James Evans

A ménage à trois that worked: Ivan Turgenev and the Viardots

The Russian novelist doted on the singer Pauline Viardot. But the affair cooled to friendship when he moved in with her and her kind-hearted husband Louis

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  • The Europeans: Three Lives and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Culture

    Orlando Figes

    Allen Lane, pp. 551, £30

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Michael Karam

The Lebanese always return home

From the magazine
Beirut You might have thought that the threat of the Gaza war spiralling into an all-out regional conflagration, along with breathless travel advice from western governments urging their nationals to leave the country, would have deterred Lebanon’s expats from flying home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr this year. Not one bit. Flights, hotels and restaurants were

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