Elspeth Barker obituary

Journalist and author whose darkly funny 1991 novel O Caledonia has found its place as a Scottish classic

Robert Molteno obituary

Other lives: Editorial director of Zed Books and campaigner for safer streets across London

Other lives: Professor of Russian literature and expert on the poet Joseph Brodsky

Film and television director and leading light of arts journalism in the 1960s and 70s

Bike rider who turned to journalism and co-created the Cycling Podcast, an instant hit listened to by millions

US writer of brief but intense accounts of family life for children whose best-known work was Sarah, Plain and Tall

Bestselling author who achieved huge success with his 1975 wartime thriller The Eagle Has Landed

Other lives: Welsh poet who wrote 14 acclaimed volumes and continued writing well into her 90s

Creator of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant and Mr Benn, who wrote and illustrated children’s classics

Megalith enthusiast who did much to further understanding of the Calanais stone circle and other ancient sites of the Isle of Lewis

Architect and theorist who believed in creating human-centred buildings, drawing on new technology and ancient traditions

Economic and demographic historian who transformed the view of the industrial revolution

Other lives: Author and expert on tribal embroideries who travelled to far-flung countries to discover textile patterns and traditions

Historian of imperial Spain known for his vivid biography of a 17th-century statesman, the count-duke of Olivares

Other lives: Author who made a huge contribution to the study of Britain’s maritime history