https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=London_Review_of_BooksLondon Review of Books - Revision history2026-07-31T00:06:10ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=London_Review_of_Books&diff=460342&oldid=prevRajeev067 at 21:38, 15 February 20262026-02-15T21:38:28Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British journal of literary reviews}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=July 2011}}<br />
{{Infobox magazine<br />
| title = London Review of Books<br />
| image_file = Lrb17aug2006vol28no16.jpg<br />
| image_size = 200px<br />
| image_caption =<br />
| publisher = Reneé Doegar<br />
| circulation = 73,378 (ABC: 2024)<br />
| frequency = 24 per year<br />
| language = English<br />
| category = [[Literature]], [[history]], [[idea]]s<ref>{{cite news|first=John|last=Dugdale|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/20/hilary-mantel-london-review-of-books|title=Hilary Mantel: not the first LRB controversy|newspaper=The Guardian|date=20 February 2013|access-date=20 February 2013}}</ref><br />
| editor = Jean McNicol, Alice Spawls<br />
| editor_title = Editor<br />
| founded = {{start date and age|1979}}<br />
| firstdate =<br />
| country = United Kingdom<br />
| based = [[Bloomsbury]], [[London]]<br />
| website = {{URL|https://www.lrb.co.uk/}}<br />
| issn = 0260-9592<br />
}}<br />
The '''''London Review of Books''''' ('''''LRB''''') is a British [[literary magazine]] published semimonthly that features articles and essays on [[fiction]] and [[non-fiction]] subjects, which are usually structured as [[book review]]s.<ref name="eday">{{Cite news |last=Day |first=Elizabeth |date=2014-03-09 |title=Is the LRB the best magazine in the world? |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/09/london-review-books-lrb-best-magazines-world-mary-kay-wilmers |access-date=2023-06-29 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><br />
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==History==<br />
The ''London Review of Books'' was founded in 1979,<ref name=eday/> when publication of ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'' was suspended during the year-long [[Lockout (industry)|lock-out]] at ''[[The Times]]''.<ref name=lrb_about>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/about|title=About the LRB}}</ref> Its founding editors were [[Karl Miller]], then professor of English at [[University College London]]; [[Mary-Kay Wilmers]], formerly an editor at ''The Times Literary Supplement''; and [[Susannah Clapp]], a former editor at [[Jonathan Cape]]. For its first six months, it appeared as an insert in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=William|last=Grimes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/books/a-whitney-ellsworth-new-york-review-publisher-dies-at-75.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|title=A. Whitney Ellsworth, First Publisher of New York Review, Dies at 75|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 June 2011|access-date=20 June 2011}}</ref> It became an independent publication in May 1980. Its political stance has been described by [[Alan Bennett]], a prominent contributor, as "consistently radical".<ref>[[Alan Bennett|Bennett, Alan]], July 1996, in the Foreword to Jane Hindle (editor), ''London Review of Books: An Anthology'', Verso, 1996. {{ISBN|1-85984-860-5}}: "The LRB has maintained a consistently radical stance on politics and social affairs."</ref><br />
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Unlike ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (TLS), the majority of the articles the ''LRB'' publishes (usually fifteen per issue) are long essays. Some articles in each issue are not based on books, while several short articles discuss film or exhibitions. Political and social essays are frequent. The magazine is headquartered in [[Bloomsbury]], London.<ref name=eday/><br />
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Wilmers took over as editor in 1992 and remained as editor for almost 30 years.<ref name="FloodJan21">{{cite news |last1=Flood |first1=Alison |title=London Review of Books editor Mary-Kay Wilmers steps down after 30 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/29/london-review-of-books-editor-mary-kay-wilmers-steps-down-after-30-years |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=30 January 2021 |date=29 January 2021}}</ref> She was succeeded by Jean McNicol and Alice Spawls in 2021.<ref name="FloodJan21"/> Average circulation per issue for January to December 2023 was 74,743.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Review of Books - ABC - Delivering a valued stamp of trust - ABC UK |url=https://www.abc.org.uk/product/6558 |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=www.abc.org.uk}}</ref> <br />
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In January 2010, ''The Times'' wrote that the ''London Review'' was £27M in debt to the Wilmers' family trust, although the trust had "no intention of the lender seeking repayment of the loan in the near future".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Richard |title=London Review of Books £27m in the red – but it isn't counting |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/london-review-of-books-pound27m-in-the-red-but-it-isnt-counting-nvkr90btl9c |url-access=subscription |website=[[The Times]] |access-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200226201627/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/london-review-of-books-pound27m-in-the-red-but-it-isnt-counting-nvkr90btl9c |archive-date=26 February 2020 |date=24 January 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><br />
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The '''London Review Bookshop''' opened in Bloomsbury in May 2003, and the Cake Shop next door in November 2007 (closed September 2024). The bookshop is used as a venue for author presentations and discussions.<ref name="lrb_about" /><br />
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In 2011, when [[Pankaj Mishra]] criticised [[Niall Ferguson]]'s book ''Civilisation: The West and the Rest'' in the ''LRB'', Ferguson threatened to sue for libel.<ref>{{cite news|first=Paul|last=Harris|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/04/niall-ferguson-apologises-gay-keynes|title=Niall Ferguson apologises for anti-gay remarks towards John Maynard Keynes|newspaper=The Observer|date=4 May 2013|access-date=4 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Pankaj|last=Mishra|author-link=Pankaj Mishra|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n21/pankaj-mishra/watch-this-man|title=Watch this man|journal=London Review of Books|date=3 November 2011|volume=33|issue=21|access-date=3 November 2011}}</ref><br />
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In 2023, the [[Hebrew Writers Association in Israel]] openly published a protest response to the letter of support for Gaza that was published in the journal, and called writers and artists around the world to support the freeing of the kidnapped.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-02 |title=Israeli writers condemn London Review of Books for condemning Israel |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-771248 |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|first=Hannah |last=Brown |language=en |issn=0792-822X}}</ref><br />
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In January 2024, ''A Hitch in Time: Reflections Ready for Reconsideration'', an anthology of [[Christopher Hitchens]]{{'s}} writings between 1983 and 2002 for ''The London Review of Books'', was published.<ref name = "NYT-20240101">{{cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dwight |title=Want to Feel, Intellectually, Like Someone Is Rotating Your Tires? - This bracing anthology of Christopher Hitchens's work for The London Review of Books is just the ticket. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/books/review/hitch-in-time-christopher-hitchens.html |date=1 January 2024 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240101164006/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/books/review/hitch-in-time-christopher-hitchens.html |archivedate=1 January 2024 |access-date=4 February 2024 }} (Updated 17 January 2024)</ref><br />
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==Contributors==<br />
Contributors have included:<br />
{{Columns-list|colwidth=14em|<br />
* [[Tariq Ali]]<br />
* [[Martin Amis]]<br />
* [[Benedict Anderson]]<br />
* [[Perry Anderson]]<br />
* [[Neal Ascherson]]<br />
* [[John Ashbery]]<br />
* [[Andrew Bacevich]]<br />
* [[Julian Barnes]]<br />
* [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]]<br />
* [[Alan Bennett]]<br />
* [[Tony Blair]]<br />
* [[Anita Brookner]]<br />
* [[Gordon Brown]]<br />
* [[Anne Carson]]<br />
* [[Angela Carter]]<br />
* [[Terry Castle]]<br />
* [[Stanley Cavell]]<br />
* [[Bruce Chatwin]]<br />
* [[T. J. Clark (art historian)|T. J. Clark]]<br />
* [[Tom Clark (poet)|Tom Clark]]<br />
* [[Patrick Cockburn]]<br />
* [[Stefan Collini]]<br />
* [[Jenny Diski]]<br />
* [[Terry Eagleton]]<br />
* [[William Empson]]<br />
* [[Paul Farmer]]<br />
* [[Penelope Fitzgerald]]<br />
* [[Jerry Fodor]]<br />
* [[Paul Foot (journalist)|Paul Foot]]<br />
* [[Dawn Foster]]<br />
* [[Martha Gellhorn]]<br />
* [[Stephen Greenblatt]]<br />
* [[Mark Greif]]<br />
* [[Nigel Hamilton (author)|Nigel Hamilton]]<br />
* [[Jeremy Harding]]<br />
* [[Tony Harrison]]<br />
* [[Seymour Hersh]]<br />
* [[Rosemary Hill]]<br />
* [[David Hirson]]<br />
* [[Christopher Hitchens]]<br />
* [[Eric Hobsbawm]]<br />
* [[Michael Ignatieff]]<br />
* [[Kazuo Ishiguro]]<br />
* [[Tony Judt]]<br />
* [[Fredric Jameson]]<br />
* [[Frank Kermode]]<br />
* [[Colin Kidd]]<br />
* [[India Knight]]<br />
* [[Kevin Kopelson]]<br />
* [[John Lanchester]]<br />
* [[Ben Lerner]]<br />
* [[Patricia Lockwood]]<br />
* [[Tom Lowenstein]]<br />
* [[Colin MacCabe]]<br />
* [[Alasdair MacIntyre]]<br />
* [[Donald Angus MacKenzie|Donald MacKenzie]]<br />
* [[Hilary Mantel]]<br />
* [[Adam Mars-Jones]]<br />
* [[Wyatt Mason]]<br />
* [[Ian McEwan]]<br />
* [[Colin McGinn]]<br />
* [[James Meek (writer)|James Meek]]<br />
* [[Paul Mendez]]<br />
* [[Hugh Miles (journalist)|Hugh Miles]]<br />
* [[Ed Miliband]]<br />
* [[Pankaj Mishra]]<br />
* [[Blake Morrison]]<br />
* [[Tom Nairn]]<br />
* [[Glen Newey]]<br />
* [[Martha Nussbaum]]<br />
* [[Andrew O'Hagan]]<br />
* [[Tom Paulin]]<br />
* [[Nicholas Penny]]<br />
* [[Adam Phillips (psychologist)|Adam Phillips]]<br />
* [[Hilary Putnam]]<br />
* [[Christopher Ricks]]<br />
* [[Richard Rorty]]<br />
* [[Jacqueline Rose]]<br />
* [[David Runciman]]<br />
* [[Salman Rushdie]]<br />
* [[Lorna Sage]]<br />
* [[Edward Said]]<br />
* [[Raphael Samuel]]<br />
* [[Stephen Sedley]]<br />
* [[Tom Shippey]]<br />
* [[Elaine Showalter]]<br />
* [[Iain Sinclair]]<br />
* [[Quentin Skinner]]<br />
* [[Susan Sontag]]<br />
* [[Amia Srinivasan]]<br />
* [[Galen Strawson]]<br />
* [[Ernest Sackville Turner]]<br />
* [[Colm Tóibín]]<br />
* [[Marina Warner]]<br />
* [[Bernard Williams]]<br />
* [[James Wood (critic)|James Wood]]<br />
* [[Slavoj Žižek]]<br />
}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Literary criticism]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* {{Official website|https://www.lrb.co.uk/}}<br />
* [https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/ London Review Bookshop]<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Biweekly magazines published in the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Book review magazines]]<br />
[[Category:Literary magazines published in the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Magazines established in 1979]]<br />
[[Category:Magazines published in London]]<br />
[[Category:Political magazines published in the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:The New York Review of Books]]</div>Rajeev067