Hitler: A Short Biography by AN Wilson – review
AN Wilson illuminates Hitler's personal problems but is poor on the roots of nazismJournalists who rely on the cuttings library say there are 700 biographies of Hitler. The figure is old, the first mention I can find of it is in Angela Lambert's 2006 l...
It’s time to hold Ken Livingstone to account | Nick Cohen
The London mayoral candidate's tax affairs are yet another reason to doubt his integrityThe FBI could only jail Al Capone for tax evasion. It would have preferred to have put him in the dock for racketeering and organising the St Valentine's Day massac...
Art and ideology make uneasy bedfellows | Nick Cohen
It's imperative that we fight the urge to applaud any book or drama that confirms our own prejudicesAs the crisis widens ideological divisions, how are you reacting? Are you trying to judge arguments on their merits, in as far as any of us can? Or do y...
Justice and the Enemy by William Shawcross
William Shawcross offers a good account of the problems involved in prosecuting Islamist terrorists, although his defence of torture leaves a bad tasteIn 1946, Sir Hartley Shawcross, the chief British prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, gave a noble sp...
Salman Rushdie has found peace – but the Satanic Verses ‘affair’ won’t go away
The terror of Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa has faded but the challenge it posed to artistic freedom has not, as a brush with the Indian authorities has shownFor Salman Rushdie, the "affair" is over. When he walks into a Notting Hill restaurant, his eyes ...
You Can’t Read This Book: why libel tourists love London
In an exclusive extract from You Can't Read This Book, the Observer columnist Nick Cohen presents a damning indictment of how the English legal system helps the wealthy and powerful suppress inconvenient truthsAt their best, journalists expose the crim...
Stieg Larsson was an extremist, not a feminist | Nick Cohen
The bestselling author's attitude to the abuse of immigrant women was truly shockingWhen Rooney Mara, star of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, suggested that Lisbeth Salander was not a feminist, Stieg Larsson's partner knew how to put her down. "Does s...
Christopher Hitchens: He died too young, with too much left to say | Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen pays tribute to the most 'intellectually generous' man he ever metWhy are so many who love the English language and human freedom in mourning for Christopher Hitchens? His full-length books never showed his talents to the full – not even G...
Political Journeys: The openDemocracy Essays by Fred Halliday – review
This collection of essays shows Fred Halliday's depth, drive and wisdomA few years ago the BBC asked Fred Halliday to look at a list of the British Muslim, Jewish, Arab and Zionist groups it had asked to comment on its Middle East coverage. What, it as...
Howard Jacobson offers a contrary voice in the arts | Nick Cohen
Last week's Booker prize winner shines a light on the lack of honest comment in modern drama and broadcastingHoward Jacobson is always a sparkling writer, but to claim that The Finkler Question was "the first comic novel to win the Booker", as the crit...
The British Council brings more shame on us | Nick Cohen