Engelsberg Ideas

Engelsberg Ideas Engelsberg Ideas is free to read, providing access to excellence.

Engelsberg Ideas is the home to great writing from the world’s leading thinkers on history, culture, and ideas, featuring essays, historical portraits and regular podcasts.

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of governmen...
19/12/2025

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of government. Censorship exists everywhere, he argues, but in democracies, money is the source of control.

Bryan Appleyard (.appleyard) on the West’s complacency over censorship. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: Video “258 Fake” by Ai Weiwei at Andalusian Contemporary Art Center. Credit: Seville2K

For centuries, India’s history has been entangled with that of the Tibetan Plateau, a reality that has often fuelled ten...
19/12/2025

For centuries, India’s history has been entangled with that of the Tibetan Plateau, a reality that has often fuelled tensions with the People’s Republic of China – and may do so again.

Ved Shinde on the troubled history of India’s Tibetan frontier. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: The Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Dhankar Gompa, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, northern India, close to India’s border with Tibet. Credit: Alexey Senin.

The story of Hanukkah inspires in both its spiritual and worldly dimensions – it is the national epic of the Jewish peop...
19/12/2025

The story of Hanukkah inspires in both its spiritual and worldly dimensions – it is the national epic of the Jewish people.

The Jews’ time of miracles | Samuel Rubinstein

The story of Hanukkah inspires in both its spiritual and worldly dimensions; it is the national epic of the Jewish people.

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of governmen...
19/12/2025

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of government. Censorship exists everywhere, he argues, but in democracies, money is the source of control.

The West’s complacency over censorship | Bryan Appleyard

Ai Weiwei’s critique of China’s control of thought, speech and action has expanded to include western forms of government. Censorship exists everywhere, he argues, but in democracies, money is the source of control.

In Montaigne’s French, essays are not yet 'essays' but assays – trials, tests, experiments. Remove belief, whether in ph...
19/12/2025

In Montaigne’s French, essays are not yet 'essays' but assays – trials, tests, experiments. Remove belief, whether in philosophy or religion, and what remains?

Essaying Montaigne | David Wootton

In Montaigne’s French, essays are not yet 'essays' but assays – trials, tests, experiments. Remove belief, whether in philosophy or religion, and what remains?

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, reve...
18/12/2025

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, revealing the provincial schisms that shaped his thought.

Daniel Skeffington on Augustine’s African roots. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Credit: Science History Images.

In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their e...
18/12/2025

In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their experience offers a warning for how NATO should think about Russia today.

Andrew Monaghan on NATO’s 1937 moment. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: The British Commander-in-Chief, General Percival, signing surrender terms in Singapore on 15 February 15, 1942. Credit: SuperStock

For centuries, India's history has been entangled with that of the Tibetan Plateau, a reality that has often fuelled ten...
18/12/2025

For centuries, India's history has been entangled with that of the Tibetan Plateau, a reality that has often fuelled tensions with the People's Republic of China – and may do so again.

The troubled history of India’s Tibetan frontier | Ved Shinde

For centuries, India's history has been entangled with that of the Tibetan Plateau, a reality that has often fuelled tensions with the People's Republic of China – and may do so again.

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, reve...
18/12/2025

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, revealing the provincial schisms that shaped his thought.

Augustine’s African roots | Daniel Skeffington

A new biography of Saint Augustine returns this towering figure of western philosophy to his North African origins, revealing the provincial schisms that shaped his thought.

In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their e...
18/12/2025

In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their experience offers a warning for how NATO should think about Russia today.

NATO’s 1937 moment | Andrew Monaghan

In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their experience offers a warning for how NATO should think about Russia today.

The United States must collaborate successfully with its allies if it is to compete with China in the global shipping in...
17/12/2025

The United States must collaborate successfully with its allies if it is to compete with China in the global shipping industry.

Maritime allies are America’s superpower | Marc Levinson

The United States must collaborate successfully with its allies if it is to compete with China in the global shipping industry.

The poet's breakthrough collection, The Less Deceived, anticipated the sexual freedoms of the 1960s while pre-emptively ...
17/12/2025

The poet's breakthrough collection, The Less Deceived, anticipated the sexual freedoms of the 1960s while pre-emptively rejecting its promises.

Philip Larkin’s arrival, undeceived | Jeremy Wikeley

The poet's breakthrough collection, The Less Deceived, anticipated the sexual freedoms of the 1960s while pre-emptively rejecting its promises.

Address

London

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Engelsberg Ideas posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Engelsberg Ideas:

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Welcome to Engelsberg Ideas

Engelsberg Ideas is a new home for great writing and podcasts on history and culture, featuring leading writers and thinkers.

Although this is an exciting new publishing venture, it also has deep roots – in the Engelsberg Seminars that have taken place for more than two decades every June in Engelsberg, Sweden, at the centre owned by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. An illustration of Engelsberg is above.

The Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit is a private foundation, founded in 1947, with the primary purpose of promoting scientific and scholarly research. Its focus today is on the humanities, and on social sciences, working with leading scholars and universities around the world.

Engelsberg Ideas features essays, historical portraits and notebooks from our editorial team. There is a regular podcast – History Lessons – each featuring a leading historian, and a monthly podcast on the big themes and trends shaping geopolitics.