Brilliantly drawn girls

Comics never used to be much fun for their rare female characters, but with more women in the industry, kick-ass heroines are taking over, writes Kira Cochrane

The farce of sovereignty

The coalition made much of bringing democracy to the 'liberated' country by handing the reins to the Iraqi government. But, as Jonathan Steele relates in this final extract from his new book, it also ensured that it retained complete control

‘We had no idea we were not wanted’

When US troops entered Falluja, they found a proud, well-ordered city that had already liberated itself. Within a year, it had become a byword for resistance. In this second extract from his new book, Jonathan Steele recalls how the coalition forces began to alienate the locals as soon as they arrived

Guys, I’m afraid we haven’t got a clue …

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, experts warned Tony Blair that occupying the country and trying to impose a western-style democracy was doomed to failure. He dismissed their objections, convinced that victory was a formality. In the first of three extracts from his new book, Jonathan Steele looks at how Britain went to war unbriefed, unprepared and with no idea of the fallout that would ensue

Robert McCrum on Maya Angelou

If earthbound Hillary Clinton can't do poetry, at least she's got her own campaign laureate - and an African-American one to boot

Sargon Boulus

Obituary: Iraqi poet who joined the Beat generation

Gerald Feldman

Obituary: American historian, he uncovered the role of German big business during the Nazi era

For your eyes only

Jonathan Watts on what new pictures of North Korea tell us about the secretive but image-conscious state

‘If you don’t scare anyone, you haven’t really succeeded’

The first time Roberto Saviano stepped inside a mafia don's house, he urinated in the bath. This raw hatred - and reckless defiance - of the mob drove him to expose them in a bestselling book. Does he regret putting his life on the line? Sometimes, he tells John Hooper