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The best characters created Charles Dickens, still utterly unforgettable even 150 years after his death
Charles Dickens died 150 years ago, on 9 June 1870. Since then, Mr Micawber has become a byword for optimism, Scrooge for meanness and Uriah Heep for obsequiousness, and we still quote Mr Bumble’s ‘the law is an ass’. Rupert Godsal explains why these characters are so exuberantly unforgettable.
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Charles Dickens timeline: The best of times, the worst of times
Rupert Godsal paints the major events in the life and times of Charles Dickens, who died 150 years ago on 9 June, 1870.
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In Focus: The greatest books ever written about theatre, as chosen by Michael Billington
Michael Billington has been the theatre critic for Country Life (and several other publications) for decades. With theatres closed, he's turned his hand to picking out his 10 favourite books about theatrical life.
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How Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty, the 'hymn to a horse' whose influence on animals is still felt today
A hymn to the horse, a comment on slavery, an ode to rural Norfolk: Anna Sewell’s enduringly popular novel is all this and more 200 years after its author’s birth, explains James Clarke.
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A celebration of pheasants, 'some of the most beautiful birds in the world'
We tend to think of pheasants as a relatively ordinary sight, but they're among the world's most beautiful birds — and they're being celebrated in a handsome new book.
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The greatest children's books that hit the spot for young and old, as chosen by Alan Titchmarsh, Jilly Cooper, Ian Rankin and more
Children’s books offer an escape from reality that can last well into adulthood. Here's our pick of the very best.
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11 hauntingly beautiful pictures of dogs in cars from one of the most unusual and touching books of the year
A fascination with dogs and cars has prompted photographer Martin Usborne to produce a beautiful, unusual and gently haunting book.
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Curious Questions: How the Monkey Puzzle tree get its name?
One of the most curious trees you'll see in Britain is also one of the most curiously-named: the Monkey Puzzle tree. But how did it get its name?
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Cider with Rosie uncovered: A look into the idyllic scenes of Laurie Lee’s classic novel
Derek Turner takes a look at 'Down in the Valley', a slender, but well-conceived volume that revisits the scenes of Laurie Lee's classic of English rural writing.
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Curious Questions: Would Anne Brontë be more famous without her two sisters?
To mark the forgotten Brontë’s 200th birthday, Charlotte Cory looks back at the life and works of this ‘runt of the literary litter’ and finds she was by no means meek and mild.
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Inside Haworth: The humble parsonage where the Brontë sisters changed literature
Some of our most enduring stories were conceived at Haworth – Jeremy Musson enjoys a literary pilgrimage.
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Seven astonishing books to read which will change your understanding of the history of the world
If you were left a tad disappointed by your Christmas presents, you can console yourself with two things. Firstly, by reminding yourself that it really is the thought that counts; and secondly, by putting things right with one of these astonishing and eye-opening tomes, picked out by Barnaby Rogerson.
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Jason Goodwin: Naughty mandarins, the GIs who changed Chinese cooking and an app which almost beats reading
Our columnist picks not just his books of the year, but also his favourite app and YouTube video.
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Quentin Blake: 'Even in the age of the iPad and the smart phone, books offer things that they cannot'
Sir Quentin Blake reveals the inspiration behind his new exhibition, ‘Anthology of Readers’, in which he affectionately caricatures the bookish among us.
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Curious Questions: Have you been taking books off shelves the wrong way for your entire life?
The question of how to take a book off a shelf without damaging it may not be one you've ever given much thought to — but you owe it to your collection to do it the right way.
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Nine books about cooking that make perfect Christmas gifts for foodies, from Nigel Slater's latest to a book that 'deserves a Michelin star'
Leslie Geddes-Brown devours the latest cookery books to hit shelves, from a study of Italian food to a tour of Britain via the medium of cheese.
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The incredible tale of my father's escape from 'Italy's Colditz'
Today, we might think of spending a few months in a world heritage site in Southern Italy as an enormous privilege. During the Second World War, however, it was anything but.
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A book that informs, inspires and surprises from a designer as engaging as a fantasy art-history teacher
Ashley Hicks' new book combines his own designs with the work of those who have inspired him, from Royal Pavillion glass to 17th-century Chinese lacquer cabinets in Wiltshire.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the gin and tonic?
Gin and tonic is arguably the greatest cocktail ever created — but who first mixed these two seemingly unlikely ingredients together? A new book seeks to tackle this curious question.
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The vast and audacious architecture of London's greatest theatres
Roger Bowdler takes a look at 'London’s Great Theatres', a new book by Simon Callow with photography from Derry Moore.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Coleridge never stopped talking... Wordsworth was more private, more reflective, and finally, more successful'
Jason Goodwin remarks on how tracking one's pet past the boundaries of one's home is comparable to Coleridge's 'This Lime-tree Bower My Prison'.
