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Around the World in 80 Trains: The kindness of six-year-olds, a power of rejection via ice cream and a dressing down from Robert De Niro
Travel writer Monisha Rajesh spent months travelling the world by train for her latest book – and after finishing it, Andrew Martin felt almost as if he'd taken the journey with her.
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Sporting Life: Botham, Gower and 17 pints on rest days – a look at cricket in the 80s, through the eyes of Derek Pringle
Pushing the Boundaries: Cricket in the Eighties contains the reminiscences of Derek Pringle reflecting on his years in the world of cricket and the delightful characters he met, both on and off the pitch. Richard Hopton reviews.
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Simon Hopkinson's top ten cookbooks, from The French Menu to Food from the Far East
Clear some shelf space because Country Life’s resident chef Simon Hopkinson, author of the award-winning Roast Chicken and Other Stories, has picked his all-time favourite cookbooks and their standout recipes.
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11 cookbooks to inspire you to try something new in 2019
Publishers and authors, it seems, have got weary of the old cookery-book formula of lots of recipes and pretty pictures. Leslie Geddes-Brown selects some different offerings.
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The ten best dogs in literature
Man’s best friend has taken a starring role in stories since we first put pen to paper, playing nanny to the children, helping to solve mysteries and trotting down the Yellow Brick Road. Claire Jackson chooses 10 great canines from literature.
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Kenneth Grahame and the true meaning behind The Wind in the Willows
The Edwardian author Kenneth Grahame’s adoration of Nature and landscape made him passionate about conservation and inspired him to create some of Britain's best-loved characters, says his biographer Matthew Dennison.
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Our six favourite nannies, in fiction and film
Whether they invoke fond or fearful memories in real life, the nannies of fiction are kind – even magical – creatures, says Annunciata Elwes, who rounds up her favourites.
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Curious Questions: Is there any future for Encyclopedia Britannica?
Once the first set of books required in any home library, encyclopedias have long since been superseded by the internet. But rather extraordinarily there is still a market for them, as Octavia Pollock finds out.
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My Favourite Painting: Kate Mosse
Author Kate Mosse chooses The Last Judgement by John Martin as her favourite painting.
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Curious Questions: Which came first, the bee or the wasp? And why is the Queen Bee such a slapper?
The fascinating world of bees has long held broadcaster and journalist Bill Turnbull in thrall. He takes a look at three new books on this endlessly engrossing topic.
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Jason Goodwin: The moment I knew I'd lost the urge to live in London
Our columnist explains what first prompted him to swap Bethnal Green for Bridport - and why he's never looked back since.
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The Oxford of Inspector Morse: Dreaming spires, dead bodies... and lots and lots of pubs
The Oxford of Inspector Morse: Dreaming spires, dead bodies... and lots and lots of pubs.
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In Focus: The hand-drawn maps from which JRR Tolkien launched Middle-earth
'I wisely started with a map and made the story fit,' JRR Tolkien once wrote. A new exhibition in Oxford – the writer's home for so many years – shows just how true that is, and offers a treasure trove for fans. Michael Murray-Fennell reports.
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We recreated Three Men in a Boat for the 21st century. Here's what happened.
Re-creating Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat sounds terribly romantic, doesn’t it? Patrick Galbraith discovers the reality of a long skiff down the Thames.
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90 years on, does Lady Chatterley's Lover still have the power to shock?
In July 1928, D.H. Lawrence self-published Lady Chatterley's Lover in Florence, with an initial run of 2,000 copies; 90 years on it remains a milestone in English literature and law, perhaps more famous for the controversy it sparked than for its content. Annunciata Elwes revisits the book and finds that the shock, awe and four-letter words go a long way to obscuring the heart of the matter.
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The story behind The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is almost as fascinating as the book itself
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has opened up the island’s charms to a new audience, finds Holly Kirkwood.
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Jonathan Meades on Anthony Burgess: 'The encyclopedia in his head was like the internet'
Jonathan Meades reviews a new selection of Anthony Burgess’s literary journalism, gathered from previously uncollected reviews and essays from throughout his career.
