3 d. ago No Abba, no meatballs? Sweden’s new cultural canon is a listicle that will soon be forgotten | Gabriel V Rindborg

We should always be suspicious when states try to define a national culture – especially when the arts are in crisisSweden is often associated with a large and efficient bureaucratic apparatus. It is also often associated with minimalist interiors furnished by simple pale woods such as birch and pine. It was therefore fitting that, after two years of preparation, the Swedish cultural canon committee presented – in an anatomical theatre from the 17th century – its list of 100 works, ideas and brands that define Swedishness. In direct contrast to the anonymous grey conference rooms usually favoured by Swedish government officials, this unusual list was unveiled in a rather un-Swedish fashion. The contradiction is striking. It says something about how we think about culture, nationhood and identity today – not just in Sweden, but across the west. It also tells us why this canon is doomed to fail and yet for its creators, unfortunately, it has already succeeded.Originally a pet project ...

Politics

3 d. ago Hollywood actor sues British council over 'Downton Shabby' manor house after it evicted him from ruined 'ancestral home' he has spent eight years trying to save

Hopwood DePree, 55, has told of spending eight years and half a million pounds trying to restore a stately home in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

Society

3 d. ago Ghost of Yōtei: a determined outsider seeks revenge in feudal Japan

The makers of the forthcoming open-world adventure explain how new gameplay features and an extra-resourceful sword-wielding protagonist set it apart from 2020 predecessor Ghost of TsushimaAtsu is no samurai. The lead character in Ghost of Yōtei is a wandering sellsword from a lowly family. Her sex and lack of status mean that, following the murders of her family, she has no fixed place in 17th-century Japanese society, and there is no permitted path for her to tread if she is to get revenge on the Yōtei Six, the men who killed her loved ones. As the game’s co-director Nate Fox puts it, “Atsu is not somebody who walks in to a room and people pay respect to.”Yōtei’s predecessor, Sucker Punch Productions’ 2020 sprawling open-world game Ghost of Tsushima, is the story of a samurai, Jin Sakai, who shreds his honour to defend his homeland. Jin can’t repel the Mongols attacking Tsushima as a noble warrior, but as “the Ghost”, a fear-inspiring legend willing to use any dirty tactic to gain...

Politics

5 d. ago Vermeer or not? New display lets visitors decide who painted almost identical artworks

Two versions of the Guitar Player to hang alongside each other at Kenwood in London for first time in 300 yearsTwo almost identical paintings have been at one time attributed to the great Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer – but what is the relationship between them?Visitors to a new display at Kenwood in London will be invited to draw their own conclusions on this intriguing question when two versions of a 17th-century painting, titled the Guitar Player, hang alongside each other for the first time in 300 years.Double Vision: Vermeer at Kenwood runs from 1 September 2025-11 January 2026 at Kenwood in London. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Scotland's oldest bagpipe chanter among 100 great Gaelic objects

The chanter was owned by 17th Century Am Pìobaire Dall - the blind piper.

Politics

9 d. ago Murder in a manor house with secrets to hide: The best Classic Crimes novels out now

Barry Turner reviews the best Classic Crime novels out now

Events

1 week ago Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern admits she is 'over' the hit ITV series and confesses how she felt filming without the late Maggie Smith

Downton Abbey actress Elizabeth McGovern has said she is 'ready to move on' and leave the manor house behind, ahead of its final movie.

Culture

2 w. ago Historian finds 17th century will which sparked Shakespeare family row

The document was drawn up by Thomas Nash on August 25 1642.

Politics

2 w. ago When girls married aged 12 and became the property of their husbands: Rare book lays out the 'rights' of women in 17th century Britain

The landmark legal tomb, titled The Lawes Resolutions of Women's Rights, gives an extraordinary insight into the laws that shaped women's lives in 17th century Britain.

Culture

2 w. ago When girls were married off aged 12 and men could hit their wives: Rare book lays out the 'rights' of women in 17th century Britain

The landmark legal tomb, titled The Lawes Resolutions of Women's Rights, gives an extraordinary insight into the laws that shaped women's lives in 17th century Britain.

Events

2 w. ago Girl, 14, arrested on suspicion of arson after manor house blaze

Merseyside Police said the fire at Woolton Hall, Liverpool, on Tuesday ‘appears to have been an extremely reckless act’.

Events

2 w. ago A look back at Scotland's sinister witch trials as victims to be commemorated

West Dunbartonshire is planning to erect a memorial to honour 17th-century Scottish Witch Trial victims

Events

2 w. ago Elizabeth Bennet's manor house from BBC Pride and Prejudice on sale for £4million

The property was the family home in the 1995 BBC adaptation of the Jane Austen classic novel

Economics

2 w. ago EXPOSED: Cotswolds elite who snort cocaine with their teens. They chop lines in their manor houses and think no one can touch them. I've had enough says DEBBIE SCOTT... this is the squalid truth

My husband and I stare at our 18-year-old son with our mouths open. 'To be honest, you two are the odd ones out. Everyone does drugs these days,' he tells us.

Politics

3 w. ago JD Vance 'circus' moves to Ayrshire:  Luxury estate swarms with secret service agents as US Vice President kicks off Scottish leg of holiday with golf on Donald Trump's course

US Vice President JD Vance is believed to be staying on a luxury estate in Ayrshire, the area he says his ancestors left in the 17th century to help found the USA.

Politics

3 w. ago Sticky end? The British pudding faces extinction, English Heritage warns

Not just boiled or steamed desserts in danger, charity finds, households also rarely make fruit pies and crumblesAt the end of the 17th century a French travel writer who crossed the Channel was clearly impressed by the sweet, comforting treats offered to him, declaring with relish: “Ah! What an excellent thing is an English pudding!”More than three centuries on, English Heritage has sounded the alarm that the good old British pudding is facing extinction. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Heatwave reveals 'ghost' buildings at historic properties: Parch marks of long lost hall and buried wall show up in grounds of abbey and manor house

The marks in the grounds of Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire and Mottisfont in Hampshire give a view of both the foundations of a lost hall and the remains of walls.

Society

3 w. ago JD Vance's Beast of the Cotswolds: Countryside in lockdown as US Vice President arrives in tiny hamlet with Secret Service convoy amid huge security operation

Police have closed off all roads and paths leading to the hamlet of Dean, where the US Vice President is staying with his family at Dean Manor, an 18th-century country house.

Politics

3 w. ago Cotswolds in lockdown as JD Vance's holiday begins: Vice President arrives in tiny hamlet amid huge security operation after enjoying private tour of Hampton Court Palace

Police have closed off all roads and paths leading to the hamlet of Dean, where the US Vice President is staying with his family at Dean Manor, an 18th-century country house.

Events

3 w. ago 17th century manor house on sale for £150k but there's a catch

The Grade II-listed property has six bedrooms

Economics