Brittle With Relics by Richard King review – a portrait of Wales in flux
From the Aberfan disaster to late 90s pop-culture, this vivid oral history brings a tumultuous era to life
False Prophets by Nigel Ashton review – Britain and the Middle East
A deft and fascinating account of British prime ministers’ flawed interventions in the region, from Suez to Iraq
Sarah Vaughan: ‘Other writers ask if I’ve got a crystal ball. Actually, I just read the news’
As she publishes a thriller about a trolled MP, and Netflix adapts her bestseller Anatomy of a Scandal, the former journalist talks about power, privilege and her unnervingly prescient novels
Michael Crick: ‘I don’t think Farage is a racist… though he does pander to racists’
He’s quit TV after decades of dogged political reporting, written a rollicking biography of Nigel Farage – and, surprisingly, joined Mail+
Library use plummeted in 2021, but e-visits showed 18% rise during lockdown
Covid-19 has caused a steep decline in visitors and income, but an increase in digital visits shows libraries continue to be valued, says Cipfa CEO
The BBC: A People’s History by David Hendy review – the BBC from the bottom up
A lovingly told story of the people who built a broadcasting giant now in peril
One Party After Another: The Disruptive Life of Nigel Farage review – the man who broke Britain
Michael Crick’s gripping and vivid study of Mr Brexit is full of revelatory stories, but pulls its punches at the end
One Party After Another by Michael Crick review – the devilish luck of Nigel Farage
Personal chaos and political recklessness characterise the most influential failure in modern British politics
Book readers have realised that you can’t replace the feel of turning a real page
Record sales show that even the ability to carry thousands of books in one portable electronic device is not enough
Britain got it wrong on Covid: long lockdown did more harm than good, says scientist
A new book outlines the mistakes and missteps that made UK pandemic worse
From stand-in stars to tech titans: The Observer’s faces to watch in 2022
We look at who will be making headlines this year, in both a positive and negative light
‘Many hold Gove responsible’: education guru sets out what’s wrong with England’s schools
People are yearning for a new educational age, says Sir Tim Brighouse in his new book with Mick Waters
Alan Bennett dedicates Kipling poem A Dead Statesman to Boris Johnson
The playwright’s annual diary excerpt criticises the prime minister and Donald Trump and recalls an encounter with Philip Roth
From Bill Clinton to Robert Peston: celebrity crime fiction on trial
After you’ve written your memoir, publishers these days want anyone famous to write crime novels. We put 10 of the most well-known in the dock
Christmas parties that never happened: the best festive revels in literature
With ‘fictional’ Christmas parties in the news, it seemed only right to pick out for Boris Johnson some other festive shindigs that were figments of the imagination