12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup – extract: ‘I thought I must die beneath the lashes’

Northup, born a free man in New York State, was drugged and kidnapped in 1841 by two men who sold him to the notorious Washington slave trader James Burch…

12 Years a Slave and the roots of America’s shameful past

Henry Louis Gates, historical consultant on 12 Years a Slave, talks to Andrew Anthony about Steve McQueen's film and why America remains a divided nation

Armistead Maupin: San Francisco’s chronicler calls time on his saga

Hermione Hoby: His Tales of the City have delighted readers for four decades and brought gay life into the mainstream. Now the landmark series is coming to an end as the ninth volume is published

Michael Gove, using history for politicking is tawdry

Tristram Hunt: The British left supported the 1914-18 conflict – which was far more complex in its origins than the education secretary's simplistic assertions admit

First world war centenary is a year to honour the dead but not to glorify

Michael Morpurgo remembers the stories of sacrifice and valour that inspired him to write the acclaimed War Horse

Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria villa faces demolition

Villa Ambron, inspiration for The Alexandria Quartet, may be bulldozed to make way for high-rise apartment block

France leads the way on audiobooks for blind and visually impaired people

New technology and download services allow for fast and easy access

Susan George on the secret capitalist cabal behind European austerity

The How to Win the Class War satirist tells Claire Provost about the 'shadowy plot' to claw back working-class gains

Feminism is on a high – but it needs a strong intellectual voice

Joanna Biggs: This year, female activists have been full of energy – but unfocused. In 2014, they need to unite to effect change

The Beast by Oscar Martínez; Midnight in Mexico by Alfredo Corchado – reviews

Ed Vulliamy: Raw testimony and vivid memoir bring the drug cartels and Mexico's tragedy into sharp focus

Bending Adversity by David Pilling – review

An authoritative explanation of Japan's history, culture and curious charms entertains John Kampfner

Britain’s black power movement is at risk of being forgotten, say historians

New biography of Darcus Howe claims struggle is ignored because it does not fit idea of Britain as 'utopia of fair play'

Davos clinic may take its last breath as haven for allergy sufferers

Sanatorium in Swiss resort visited by Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson faces closure

Susan Sontag: The Complete Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott – review

Moral seriousness and gossipy skittishness from the American intellectual. By Jonathan Derbyshire

Vikram Seth: India’s gay sex ban is against our tradition of tolerance

'Incensed' author says Indian supreme court reinstatement of law curtailing LGBT rights is an attack on millions of people