That’s Politainment!
‘When Mr Googleberg attempts a comeback, he will come up against a German attachment to truth and decency’
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
When Sammy Met Bobby
Former child prodigies Samuel Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer had one of the fiercest rivalries in chess history — and not only on the board
From Big Bang to Eternal Inflation
Recent research into cosmic expansion is finally enabling scientists to grasp the infinite
The GOD Squad’s Whitehall Coup
A constitutional revolution is under way, driven by an unelected cabal led by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell
Luke the Comeback Kid
After a seven-year hiatus, young British Chess talent Luke McShane returned to the board in late 2010, only to go unbeaten in two prestigious tournaments
No Wunder, Women
‘Every woman among male egos knows she has to fight a war—an older colleague calling you “Blondie”, for instance’
The Soviet Man of Steel
A fiercely loyal Communist with a ferocious work ethic, Mikhail Botvinnik was an unshakeable Grandmaster
Topping and Tailing
Embryonic stem cells and assisted dying terminate opposite ends of life, but have common themes
Past Lives
‘Who would want a dusty collection of children’s books, their spines broken, written in German?’
Sex in the Flower Beds
We over-humanise animals while underestimating plants. But it’s the latter that do all the work for us
Blackburne the Rover
A hard-drinking, physically violent workaholic, Joseph Blackburne was the master of the simultaneous display
All Change
‘Now that I am about to leave, I realise how uniquely American is the craving for “change”’