Captain Rugged – the hero Lagos deserves
Stevie Chick: Keziah Jones explains why his superhero alter ego and tormentor of Nigeria's nefarious powers is closer to Fela Kuti than Superman
Sochi 2014: world authors join protest against Putin
Russia's anti-gay and blasphemy laws threaten freedom, says open letter signed by more than 200 writers from 30 countries
Castaway José Salvador Alvarenga’s tale speaks to our deep fears of being adrift
Philip Hoare: In our safe, cosseted, 21st-century lives, the wild oceans act as a reminder of our physical and psychic frailty
David Miranda’s detention: a chilling attack on journalism
Luke Harding: When the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald was detained at Heathrow airport last August under the Terrorism Act, MI5 were pulling the strings and knew full well that he wasn't a terrorist
Is Edward Snowden a prisoner in Russia?
Luke Harding: In the second exclusive extract from his new book, The Snowden Files, Luke Harding looks at the role of Russia's intelligence agency, the FSB, in setting up the American's exile in Russia – and wonders where he is now
Return of a King by William Dalrymple – review
William Dalrymple's colourful history of the first British campaign in Afghanistan draws effective parallels with recent events, writes Ian Thomson
Primo Levi: The Matter of a Life by Berel Lang – review
A fresh reading of Primo Levi's life and work reveals his contribution as a philosopher of ethics, says Tim Adams
Henning Mankell: chronicler of his own decline
Profile: After years of exploring Sweden's darkest fears in his fiction, the creator of Wallander faces his own anxiety after being diagnosed with cancer. He will now chart his illness in a newspaper column
Forget Iron Man-child – let’s fight the white maleness of geek culture
Damien Walter: Fantasy has become a sandbox for immature masculinity. What kinds of stories could we tell if our writers tackled the hard truths of male identity and privilege?
Aacta awards 2014: Gatsby sweeps movie gongs for Baz Luhrmann
Hollywood extravaganza The Great Gatsby triumphs dominates movie category while Redfern Now scoops best drama series
Britain entering first world war was ‘biggest error in modern history’
Historian Niall Ferguson says Britain could have lived with German victory and should have stayed out of war
What can Dick Swaab tell us about sex and the brain?
The Dutch neuroscientist is as celebrated as he is sneered at for his theories on brain development differing between men and women – and how sexuality is decided in the womb
Why did the BBC cast a mixed-race Porthos in The Musketeers?
Stuart Jeffries: Certain viewers are non-plussed by the casting of a musketeer of colour, but surely blind casting is preferable to an historical whitewash
Ping-Pong Diplomacy by Nicholas Griffin – review
Nicholas Griffin's history deftly captures the bizarre moment when table tennis lay at the heart of US-China relations, writes Isabel Hilton
Voices of Brazil: the writer who likes to shock
'What [my characters] say is morally dubious and drenched in sex, drugs and gaming,' says Reinaldo Moraes, whose novel Pornopopéia exploded onto the Brazilian literary scene