‘I felt that I should like to kiss the hands that had awakened a new world of music for me.’ The year was 1888, the occasion was the Paris debut of a 27-year-old pianist named Ignacy Jan Paderewski. A

Danny Bird You open your book by recounting a chance visit to an old mosque in Cyprus. What was so significant about that moment? Tharik Hussain Nothing changed for me on the day itself, because I kne

Keep calm and carry on is Ukraine’s mantra this winter. The nation has been at war for nearly four years and its list of problems is growing almost as rapidly as its exhaustion, but people are determi

The development and future of capitalism

Peace talks took place in Miami just before Christmas, described as “productive and constructive” in a joint US and Ukrainian statement, but there is still no major breakthrough in ending the war in U

Composite figment of imaginations The writer credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, and often regarded as one of the most important authors of all time, is to my mind the most overrated hi