Eurofile

Why do we make so much fuss about ‘copying’ in the arts when almost everything we create is based on something else?

How the British countryside saved modern art’s greatest champion

With his gramophone recordings, the Italian transcended the closed world of performance to become a global phenomenon

It is the utilitarian nature of crêpes, their accessibility and the fact they enjoy French ceremony that I adore

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s cinema, streaming and books

Women presidents in film get into all kinds of trouble, mainly because they’re not at home taking care of their kids and cooking for their husbands

As the New European approaches a landmark, we look back at some of the gems – from expansive histories to personal stories – uncovered on these pages since 2016

A revised English version of the psychoanalyst’s texts reveals a tirade against Americans – but also a suggestion that he may have studied the president himself

Nato and chess aren’t traditional topics for stand-ups. But North Macedonian comedian Vlad Ilich makes it work in three languages

You can understand why people want to at least take back some semblance of control, when their passport is eventually stamped and they enter the “other country” of serious illness

The writer who risked his life to watch his own books burned by Nazis – so he could write about it

How Berlin made the notorious, magnificent Einstürzende Neubauten

The man behind the masks and mysteries – James Ensor, the angry, vindictive, solitary genius of Ostend

He was only truly fulfilled when either in the air or writing about being in the air

Rather surprisingly, the French word for ‘customs’ is related to the English word for a low sofa-bed

Le Clarence trades in Parisian fine dining in its purest, truest form in matters of service and personality

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming and books

It is a great virtue, and a great gift as well, to know when to stop. Especially when you’re at the top

A spirited revival of Mnemonic can’t hide its flaws

If you want a night of exuberant entertainment, vote for Barnum

Line Of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar delights in a clever and seditious classic

Lust, love and life: an exhibition about the art of the breast

‘The Gay Girl from Gaul’ had a brief, traumatic – and wet – experience of stardom

The programme has become a surpassingly saccharine exercise in shining up the superficialities of celebrity

In Britain, to source fine tomatoes is a burden. It is a sad state of affairs and requires logistics and hefty spending

Some of England’s waterways are named after the towns they flow through, rather than the other way round – a process known as back-formation

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s books and streaming

The playwright’s archives reveal him as a compulsive newspaper clipper and a master of montage

Self-service libraries with automated kiosks are taking over. But we lose librarians at our peril

The cinema looks at the clash of realities that is the US – and makes movies out of it