Literary Radar

Articles, book reviews, literary critiques and journalistic reports around books on local and international media.

Endgame 1944: How Stalin Won the War by Jonathan Dimbleby review – the Red army’s advance into history | THE GUARDIAN | 27/05/2024

A fresh take on Operation Bagration, the colossal eastern front offensive in the second world war, is the author and broadcaster’s best book yet – and shows how next to the Soviets, the Germans’ worst enemy was Hitler

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Books for a better world: as chosen by Lenny Henry, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Andrew O’Hagan and others | THE GUARDIAN |18/05/2024

Game-changing books that offer hope, as recommended by speakers at this year’s Hay festival, including Theresa May, Tom Holland, Helen Garner and Jon Ronson

 

€100,000 Dublin literary award won by Romanian author Mircea Cărtărescu | THE GUARDIAN THE GUARDIAN THE GUARDIAN | 24/05/2024

Cărtărescu’s novel Solenoid, translated by Sean Cotter, was described by judges as ‘wildly inventive with passages of great beauty’

 

The Quality of Love by Ariane Bankes review – delicious portrait of the Paget twins | THE GUARDIAN | 7/05/2024

This evocative account of the author’s mother and aunt – identical sisters who stole the hearts of London’s 1930s intelligentsia – captures their closeness and lust for life

 

The Book-Makers by Adam Smyth review – bound to be brilliant | THE GUARDIAN | 4/04/2024

From calfskin to cut-and-paste, a tribute to the graft and craft that goes into books

 

My Book Is a Trauma Plot: A Conversation Between Geoffrey Mak and Whitney Mallett | LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS | 28/04/2024

Mean Boys: A Personal History by Geoffrey Mak