Amazon jungle

Catherine Taylor enjoys James Marcus's account of the web bookseller's early days, Amazonia.

Girdling the world

Arnold Wesker follows Gareth Armstrong and his one-man show based on Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice on a trip around the world in A Case for Shylock.

The Führer’s friend

Ian Kershaw shows how the seventh Marquess of Londonderry had a knack for always backing the wrong horse in his biography of Churchill's 'half-wit' cousin, Making Friends with Hitler.

The wizard from Oz

Simon Callow enjoys a fascinating dissection of British theatre in Michael Blakemore's autobiography Arguments with England.

Missing page reunited with Sforza Hours

A mere 514 years after 16 pages of the Sforza Hours were stolen, the British Library has reunited one of its greatest treasures with the last of the three missing pages known to survive.

Mistakes to avoid on your application form

The staff at the online Tefl admissions service CactusTefl report that the single biggest reason for applications being rejected is not to do with proving academic prowess, but the lack of clear presentation, grammar and accuracy.

Leaders’ wives

Jackie Ashley enjoys a glimpse into the life of the PM's consort in Cherie Booth and Cate Haste's The Goldfish Bowl.

Out of the ashes

James Wood salutes Blake Bailey's generous biography of Richard Yates, A Tragic Honesty.

Eric Sams

Obituary: Gifted musicologist and Shakespeare scholar.

Printha Ellis

Obituary: Prolific American author of English textbooks.

Harvey Wheeler

Obituary: Professor of political science and co-author of Fail-Safe, the 1962 nuclear disaster novel made into a film by Sidney Lumet.

Just William

Shirley Williams welcomes William Pitt the Younger, William Hague's thoughtful study of one of Britain's great prime ministers.