The bear facts
Caroline G Bott's biography of Rupert the Bear's illustrator, The Life and Works of Alfred Bestall, reveals his integrity and his optimistic view of the world. Simon Callow remembers the bear with the red jumper
Hearing the right voices
The concluding volume of Roy Foster's monumental life of WB Yeats is a magnificent achievement, says Bernard O'Donoghue
Scholar Edward Said dies
Edward Said - scholar, literary critic and the most eloquent supporter of the Palestinian cause - died in New York yesterday after a long battle against leukaemia. He was 67.
Edward Said
Controversial literary critic and bold advocate of the Palestinian cause in America.
Dance to the music of pure maths
The connection between music and maths is not trivial, but it is made plausible in this delightfully entertaining book.
Paper that you can play videos on
Paper capable of playing videos has been invented at the Philips Research Laboratory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. A single sheet looks like ordinary paper. But the ink can be electronically rearranged fast enough to show movies.
Dead on arrival
Literary editors can't get enough of the 'killer preview' - which means every major new book is dead on arrival.
Bligh was a victim of snobbery and spin
A new book reveals fresh evidence recasting the villain of the Bounty as the famous saga's true hero. A poor boy made good, he was smeared by the mutineers' aristocratic familes.
Nailing Spike
Simon Louvish on Humphrey Carpenter's workmanlike biography of the great Goon, Spike Milligan
The odd couple
Romantic siblings Charles and Mary Lamb were 'peculiarly suited'. Hermione Lee delves into Sarah Burton's biography of the curious duo, A Double Life
Roots of destruction
Can we rescue agriculture from big business and feed the world healthily? Felicity Lawrence explores arguments from Colin Tudge, Marion Nestle, and T Hugh Pennington
Pupils hear Madonna’s morality tale
Primary school children echo the mixed reception for The English Roses, by the singer in "those new adverts for trousers for the Gap".
Mary, Viscountess Eccles
Anglophile scholar and benefactor who amassed the world's finest collection of 18th-century English literature.
A charming story spoilt in the telling
The verdict: Children's authors Michael Rosen and Francesca Simon run the rule over Madonna's contribution to the genre.
‘She shines like a star!’
An extract from The English Roses, by Madonna.