“... CIA in formulating its assessments on Iran. But his re-defection to Iran in 2010 suggests that he may have been a double agent, calling into question all his reporting to the CIA, before and after his defection. Operation Merlin, in which the CIA attempted to pass on to Iran flawed designs for a nuclear weapon, further undermines the CIA’s credibility as a ...”

“... There’s a sensation of being forcibly held beneath the surface of the writing, with results that may feel a little like drowning. There’s a reason for the increased pressure being transmitted through the prose, and that’s the need to maintain an impression of unified material though the rules of engagement of the book have in fact been changed. Intercut ...”

“... democratic trends of their domestic politics was too embarrassing to endure indefinitely. They may not have willed the end; but they could not resist adopting the means. If they acquired the empire in ‘a fit of absence of mind’, they could be said to have lost it in much the same manner. Wilson rightly points out in his final pages what a modest impact ...”

“... between us.’ The reader wonders what could possibly follow such a missive but separation and may be surprised to see no mention of it in Sonya’s next letter. Only those who assiduously check the footnotes will realise that it was never sent. Tolstoy remained utterly conflicted. He held these views but couldn’t act on them; life was more complicated ...”

“... fields as psychiatry – had become flushed with power. The neoliberalism of Thatcher and Reagan may not have had answers to these problems, but it was at least willing to name them in ways that facilitated its political hegemony.Sociologists responded in various ways. For those with the deepest professional investment in the discipline as it ...”

“... Jew, is now the presidential candidate of neo-Maurrasian Catholic traditionalists suggests that he may not be entirely wrong. But the dislike of Jews has not vanished among the conservative Catholic bourgeoisie, even if Zemmour has been willing to look past it – he dined in 2020 with Jean-Marie Le Pen and the daughter of the Nazi foreign minister Von ...”

“... was asking Walker and Lorde to spurn the honour and the one thousand dollar prize – income they may have wanted to keep … Seen in this light, her high-minded proposal carried with it a large dose of presumption: first, that she would win; second, that a joint statement from all of them was necessary; and third, that they should imperil their professional ...”

“... are not at all sure they approve of the legalistic and moralistic Islam that their sons or cousins may preach on their return. Many I met were more interested in the business skills that could be learned in Australia or elsewhere. I often heard the lament that their Arab grandfathers and fathers had not thought enough about education, and had simply pushed ...”

“... in Meaux, where he was probably bullied, and where the older boys led a mini-insurrection in May 1968 – no doubt adding to his growing horror of leftist radicalism. But he made friends: plenty of Demonpion’s interviewees, from all periods of his life, report that although unusual and sometimes difficult, Houellebecq is also funny and charming. He ...”

“... with light and day’), but it is impossible to judge what effect was intended. Dylan Thomas may have been happy to intone the poems at his reading (they are remarkably sonorous), but their difficulty prompted unenthusiastic reviews, including Hugh MacDiarmid’s dismissive description of Graham as ‘an adolescent playing with the materials of great ...”

“... stronger, the glow of fever looked like ruddy health. Cora embraced every hopeful sign. As late as May 1900 she wrote happily to H.G. Wells: ‘Lung trouble seems over!’ But Wells wasn’t deceived. ‘He did his utmost to conceal his symptoms and get on with his dying,’ Wells wrote. ‘Only at the end did his wife wake up to what was coming.’ A ...”

“... accountability and use of force that made it possible were the creations of Yeltsinism. There may seem to be more obvious contrasts in the realm of economic policy between the 1990s and the 2000s: Yeltsin implemented a radical programme of market reforms and mass privatisation, seeking to dismantle for ever the state socialist system; Putin moved to ...”

“... something you can’t go to prison for and this has seemed to work fairly well, but the government may now extend the policy to crimes you could go to prison for. The government also proposes to introduce means testing: this seems like a good idea – why shouldn’t someone like Andy Coulson pay for his own lawyer? – but it has been shown to be ...”

“... of the murder was botched and that some of those who participated in the killing went free. It may be so. But what struck me was the abundant evidence in Marable’s book, as well as in Malcolm’s own, that his years with the Nation of Islam were only a prelude: he had a second act in ...”

“... in papal ideology and propaganda uses of Mary. I could surrender to its beauty. This new serenity may be connected to John Paul II having died in the interim. Perhaps. But I also think that I mind less about the dictates and precepts of the Catholic Church because its grip on ethics feels so much less confident these days and its pronouncements on women and ...”