The most authentic thing about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is its densely braided narrative, but its tormented hero sounds like the heroes of Christopher Nolan movies.
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s inside account of the Trump administration portrays a president with a vast appetite for power but who repeatedly backs down when the costs of his actions become too high.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
We overlook the importance of insects at our peril, says Charles Harris, as he marvels at the fruit flies that share our genes and the moths that supply strands of silk
A room with a clue
Deborah Nicholls-Lee searches high and low for the concealed rooms and secret spaces that are an intriguing quirk of so many British country houses
Luxury
Facials, fragrance and bold and beautiful summer jewellery with Amie Elizabeth White, plus a few of the Duchess of Beaufort’s favourite things
Born to be wild
Charles Quest-Ritson visits East Lambrook Manor in Somerset and is heartened to find the home of Margery Fish’s ‘jungle gardening’ in good hands
Vicki Anstey’s favourite painting
The adventurer chooses a work showcasing human resilience
Country-house treasure
John Goodall surveys artworks by the Staithes Group — the first English Impressionists — at Brockfield Hall, North Yorkshire
Revival and renewal
In the second of two articles, John Goodall explores James Wyatt’s influence on the interiors at Curraghmore in Co Waterford
The legacy
Kate Green lauds Benjamin Britten’s lasting impact on Arts and culture in his beloved Suffolk
Winging it
Mark Cocker examines the folklore and infamy of the magpie
Where there’s a grill, there’s a way
John Lewis-Stempel reads the smoke signals as a barbecue fires up Neolithic nostalgia
Alders and betters
Alnus glutinosa is an ancient pioneer species with a key role to play on our riverbanks, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Interiors
Arabella Youens admires the colour and comfort added to a Jersey farmhouse and a splash of zest is best for Amelia Thorpe
Travel
Rosie Paterson enjoys an island paradise off France’s Côte d’Azur
Arts & antiques
Grégoire the grey toad brings a wealth of pleasure to Frederick Fischer, Lalique UK managing director, as he tells Carla Passino
A kind of magic
Multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist Es Devlin shares the secret of her success with Corinne Julius
It is the most powerful political party in the world, controlling China’s future as well as its past, but was the young CCP in control of its imperial destiny?
As ancient Rome was divided by civil war Cicero found himself torn. Caesar was his old adversary, but he was also powerful, and it was politically and personally expedient to support him.
Brazil’s first newspaper was published from London by an exiled Freemason on first-name terms with British royalty. Who was Hipólito da Costa and what was his news?
In August 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a boldly pacifist campaign speech, promising no American would have to go to war. It had seemed a realistic promise.
Agnes Stamp meets the cereal-snaffling, bed-wrecking, turkey-wrangling miniature bull terrier who took the title—and rounds up the best (or worst) of the rest
The 39 steps to being a good dog owner
From clamping down on begging to sweetening bad breath, William Hanson presents his guide to modern pet-iquette
Ian Seath’s favourite painting
The Royal Kennel Club chairman chooses a work that celebrates canine collaboration with humans
Pup and coming
There have never been so many options for pampering your pooch. Mary Skipwith explores the rapidly evolving world of canine luxury
Country-house treasure
John Goodall marvels at the extensive 18th-century library at Powderham Castle in Devon
The legacy
Kate Green applauds Enid Blyton for dreaming up the spirited adventures of the Famous Five
A power in the landscape
In the first of two articles, John Goodall explores the early history of Curraghmore in Co Waterford, one of Ireland’s great houses
Bone appétit
Why settle for discarded street snacks when there is succulent chicken on the menu, asks Jack Russell Maud Parker Bowles
Interiors
Arabella Youens investigates interiors designed with pets in mind and Amelia Thorpe shares accessories for the (dog) house
Winging it
Why can’t we learn to love the wood pigeon, asks Mark Cocker
You got me there
David Profumo pursues tricky brown trout in a day on the Test
Everything bar the Oompa Loompas
Harry Pearson visits The Oldest Sweet Shop in England, which has traded in treats since 1827
Luxury
Fruity accessories offer rich pickings for Amie Elizabeth White
Colour for all seasons
Kathryn Bradley-Hole admires the spectacular successional planting in the new gardens of The Copper House in Kent
Travel
Steven King savours the spirit of the Hebrides and the natural beauty of the Isle of Harris during a stay at historic Rodel House
Arts & antiques
The rise of service à la russe in the 19th century turned the tables in upper-class British dining, discovers Carla Passino
To say nothing of the dog
Michael Prodger examines the history of canines on canvas and reveals how artists have warmed to Man’s best friend
Investment, organisation and effort can guarantee secure water supplies for everyone in Britain, argues Lord Deben
The power of water
Kate Green surveys the surging strength of the Severn Bore, the haunting beauty of the flooded Somerset Levels, life on the edge at Dawlish and the capital’s mighty Thames Barrier.
Why every drop counts
People who work with water tell Kate Green and Mary Skipwith why we need to reconnect with our most precious resource
Up with the gulls, to bed with the owl
Patrick Galbraith experiences an eventful day in the life of the ever-changing, but enduringly beautiful Cley estuary in Norfolk
On peak form
Artists such as Turner, Bierstadt and Wolf took painting to new heights with their depictions of mountains, finds Michael Prodger
Let all the world sing
The 2026 BBC Proms promises to be a truly global spectacle, as Henrietta Bredin discovers
The queen of spas
Scarborough in North Yorkshire is the original Victorian seaside resort. Kathryn Ferry charts the development of its spa complex
The Revd Sam Wells’s favourite painting
The St Martin-in-the-Fields vicar chooses a painting where ‘magnificent humanity’ is laid bare
Country-house treasure
John Goodall unearths evidence of Bowood in Wiltshire’s wartime role as a ‘beacon of recovery’
Pooling assets
George Plumptre is charmed by the Anglo-Italian landscape at Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire
The legacy
Agnes Stamp pays tribute to speed merchant Sir Max Aitken, the king of British powerboating
Winging it
Mark Cocker assesses the anti-social antics of the herring gull
Luxury
Jonathan Self ponders the power of fine jewellery and Amie Elizabeth White finds coral for all
Interiors
Arabella Youens visits a kitchen giving a nod to history, and reveals that chequerboard floors are back
Travel
Rosie Paterson is looking for a New England in Nantucket
Arts & antiques
Carla Passino investigates the intriguing tale of ‘Mad Madge’, a pioneer of science-fiction
Truth, lies and somewhere in between
Michael Billington delves into a world of deceit and infidelity
Samuel Clemens is everywhere in Hannibal, Missouri, but is the story the town tells about its favorite son grounded in reality or myth? By Ruth Franklin