Books

This week's gossip and scandals in Westminster and the media brought to you by MANDRAKE

Two late works shed light on his four-decade link with a remarkable scientific institution

A new book tells the story of two of Britain’s most famous mystics

There are literary delights to look forward to this year – but authors won’t be getting a pay rise

On the second anniversary of the storming of the US Capitol, a first-hand account recalls the carnage of the day Donald Trump’s supporters tried to seize power

Three works which will require room on your shelves

Sri Lankan ghosts, queer love and a fictional nation all made for riveting reading this year

A searing music memoir, goshawks and John Donne all featured in 2022’s best non-fiction

Why Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's novel remains a story for all eras

Most authors and publishers would be sorry to see it collapse

Thirty years ago, one writer captured the essence of the game like no one before him

Spain’s most important port is over 300km from the sea

Libraries are vibrant places of hope, discovery and opportunity. They are in desperate need of funding and we cannot afford to let them perish

Winter nights in Iceland are long and dark – just how writers like them

On the eve of a new translation of the author’s diaries, the question arises, is the Kafkaesque now just completely normal?

In an extract from his new book, Geoff Dembicki asks how the world would be now if the oil sands industry had not been so successful in blocking action to stop the climate emergency

The prestigious French award is a reliable source of controversy

Authorities initially dismissed the link between Covid and a loss of smell and taste - until they couldn't. Now, a deeply disconcerting experience for millions has prompted a rush of research that will have benefits for the future

Britain needs strong economic growth. One of the world’s leading economists explains why that’s not going to happen

As you’re not having much luck with your emails – perhaps try reading some books instead

Welcome to Europe’s future, in which Britain holds a referendum in 2041 to rejoin the European Union

We are running out of time to manage the coming upheaval before it becomes deadly. We need to change our thinking

The lives of the early 20th-century gentry who fled to safety – but also to poverty – in Paris

From Dracula to The Haunting of Hill House, it all leads back to The Castle of Otranto

The New World’s witch trials are infamous. But the most brutal outbreaks of Satanic panic took place in what is now southern Germany

The messages inside secondhand books are captivating mysteries all of their own

The stripped-down prose and raw honesty of Nobel prize for literature winner Annie Ernaux

One hundred years ago, a malign figure took power in Rome and led a country to disgrace and destruction

Denmark’s biggest literary celebrity returns to the remote peninsula where she grew up

Like so many passionate contemporary ethical conflicts, a row in the publishing world is really about a narcissism of extremely small differences indeed

The late Hilary Mantel’s connection with Europe brought controversy – and some of her best work

At the centre of Samantha Morton’s new series about the Medicis is a maligned queen whose character remains a mystery