The Buddhas of Bamiyan by Llewelyn Morgan – review
Samanth Subramanian on the Afghan sculptures destroyed after a millennium and a half
Prestwich Book Festival aims to challenge the dominance of south Manchester
The festival has been set up to celebrate the authors and independent businesses that are thriving
In defence of self-help books
Alain de Botton: The ancient philosophers recognised we all need help navigating our lives – so what explains self-help books' decline in prestige?
I’d rather be a Catholic than be ‘respectable’
Catherine Pepinster: Hilary Mantel says the Catholic church is no longer a place for 'respectable people'. But respectability is a problematic notion
Michael Gove’s King James Bible plan rescued by millionaire Tory donors
Education secretary will send a copy of the Bible to every state school after donors club together to save £370,000 initiative
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 8: a lingering love of justice
Nick Spencer: While he looks brute force in the face, Machiavelli's view of the balance between might and right is ultimately ambivalent
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Week three: Marilynne Robinson on writing Gilead
Why shouldn’t paganism have a place in RE lessons?
Liz Williams: Cornish schools won't be 'teaching witchcraft and druidry', less still black mass – religious education doesn't equal indoctrination
Tom Holland responds to Glen Bowersock’s review of In the Shadow of the Sword
Many scholars would now agree that the origins of the Qur'an are obscure, so why does Glen Bowersock's review of my book suggest it is reprehensible to bring this to light, asks Tom Holland
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 7: the two sides of human nature
Nick Spencer: How to believe: The author's dark view of human nature was out of tune with his age, but his talk of the beast within is almost post-Darwin
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 6: was Machiavelli an atheist?
Nick Spencer: The book's short chapter on 'church states' is a masterpiece of subtle, savage anti-ecclesiastical irony
Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan – review
Youssef Ziedan's controversial novel about the spiritual quest of a fifth-century monk is a believably human tale, says Ben East
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt – review
A compelling study of the morality of those on the left and right reaches some surprising conclusions, writes Ian Birrell
Vatican and Bodleian libraries to offer rare collections online
Greek manuscripts and earliest surviving Hebrew codex among 1.5m pages to be digitised for both scholars and public to peruse
In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland – review
The life of Muhammad and the rise of Islam are boldly re-examined in this brilliantly provocative history, writes Anthony Sattin
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part two: humanism and the lessons of history
Nick Spencer: How to believe: The Prince follows humanist convention in commending virtuous rulers such as Marcus Aurelius – but subverts it by praising tyrants for their cruelty
The fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Islam
Rome's collapse inspired many gripping tales, from Gibbon's history to Dune and Battlestar Galactica. The story of Arthur's Camelot has its origins in this era of political convulsion, as does a narrative that has taken on vast global importance – the foundation of Islam. By Tom Holland
Iris Murdoch against the robots
Andrew Brown: The Sovereignty of Good suggests that the world science reveals does not supersede our inner worlds, but becomes one of them
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 1: the challenge of power
Nick Spencer: How to believe: The first of a series examining the great political tract of the Italian Renaissance asks: how do we utilise power to do good while utilising evil to keep power?
Haggadah edited by Jonathan Safran Foer – review
A new compilation of the rituals and stories of Passover offers plenty of provocations, writes Jonathan Beckman
Force of habit: who are your favourite fictional monks?
Imogen Russell Williams: Many memorable holy men – both saintly and sinful – walk the hushed cloisters of children's fiction. Which stick in your head?
Roger Scruton and the kindly atheists
Mark Vernon: Scruton's reflections on what it is to be human shed light on the reluctance of some atheists to reject religion's poetry
Et cetera: Steven Poole’s non-fiction choice
Digitized by Peter J Bentley, The Book of Mormon: A Biography by Paul C Gutjahr and Taming Tigers by Jim Lawless
Ashoka: The Search for India’s Lost Emperor by Charles Allen – review
Samanth Subramanian on the Buddhist emperor who united India
God and the New Physics by Paul Davies – book review
Tim Radford: The enduring appeal of this book is that is addresses the Big Question – not how, when or what, but why?
Divine Comedy is ‘offensive and discriminatory’, says Italian NGO
Human-rights organisation calls for Dante's 'racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic' epic poem to be removed from classrooms
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt – review
David Runciman on the limits of an evolutionary enquiry into morality
A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale – review
Patrick Gale's novel of a parish priest under strain is both upsetting and uplifting, says Julie Myerson
When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson – review
The author of Gilead takes on Dawkins and co in these persuasive essays on society and theology, writes Kate Kellaway
Thomas Aquinas, part 5: what does it mean to be human?
Tina Beattie: How to believe: For Aquinas, the link between consciousness and matter is our desire for God as an expression of the life of the Trinity
Love InshAllah, a book that goes to the heart of Muslim women
Huma Qureshi: A collection of honest real-life love stories by American Muslim women gives a rare insight into their love, faith and choices
Lent is a chance to take stock and imagine a changed world
Jane Williams: Private spiritual discipline during Lent means little without the desire to transform the world for the good of all
Thomas Aquinas, part 4: how did the world begin?
Tina Beattie: How to believe: Aquinas's understanding of our origins combines Aristotelian and Platonic cosmologies with the biblical account of creation