Miriam Cosic

When did you first write for ABR? June 2013. Which critics most impress you? Peter Brown on the ancient world, Terry Eagleton and Jim Holt on philosophy, Robert Evans and Ian Buruma on international relations, Joan Acocella and Janet Malcolm on anything. I don’t always agree with them, but they are knowledgeable, witty, revelatory writers. In Australia, Delia Falconer and James Bradley on f ... (read more)

When Sheila Fitzpatrick arrived in Oxford in 1964, with a couple of years of Russian language studies at Melbourne University and a Commonwealth Scholarship under her belt, she had more than a passing knowledge of Cold War spying. Her father, Brian Fitzpatrick, was a labour historian and well-known leftist who had advised the Labor Opposition leader H.V. Evatt when fallout from the Petrov affair i ... (read more)

The recent publication of Willa Cather’s letters caused a stir in the United States. The American author, surprisingly underrated here, had explicitly and repeatedly said she did not want her letters made public. Some believe her wishes should be respected; others say the demands of history are greater than those of a long-dead individual. This, of course, points to part of the allure of readin ... (read more)