Still Not Equal
'A friend asked her editor for a pay rise. Surely, he replied, her husband was earning enough to support them both'
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Freedom of the Press Now Concerns Us All
The censorious among us can seize on vast amounts of online evidence and use it to ruin the lives of citizens at random
Norman Wisdom
The Normans embellished Saxon churches but they also built their own, and there is nowhere better to admire their artistry than Herefordshire
War Games
Despite being a keen chess player, Napoleon Bonaparte was more a pawn than a king on the board
Israel Left Behind
‘The seriousness of a left-wing movement in today’s Europe can be measured by its stance towards Israel’
A Light Shining From Babylon
Will today’s scientists hunting the Higgs boson prove as ingenious as the ancient Mesopotamians?
Betrayed by Günter Grass
'I was fond of my father's old friend Günter Grass. I'd like to think he knew better'
Time Trouble
Some of the game's greatest have had trouble playing against the clock. Not so Bobby Fischer, who was a lord of time.
Real Men Don’t Use Brylcreem
Public displays of emotion, sequins, ear studs and nancy boy’s clothes: where have all the men’s men gone? You may remember a few years ago a magnificent rebuke issued to Lord Mandelson
Mighty Kleist
‘German intellectuals are fascinated by outsiders, especially tortured rebels like Heinrich von Kleist’
The Subject We’re Desperate to Avoid
Despite two shocking stories, the abortion debate has faded again
The Flowers Plucked Too Soon
The mystique surrounding those chess players who passed before their primes is best tipified in the mercurial Hungarian, Rudolf Charousek