The TLS

'I will forever be grateful to her for allowing me some careful and considerate airtime after one of the first nasty attacks I received on social media.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard): Jenni Murray and Pompeii #Echobox=1774374251" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

The struggle between good and evil in William Golding’s fiction #Echobox=1773934383" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/lives/letters/…

William Golding’s beast within; the many lives of W. H. Auden; Palantir spreads; the spirit of the Risorgimento; Ishiguro on film; experiencing consciousness – and much more. Out now: the-tls.com/issues/current…

The failure to combat laundering #Echobox=1773141493" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/politics-socie…

How the Bible came into existence #Echobox=1773141478" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/religion/relig…

'At the time, it brought back memories of the Falklands War and the different “styles” of reportage.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard): GOTCHA #Echobox=1773158701" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

Sexuality in the life of James Baldwin #Echobox=1773141454" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/literature-by-…

The first portraitist to put an indelible mark on an era #Echobox=1773141434" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/arts/art-histo…

The cult of Holbein; the uncertain future of reading; dreaming of Cairo; how the Bible came to be; an Orwellian dilemma – and much more. The new TLS is out now: the-tls.com/issues/current…

'In other words, hard as you might try to dig them out, there are few answers to contemporary Christian debates in biblical texts.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard ): Christianity, sex and Islam #Echobox=1772724155" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

The new issue of @TheTLS, featuring @CLEdwall on reading; James Hall on Holbein; @francescawade on Rhoda Power; @nclarke14 on Mark Haddon; @NatashaRandall on Maria Stepanova; @MadocCairns on the Bible; Adam Watt on Jacques Rivière – and much more

'One information panel explained his wandering around (from one woman to the next) as “existential restlessness” (rather than as an unattractive inability to ever stick with anyone in the same place).' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard): Byron in Ravenna #Echobox=1772617546" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

From 2017: Pardis Mahdavi on the young Iranians reading romance novels as a form of rebellion against the state the-tls.com/politics-socie…

In @TheTLS this week I review two landmark books about Tolkien‘s work: Michael D. C. Drout’s “unexpectedly moving” The Tower and the Ruin and Giuseppe Pezzini‘s ”exemplary study” Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation. the-tls.com/literature-by-… @TheTLS @MikeDrout #tolkien

Mark Ronson’s memoir is a hoot. He makes 90s NYC sound even more exciting than 90s London. My review for this week’s @TheTLS the-tls.com/lives/autobiog…

'Once you get going, it really is great (it’s probably my favourite book of all time). But I think classicists tend to underestimate the challenges of some of those initial barriers to enjoying it.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard ): Odyssey fever #Echobox=1771956913" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

'I am sure that, in many ways, I am much less expert at the task than the professionals. But I started to feel that none of them captured what I see as my own “down-to-earthness”.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard ): Recording your own books #Echobox=1771518618" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

Theories of time; how Byzantium survived; Tolkien’s hobbit craft; lessons from Brexit; mastery of microbes; Faber’s full stops – and much more. Out now: the-tls.com/issues/current…

'I decided to escape far from home in the hope of making some inroads into the large pile of books – not so much on a writer’s retreat, more like a reader’s retreat.' Mary Beard (@wmarybeard ): Hotel reading #Echobox=1771326823" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the-tls.com/regular-featur…

Congratulations to US translator Peter Filkins, the winner of the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize for his translation of The Book Against Death, written by Nobel Laureate Elias Canetti! Find out more about the prize, presented with @TheTLS: shorturl.at/9XeYf