Sam Knight’s Letters from the U.K.

From The New Yorker’s archive: a selection of Knight’s reporting. View in browser | Update your preferences Sam Knight’s Letters from the U.K. Since Sam Knight began writing for The New Yorker from London, in 2014, he has been blessed (or cursed) with any number of revolving scandals, public-health crises, and political fiascoes to cover. Boris Johnson’s violations of COVID quarantine, known in the tabloids as Partygate, have dominated British headlines, and, at least for a while, spurred talk that the Prime Minister might enter that condition known as “spending more time with one’s family.” Knight’s pieces on this and Johnson’s other encounters with the banana peel always yield deep and insightful examinations of the British condition. As Knight prepares for the release of his début book, “The Premonitions Bureau,” on Tuesday, we’re bringing you a selection of his reporting. In “The Empty Promise of Boris Johnson,” Knight profiles the embattled politician one month before his ascent to No. 10 Downing Street. In “Britain’s Idyllic Country Houses Reveal a Darker History,” he examines the sinew connecting the nation’s aristocratic estates and its colonial past. In “The Psychiatrist Who Believed People Could Tell the Future,” the piece that inspired his new book, Knight explores an intriguing mystery about prophecies that came true. Finally, in “Reading About the Black Death with My Daughter During the Coronavirus Outbreak,” he offers a poignant look at how his family (and the people of Britain) navigated the first days after the pandemic’s arrival in Europe. “Yesterday morning I dropped my daughter off at the school gates. There was the usual knot of families waiting,” he writes. “ ‘Shall we run through the crowd?’ my daughter asked. I shook my head.” —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive A Critic at Large The Empty Promise of Boris Johnson The man expected to be Britain’s next Prime Minister makes people in power, including himself, appear ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean he’d dream of handing power to anybody else. By Sam KnightJune 13, 2019 A Reporter at Large Britain’s Idyllic Country Houses Reveal a Darker History Great estates are among the country’s treasures. But their connections to slavery and colonialism are forcing visitors to reckon with myths they may not want to abandon. By Sam KnightAugust 16, 2021 Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Books & Fiction Newsletter Book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature, twice a week. Letter from the U.K. Reading About the Black Death with My Daughter During the Coronavirus Outbreak A child’s fascination with the fourteenth-century scourge takes a sobering tone as Britain scrambles to stave off a new catastrophe. By Sam KnightMarch 14, 2020 Letter from the U.K. The Psychiatrist Who Believed People Could Tell the Future After a national disaster, a British doctor began collecting foreboding visions. Soon, they closed in on him. By Sam KnightFebruary 25, 2019 You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.