Mother’s the word

Think about the word mother: does it make you burst into a fantastic smile? If your answer is yes, you will have embraced your mum and the word that came top in a survey of the UK's favourite words conducted by the British Council.

Vincent Brome

Obituary: Life and soul of the British Library reading room.

80 million pieces of paper, two million photos, 79,000 objects – and not a blue dress in sight

Let's get this out of the way: there is no sign of Monica Lewinsky's blue dress in Bill Clinton's personal monument to his immortality, a cantilevered span of steel and glass that seems to float above the Arkansas river and which will house the physical remains of his presidency.

Terence Moore

Obituary: Philosophy editor with a list built on understanding and warmth.

Evolution textbooks row goes to court

A suburban American school board found itself in court yesterday after it tried to placate Christian fundamentalist parents by placing a sticker on its science textbooks saying evolution was 'a theory, not a fact'.

English originals

Matthew Collin assesses biographies of three nonconformist 1980s stars, Elvis Costello, Morrissey and Kirstie MacColl.

Works of genius

Calina de la Mare enjoys Toby Faber's Stradivarius, a history of six of the Italian's violins

Crazy diamonds

Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt's XS All Areas and Nick Mason's Inside Out are two very different rock biographies, says David Sinclair.

Works of genius

Calina de la Mare enjoys Stradivarius, Toby Faber's history of six violins crafted by the Italian master.

Searching for a better way

Pankaj Mishra's An End to Suffering is an investigation into Buddhism that intrigues Andrew Brown

Poetry in motion

David McKie: Why is it that so many who never miss the latest Pinter or David Hare or Alan Bennett in the theatre, who like to drown in Mozart or Mahler, cannot connect with poetry?

Brave old world

In an extract from a new book, Max Morris recalls how he played his part in delivering a great Labour education project: the creation of the comprehensives.