Reviews

The Siege of Malta, detail from the Vatican Gallery of Maps, 16th century. Adam Eastland Art + Architecture / Alamy Stock Photo.

‘The Great Siege of Malta’ by Marcus Bull review

The Great Siege of Malta by Marcus Bull upends the myth of the Knights of Malta and their last stand of 1565.

Rulers misleading their people, from the Discussions of Varro by Maïtre François, c. 1475-80. KB, National Library of the Netherlands. Public Domain.

‘The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages’ by Shane Bobrycki review

A tool for tyrants... or their undoing? The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages by Shane Bobrycki crafts a history for the medieval mob.

‘Little Red Riding Hood’, by Fedor Flinzer, 1881. Interfoto/TopFoto.

‘The Brothers Grimm: A Biography’ by Ann Schmiesing review

The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing brings folklore’s most famous double act out of the shadowy realm of legend.

Petty officers and seamen of the Royal Navy, by Frank Dadd, c. 1900. Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection. Brown University Library. Public Domain.

‘The Price of Victory’ by N.A.M. Rodger review

The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain: 1815-1945 by N.A.M. Rodger looks above decks for the story of the modern Royal Navy.

Augustus the Strong, attributed to Johann Joachim Kretzschmar, c. 1713. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Augustus the Strong’ by Tim Blanning review

In Augustus the Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco, Tim Blanning looks for a legacy for the ‘incorrigible Saxon’.

Two angels, by Pierop di Cosimo, c. 1510-15. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Public Domain.

‘The Grammar of Angels’ by Edward Wilson-Lee review

The Grammar of Angels: A Search for the Magical Powers of Language by Edward Wilson-Lee finds in Giovanni Pico della Mirandola a case for the Rennaissance as a triumph not of individuality, but of universal experience.

A beehive scene, by Fedor Flinzer, 1902. Mary Evans Picture Library.

‘Man-Devil’ by John J. Callanan review

Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe by John J. Callanan revels in the making of the controversial satirist and philosopher.

‘Dancing at the New Carlton Hotel, Shanghai’, block print by Toyonari, 1924. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Public Domain.

‘The Worlds of Victor Sassoon’ by Rosemary Wakeman review

Rosemary Wakeman’s The Worlds of Victor Sassoon: Bombay, London, Shanghai, 1918-1941 is a tale of three cities linked by globalisation and a singular global citizen.

‘A Perspective View of the City of Naples’, by Thomas Bowles III, 18th century. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Public Domain.

‘Naples 1343’ by Amedeo Feniello review

Naples 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia – Amedeo Feniello’s history of the Camorra – has this much in common with the case against them: it’s all about the evidence.

Monkey puzzle tree, from Louis van Houtte and Charles Lemaire’s Flowers of the Gardens and Hothouses of Europe, 1862-65. Florilegius/Bridgeman Images.

‘The Tree Hunters’ by Thomas Pakenham review

In The Tree Hunters: How the Cult of the Arboretum Transformed Our Landscape, Thomas Pakenham reveals the discoveries of Britain’s buccaneering botanists.