The rarity of phosphorus makes it the single most limiting factor for the growth of biomass on Earth. It is, as Isaac Asimov puts it, ‘life’s bottleneck’ – the toll which must be paid by all matter ...

Under the policy of Staatsräson, which has made the defence of Israel a central pillar of the German state, the ...

In the West Papuan regency of Merauke, close to the border with Papua New Guinea, Indonesia is rapidly clearing land ...

I saw ​ the end of it then, I mean the end of it as it was, as my mother told the story of my father’s sudden deafness. The ...

is a wheel where they turn to tell him sorrow is gain. The way he sets his spine to the ironwork is a drag-line of grief: ...

In 2013, a group of French and Egyptian archaeologists discovered of cache of papyri as old as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of the texts were written by people who had worked on the pyramids: a ...

Our pioneering podcast subscription: two contributors explore an area of literature through a selection of key works, providing an introductory grounding like no other. Listen to extracts from each ...

Nearly all these portrayals show Alexander in a positive light, but the story told by modern historians and even some ancient ones is more complex. Alexander came to the throne of Macedon in 336 bc, ...

I wasn’t surprised to read, in David Thomson’s piece, about Terrence Malick’s uncomfortable experience as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford in 1965 (LRB, 22 May). ‘Talking to the Brits,’ he said, ‘was like ...

Fraser MacDonald’s piece about compost reminded me of my time at an agricultural college many years ago (LRB, 17 April). Behind the byre of a nearby farm was a rank, steaming compost heap almost as ...

The main component of cigarette filters is a plastic, cellulose acetate, and trillions of butts are discarded into ...

Many of our most widely discussed pieces were delivered first as LRB Winter Lectures: Judith Butler on who owns Kafka; Hilary Mantel on royal bodies; Andrew O’Hagan on Julian Assange; Marina Warner on ...