Mapping nature’s heartlands
Andrew Motion searches for the meaning of wildness in Robert Macfarlane's tour of Britain's remotest parts, The Wild Places.
Caribbean Odyssey
When he first read Derek Walcott's poems, VS Naipaul was overwhelmed by the talent of his fellow West Indian, who, at the age of 18, was already a master. The young poet had created a new language to describe both the beauty and the limitations of island life.
Gods and monsters
In an era when most British officials were interested only in exploiting India, a few remarkable men celebrated Hindu art and culture. William Dalrymple explores the rich legacy of their collections and commissions.
Breaking the silence
Commentary: Fiona Shaw on why performing Samuel Beckett at Epidaurus has caused a scandal.
A room with a boo!
The problem with haunted hotel chillers is that hotels aren't very scary. Joe Queenan checks into room 1408, based on a Stephen King short story, and finds room for improvement...
My week: Irvine Welsh
The author pays tribute to an old friend, takes his new short film, Nuts, to the Edinburgh Festival and celebrates a wedding. Meanwhile, there's the tricky problem of how to stop his mum stalking him.
Blood at the root
So horrific are the images conjured up by 'Strange Fruit' that Billie Holiday always performed it with her eyes closed. Caryl Phillips, who used the title for his first play, traces the song's dark history.
Through the looking glass
Olivia Laing follows Jonathan Taylor's search for the father he lost to Parkinson's disease in Take Me Home.
‘Mabel sweats when she is making jam’
Hermione Lee applauds Alison Light's Mrs Woolf & the Servants, a revealing account of life below stairs in Bloomsbury.
Coat
This romantic comedy inspired by Gogol is genuinely touching but over-complicated, writes Lyn Gardner.
The terminal winner
Alan Ruddock's biography of Michael O'Leary reveals that behind Ryanair's extraordinary success is a ruthless, abrasive and now very rich man, says Heather Stewart.
Feeling the heat
Anushka Asthana on Field Notes from a Catastrophe.
‘What ho, Giotto!’
Nicknamed 'Cookham' by fellow artists, Stanley Spencer devoted himself to painting sweetly bizarre scenes of the village where he was born, turning its streets into visions of holiness. But just how innocent was he, asks Fiona MacCarthy.
Uneasy lies the head
Ian Mortimer's biography The Fears of Henry IV doesn't quite do its subject full justice, says Helen Castor.
Staff? Just can’t get ’em
Alison Light's Mrs Woolf and the Servants details a pained relationship between employer and domestic worker, says David Jays.