Looking for troubles
Moazzam Begg wanted to help his fellow Muslims - in Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan. In the eyes of the CIA and MI5, that made him an enemy combatant. He tells Simon Hattenstone what drove him on.
Surreal bicycle book rides to fame on back of cult TV show
The appearance of Flann O'Brien's dark comedy The Third Policeman in the cult television series Lost has turned it into a top seller. By Owen Bowcott.
South African author accused of plagiarism
Antjie Krog, the acclaimed South African author of Country of My Skull, was embroiled in a plagiarism row yesterday after a leading academic accused her of stealing concepts and translations from other authors, ncluding the late British poet laureate Ted Hughes.
Sybille Bedford
Obituary: An author who searched for truth among social elites and courtroom dramas in oblique, suggestive novels that gained a cult following after she was shortlisted for the Booker has died, aged 94.
‘There’s really good stuff in the way I was brought up. But rubbish stuff too’
Naomi Alderman's first novel provides a rare glimpse into the world of Britain's Orthodox Jews. Aida Edemariam meets her.
All aboard!
When David McKie and his family moved to Leeds as wartime refugees, it was the city's old green buses that came to mean home to him. Here, in an extract from his new book, he explains why the humble bus is such a cornerstone of British culture.
Holy comic book! Batman returns to wage war on al-Qaida
Holy terror, Batman! Gotham's under attack, and the caped crusader is the only one who can kick al-Qaida's butt. By Dan Glaister in Los Angeles.
Bidding war begins over Greenspan memoirs
Irrational exuberance has overtaken the publishing industry amid reports that bidding for the memoirs of Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has reached $5m.
Peter Benchley
Obituary: He was fascinated by the sea, but his bestselling novel tapped into a primeval fear of the deep.
Bell tolls for Hemingway’s fake comrade
Hoaxers in Poland have dealt a fresh blow to the credibility of the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, after creating an entry for a fictional socialist revolutionary and supposed friend of Ernest Hemingway.
In praise of … Solzhenitsyn
Leader: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the onetime literary scourge of Stalinism and its successors, is enjoying popularity inconceivable when his great novel, The First Circle, was smuggled abroad to be published in 1968.
An offer I couldn’t refuse
Crime writer Michael Dibdin was well aware that the remote wilds of Sardinia were a haven for kidnappers and brigands. But what were the intentions of the roughneck stranger who insisted on befriending him?
Library book overdue for 61 years earns £3,500 fine
A public library book issued in 1945 has racked up an overdue fine of NZ$9,000 (£3,500).
The Betty I knew
Betty Friedan, who died this weekend aged 85, was widely considered to be the founder of modern feminism. Was she really as pivotal as she thought she was, asks Germaine Greer.
Betty Friedan
Obituary: Feminist icon of the 1960s, renowned for her bestseller, The Feminine Mystique, dies aged 85.