Books

Susan Bassnett admires a playfully serious paean to the joys of not curling up with a good book.

Anthony Freeman on the histories, myths and exegesis that grew into Judaeo-Christian Scriptures.

Michael Benton muses on our slippery past.

Youssef Choueiri considers a nuanced and erudite portrait of early Muslim lives and ideas.

Frank Close recommends this journey through red-shifting, the pair production of electrons and positrons, the Universe and everything.

Fred Inglis on a fierce, foolish, joyous wishlist.

In an otherwise usefully myth-debunking work on risk management in an age of war, Bill Durodié looks in vain for an admission that debate on the invasion must go beyond cost-benefit analysis.

Jeffrey Richards revels in Piers Brendon's vivid evocation of a liberal Empire with an irreconcilable paradox at its heart.

Policymakers are being driven by irrational nightmares, observes Conor Gearty.

Defoe, Pope, Eliot, Bronte: Duncan Wu on the literary lights with a weakness for pseudonyms.

Sex in the academy dates back to Socrates, but universities today still struggle to deal with the issue. Alan Ryan considers the conundrum of student-staff relationships.

Alex Danchev tackles an unsettling subject

Simon Goldhill is stimulated by a spunky new take on Greek male relations.

In analysing ever rising IQ scores, the man who gave his name to the phenomenon treads a fine line between wishful thinking and objective empiricism, says Wendy Johnson.

Tara Brabazon

Roger Butlin

Nigel Barley explores a great British institution.