The true spiritual leader of Iran is Rumi
Melody Moezzi: Many Iranians are turning away from the regime's brand of Islam, but they trust the moral authority of the Sufi poet
Yes, teen fiction can be dark – but it shows teenagers they aren’t alone
Maureen Johnson: Young-adult fiction shows that bad things happen, and that you can survive. How is that objectionable?
These atheist book reviews are just trolling in print
Graeme Richardson: Christians need not respond to Galen Strawson's claim that we are moral babies – ad hominem arguments are rarely persuasive
Ai Weiwei’s Blog by Ai Weiwei – review
A collection of Ai Weiwei's blog entries proves he's much more than a playful dilettante of Chinese art, writes Jonathan Fenby
The Day of the Jackal – the hit we nearly missed
Charles Cumming: Forty years on, few books have changed the literary landscape like Frederick Forsyth's political thriller
The necessity of hope
Stan van Hooft: It can carry a dangerous element of supplication, but hope gives us the impetus to seek the betterment of our lives and others
F is for Franco but not for fascist, apparently
Miguel-Anxo Murado: The new Spanish Dictionary of Biography's historical revisions tell us more about what's wrong with Spain now than in the past
The birthers aren’t going away
Strange to say, the hunt for Barack Obama's birth certificate continues and now a book on the conspiracy theory has become a best-seller
Spaniards outraged over favourable Franco biography
Admirer of the Spanish dictator was commissioned to write entry in dictionary of national biography
Shakespeare: the metaphorical terrorist
Michael Rosen: When US agents analyse the world's languages for their 'Metaphor Program', they may draw frightening conclusions
Gil Scott-Heron obituary
Poet, jazz musician and rap pioneer who used mordant lyrics to express his views on politics and culture
I long for the day when Amnesty is needed no more
Michael Morpurgo: Giving children a love of literature could help make Amnesty International redundant
Everyone’s talking about Ayn Rand
A film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, a BBC documentary and the support of rightwing economists have put the philosopher-novelist back in the news
Red Cross and Vatican helped thousands of Nazis to escape
Research shows how travel documents ended up in hands of the likes of Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele and Klaus Barbie in the postwar chaos
Towel Day: a hoopy frood pays homage
Chally Kacelnik: The lovable silliness of Douglas Adams has an enduring appeal that will keep people looking for their towels for years to come