Terry Jones, Life of Brian director and Monty Python founder, dies aged 77

Jones, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, was the main directing force in Python’s films, as well a prolific creator of TV documentaries and children’s books

A judge, Lord Byron and a grave injustice

In the first of a new series, our writer reflects on the cruelty of refusing a husband permission to have a personal message engraved on his wife’s headstone

The uncomfortable truths about Roger Scruton’s conservatism

The late philosopher could wield an elegant argument, but his views were often ugly

Wordsworth treasures donated to poet’s Lake District home

Collection includes family Bible and two portraits that have never been put on display

Roger Scruton’s brand of conservatism became a licence for bigotry

The thinker eulogised by the Conservative establishment did much to shape today’s anti-immigrant climate, says public policy professor Jonathan Portes

Sabotage by Anastasia Nesvetailova and Ronen Palan review – the business of finance

Is financial malpractice an aberration or built into the system? This is enraging, essential reading

JRR Tolkien’s son Christopher dies aged 95

Youngest son of Lord of the Rings author was responsible for editing and publishing much of his father’s work

The Guardian view on Brexit bells: striking the wrong note

Editorial: Proposals that Big Ben should chime and church bells ring to mark Britain’s departure from the EU should not be given the time of day

Oh what a night! Twitter brings £1,000 worth of orders to empty bookshop

Petersfield Bookshop had no customers for first time in 100-year history – until a sad tweet attracted 1,100 new followers

Tom Watson’s betrayal thriller – and other politicians who vent in fiction

After quitting parliament over its ‘brutality’, Watson is co-writing thriller The House. Can we expect a tale about a deputy leader righting wrongs?

British-Trinidadian dub poet Roger Robinson wins TS Eliot prize

Judges praise A Portable Paradise for finding evidence of ‘sweet, sweet life’ in the bitterness of everyday experience

Northern writers on why a north-specific prize is more important than ever

Do northern writers have to work harder to get published? We talk to the six authors shortlisted for the Portico prize – AKA the ‘Booker of the north’

Travel in time with HG Wells … inside his favourite library

New play to be staged at the London Library marks 125 years since publication of The Time Machine

Neil Gaiman leads Hampshire writers protesting against library cuts

Proposals to close 14 of the county’s 52 public libraries are symptoms of a society turning its back on culture and community, say authors

‘People are so happy we exist’: indie bookshops grow despite retail slump

After decades of decline, the sector has recorded three years of expansion. Some of the newest booksellers explain how they’re bucking the book market