue and trauma, and can also help muscles recover more quickly. I am not aware of any studies concluding that these ...”

“... think, though, that Stoppard has particularly been the victim of tall-poppy syndrome. Vilification may still be considered the quickest way for any reviewer to make a name, but theatre critics, not being in the same line of business as those they are reviewing, don’t suffer from the routine jealousy of those book reviewers inclined to behave as if an author ...”

“... Earth (2008) – in which a range of characters negotiate the kinds of tension that Lahiri herself may have experienced growing up in New England as the daughter of Bengali immigrants. Families are torn between different cultures and languages, children divide their loyalties between Eastern parents and Western partners. Her plots are driven by polarities of ...”

“... There’s always the danger that a prize – especially if it comes early in a career – may distort a writer’s delicate negotiation of voice and audience, like amplifying it through a public address system. You learn to write by adjusting sentences for an imagined listening ear, with responsibilities in many directions (to see clearly and ...”

“... from China amount to nearly $5 billion. Given that the railway is yet to turn a profit, Kenya may be forced to cede the port to China. More likely, China will renegotiate the debt, extending the repayment schedule.Transport infrastructure has historically served to bind fractious peripheral territories to the centre. America’s Pacific Railroad, built in ...”

“... cutting and pasting the halves of different proverbs together:Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words lead to Rome:‘Red sky at night, do as the Romans do –Rome wasn’t built in a storm …’When in Rome, gather no moss:All silver linings lead to RomeBut my favourite work of theme and variation is ‘Marriage of Two ...”

“... women.’Perhaps this is not the moment to ask whether that interpretation limits her. The figures may be mostly female but the forces they channel are supernatural or unconscious, and their human forms are often cross-dressed. Rego’s best works look at politics askance – at power and repression, at the darkness between and within individuals. Growing up ...”