In defence of self-help books | Alain de Botton
The ancient philosophers recognised we all need help navigating our lives – so what explains self-help books' decline in prestige?Anyone wanting to damage their intellectual credentials at a stroke need only do one simple thing: confess they read sel...
Michael Gove’s Bibles: good for schools? | Poll
This week, copies of the King James Bible were sent out to every state school in the country, courtesy of the education secretary Michael Gove. They were paid for by donations, not from the public purse. Tell us if you think the scheme is a good idea ...
I’d rather be a Catholic than be ‘respectable’ | Catherine Pepinster
Hilary Mantel says the Catholic church is no longer a place for 'respectable people'. But respectability is a problematic notion One of the heartaches of being a Roman Catholic in recent years has been the clerical abuse scandal. No pain that any of us...
Michael Gove’s King James Bible plan rescued by millionaire Tory donors
Education secretary will send a copy of the Bible to every state school after donors club together to save £370,000 initiativeMillionaire Conservative party donors have clubbed together to rescue a plan by the education secretary, Michael Gove, to sen...
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 8: a lingering love of justice
While he looks brute force in the face, Machiavelli's view of the balance between might and right is ultimately ambivalentThe Prince is in fashion today. Business gurus write books on "Machiavelli for managers". Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chi...
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Week three: Marilynne Robinson on writing GileadI have learned in writing Gilead and Home that the voice of the narrator, or the point of view character, is essential to my fiction. Everything else derives from it. Once it has settled into my mind, it ...
The Rev Robin Denniston obituary
Publisher behind some of the most popular novels of the 20th centuryRobin Denniston, who has died aged 85, commissioned some of the most popular novels of the 20th century during a distinguished career with six major publishing houses. He demonstrated ...
Why shouldn’t paganism have a place in RE lessons? | Liz Williams
Cornish schools won't be 'teaching witchcraft and druidry', less still black mass – religious education doesn't equal indoctrinationLast month it was suggested that Cornish schools should study paganism in religious education. This modest proposal pr...
Tom Holland responds to Glen Bowersock’s review
Many scholars would now agree that the origins of the Qur'an are obscure, so why does Glen Bowersock's review of my book suggest it is reprehensible to bring this to light?Is it justifiable to question what Muslim tradition has to say about the origins...
Machiavelli’s The Prince, part 7: the two sides of human nature | Nick Spencer
The author's dark view of human nature was out of tune with his age, but his talk of the beast within is almost post-DarwinIn his book Darwin's Dangerous Idea, philosopher Daniel Dennett popularised the idea that evolution by natural selection was a "u...
In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland
A swashbuckling study of the origins of IslamIn his sprawling new book Tom Holland undertakes to explain nothing less than the origin of Islam. This is a subject as relevant to today's world as it is controversial within it. How Islam began was obscure...
In defence of self-help books | Alain de Botton