In search of political understanding, MATTHEW HAWKINS welcomes a critique of anti-semitism as codified by the Israeli state

HENRY BELL is sceptical of the notion that ‘progress’ is an ideology that the ruling class uses exclusively to camouflage appropriation

GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes a coherent and radical call to arms against the failed model of networked neoliberal capitalism 

BEN CHACKO welcomes a masterful analysis that puts class struggle back at the heart of our understanding of China’s revolution

JENNY MITCHELL, poetry co-editor for the Morning Star, introduces her priorities, and her first selection

by Imasha Costa

JOHN GREEN is intrigued by the ethereal, ghostly quality of images of a London unobscured by the bustle of humanity

WILL STONE witnesses an experimental piano concerto inspired by the work of a young Jewish victim of the Nazis

JENNY FARRELL relishes an outstanding Palestinian novel that immerses readers in the sensory reality of Gaza, then and now

AI-induced murder, last rites for the mob-dog, a gullible common herd, and an exemplary Christmas chiller

DAVID HORSLEY reflects on the impact of the great Jamaican singer songwriter and actor Jimmy Cliff

New releases from The Belair Lip Bombs, Lisa O’Neill, and Sessa

SUSAN DARLINGTON relishes an inclusive production of a Dickens classic that makes no bones about the lived reality of the Victorian working class

RICHARD MURGATROYD enjoys a readable account of the life and meditations of one of the few Roman emperors with a good reputation

ALEX HALL asks whether intelligence, and stupidity, are the outcomes of poverty and wealth, and cultural norms

BRENT CUTLER is persuaded by a new account of the rise of Christianity, and the fall of the Roman empire

If non-human nature is devoid of value under the capitalist mode of production, this book presents the case for its reintegration, suggests HENRY BELL

The Bard takes issue with a BBC portrait of The Balkans, and sets the record straight

Pantos have the power to confirm people’s prejudices or sub-consciously challenge homophobic and transphobic attitudes, suggests GEOFF BOTTOMS

ANGUS REID urges you to visit Britain’s most remarkable - and mind-blowing - festival of contemporary music

MARIA DUARTE reviews Desperate Journey, Blue Moon, Pillion, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

MARIA DUARTE recommends the remarkable and painful story of the lesbian who put women’s boxing on the map

WILL STONE enjoys a set by an artist too eclectic to be pigeonholed

RUTH AYLETT reviews two collections of outright political poetry

by Christopher Norris

The book feels like a writer working within his limits and not breaking any new ground, believes KEN COCKBURN

The portrait of Elisabeth Lederer carries a deep personal and political history. BENEDICT CARPENTER van BARTHOLD explains

As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there

MARY CONWAY recommends the play for the truthfulness of the writing, the quality of the production and the vigorous characterisation

ANGUS REID feels the joy of being part of the anniversary of this delicious, provocative concept, and this community of singers

NEIL GARDNER listens to a refreshingly varied setlist that charts the band’s voyage from avant-garde experimentalists to techno pioneers

New releases from Kennedy Administration, Melanie Pain, and Afton Wolfe

PRAGYA AGARWAL recommends a collection of drawings that explore the relation of indigenous people to the land in south Asia, Africa and the Caribbean

CHRIS SEALE speaks to Palestinian sound artist BINT MBAREH

MARY CONWAY applauds a brave and timely two hander that explores the difference between intimacy and abuse

ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review The Thing with Feathers, Train Dreams, Sisu: Road to Revenge, and Wicked: For Good

FIONA O’CONNOR rejoices in the long-overdue exposure of the secretive, brutish hinterland of ultra-conservative Catholic Ireland

GUILLERMO THOMAS welcomes a biography of WA Domingo, a key figure in the anti-colonial struggle in the Caribbean

BRENT CUTLER is intrigued by the imperialist, supremacist and contradictory history of a word that is used all too easily

PETER MASON is beguiled by a fascinating account of the importance of cricket to immigrants from the Caribbean to the UK

GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes, and recommends a a candid, evidence-based record of Britain’s role in the slaughter visited by Israel upon the Palestinians

by Donna Irving

PETER MASON is gripped by a novel that confronts corporate callousness with those prepared to act to bring about change

KEN COCKBURN relishes the memoir of a translator, but wonders whether the autobiography underlying the impulse would make a better book

PAUL BUHLE an RAYMOND TYLER enjoy an issue of the radical comic WW3 that gives a platform to Palestinian artists, and uncensored commentary

JAMES WALSH wallows in the triumphant reappearance behind the mic of former Morning Star columnist Chris T-T

The new corporate version of Robin Hood is a betrayal of the anti-colonial hero of the people of yore, suggests DENNIS BROE

A mesmerising novel by Mexican Daniel Saldana Paris, and fierce poetry by Peruvian Dalmacia Ruiz-Rosas Samohod, and Jonathan Gonzalez

TONY BURKE recommends a new podcast about the legenary Nigerian musician and political activist FELA KUTI

GWYNETH PEATY and KATIE ELLIS draw attention to the long history of horror films that demonise disability

MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a timely and brilliantly performed antidote to racism in times of Jenrick-inflected jingoism

The bard weighs in to the BBC debate with the nine pints of Stella theory

PAUL DONOVAN feels that the historical record vindicates the role played by U-Thant’s leadership of the UN from 1961 to 1971

MARTIN HALL welcomes a study of Britain’s relationship with the EU that sheds light on the way euroscepticism moved from the margins to the centre

GAVIN O’TOOLE savours a veteran correspondent’s account of the monumental US failure in Afghanistan

ALEX HALL recommends a considered and clear approach to dismantling apartheid and occupation, were Israel to come to its senses

MICHAL BONCZA, ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review Alpha, Park Avenue, The Running Man, and Left Handed Girl

MARIA DUARTE ponders the defence this film makes, of charisma and ‘ordinariness,’ that Hollywood uses to dramatise Nazi war criminals

Chris Searle speaks to saxophonist and composer SOWETO KINCH