Brutally Frank
Canada's Frank Marshall didn't succeed in conquering the world of chess, but his aggressive tactics were universally feared
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
England’s Forgotten Symphonist
A long time blacklisted by the snobbish BBC, George Lloyd is the greatest English symphonist you've never heard of
Pyrrhic Victory
Alex Salmond is pinning his success on the high-risk gamble that the EU will accept an independent Scotland as a full member. It won't
Kultur Shock
‘Journalists discussed the prospective disappearance of their newspapers as if they were watching their own funeral but not quite believing their eyes’
The Swindler and the Swindled
In chess one should never take one's opponent in trust: it leaves one open to the swindle
The Olympian and His Thunderbolt
Robert Oppenheimer, far from being a one-dimensional Dr Atomic, was a tragic character of huge erudition
History Joys
A new wave of rarefied history is the perfect antidote to the ubiquitous TV-celeb historians
Trashyplatz
‘Strolling around Alexanderplatz one cold but sunny afternoon, I was surprised at just how trashy it is’
What’s the Score?
Far from being a diluted form of the orchestral work, piano transcriptions often reveal hidden depths to old favourites
Judit and Holofernes
In a male dominated game it was an 15-year-old girl who became the youngest ever grandmaster. She is now chess's finest female player
Home Sweet Home From Home
'One can become American but one can never become English'
Canada’s Crusader for Conservatism
'What is the secret of Stephen Harper's success in a liberal society? Refusing to be bogged down by ideology and giving people what they want'