In our Guide to the Classics series, experts explain key works of literature. Middlemarch (1872) is a slow read and a deeply immersive one. George Eliot – the pen name of Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) – ...

The most scathing piece of literary criticism I’ve ever read is an essay, published in 1856, called “Silly Novels by Lady Novelists.” It begins like this: The author then describes the many literary ...

This week in the magazine, Rebecca Mead writes about George Eliot’s “Middlemarch.” (Subscribers can read the full text; others can buy access to the issue via the digital edition.) On the Book Bench, ...

It would be very silly indeed to argue that nonfiction writers are running out of ideas; the Samuel Johnson prize shortlist, to take just one guide, grows stronger with every year that passes.