The Trials and Triumphs of Les Dawson by Louis Barfe – review
A new life of Les Dawson celebrates a great British comic talent too often overlookedIt's May 1967, in the days when Britain really had talent. Hughie Green is hosting yet another of his Opportunity Knocks. And here, at last, comes fame, banging on the...
Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Very British Coup by Christopher de Bellaigue – review
This fascinating biography of a 1950s Persian nobleman and politician explains much of Iran's antipathy towards BritainIran is the only country in the world where people think that secretly, behind the charade, America is Britain's poodle. The eponymou...
Sex fixer to the stars lifts lid on scandal in Hollywood’s golden age
Scotty Bowers has kept quiet for 60 years but now, at 88, he's talking about bedding the biggest screen icons of the daySpencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn had just one thing in common – apart from being movie superstars.But that one thing wasn't the...
Alex Preston’s top 10 literary believers
From Dostoevsky to Zadie Smith, the novelist picks his favourite portrayals of characters struggling with faithAlex Preston was born in 1979. He lives in London with his wife and two children. His first novel, This Bleeding City, was published in 2010....
A Card from Angela Carter by Susannah Clapp
A memoir of a bawdy, magnificent writerFor Christmas 1987, Angela Carter sent Susannah Clapp a postcard. There was nothing fancy about it, nothing hand-made or bespoke. It was just one of those cards people used to buy in lefty bookshops, when stocking...
Reading the Arab spring
As Egypt celebrates the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square demonstrations, we look to the literature coming out of the Arab world. Ahdaf Soueif explains what it is like to live in Tahrir Square, while the Guardian's Ian Black – just back from in ...
Outside In by Peter Hain
Peter Hain's memoir is the story of a radical turned political misfitThe fire burned in his belly as, aged 10, he watched his parents being arrested. Three years later he spoke at the funeral of a friend executed by the state. Peter Hain...
Costa book award: Andrew Miller wins for sixth novel, Pure
Vivid tale of life in pre-revolutionary Paris beats Matthew Hollis's biography of Edward Thomas to £30,000 prize chequeA vividly told story of life in pre-revolutionary Paris on Tuesday won the 2011 Costa book award in what turned out to be a bit...
The Costa prize’s unexpected cliffhanger
Is the Costa book of the year poised to go to a poetry collection for the third year running?Last year's rumpus over the Booker long- and shortlists has left the Costa prize to claim a high ground which it has in the past been at pains to avoid. Rober...
Rudi van Dantzig obituary
Choreographer of socially aware ballets who became a novelistThe choreographer and director Rudi van Dantzig, who has died of cancer aged 78, played a major role in the development of classical ballet in the Netherlands. He also had a second career, wh...
What the Grown-Ups Were Doing by Michele Hanson – review
Michele Hanson's good-humoured memoir sheds light on life for a nice Jewish girl in the 1950sAnyone who can make us laugh at old age is bound to be good company. Michele Hanson's weekly Guardian column, "A Certain Age", keeps us smiling wryly at her li...
