Arts and Culture

How an 18th-century Somerset cobbler’s obsessive love of reading shaped the world of bookselling as we know it

The Italian-Northern Irish stand-up has built a huge following by poking fun at Britain’s past

Her portraits of women in active roles and her self-belief make her a pioneering figure in art history

Vintage cinema abounds with stereotypes, and it is the hardest element of the genre to watch

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s books and cinema

Creamy carbonara? It’s time to accept the silliness

The Morning Show star shines in a tale of deception

Brave audience members can choose to get right in the thick of the musical’s action

When it comes to working with my hands I am a dunce. Enter Rashad and Google Translate

To the Dutchman commercial art was just as fulfilling as something more purely creative – and it came with a wage

Are devastation and destruction wreaked or wrought? And why did the word havoc change from ‘havot’ in the first place?

In a new book by a best-selling French author, ancient onlookers watch a family come to terms with a disabled child

How Paul Nougé helped create a movement... then disowned it

For all the failings of this country these past years, one industry that has improved, year after year, is restaurants

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s theatre, books and cinema

A Frank Capra picture always embodied what Abraham Lincoln appealed to in US citizens: “The better angels of our nature”

The inaugural Women’s World Cup held in Mexico in 1971 was a tournament of joy. But before long, its participants were ridiculed and dismissed

But Double Feature’s tale of Vincent Price’s clashes with a director is a misfire

A barely concealed desire for the old Russian empire would infuse his work but even this did not preclude Stalin’s tacit admiration

Norwich’s literary legacy is a surprising one – both Meir of England and Jan Cruso were important poets from the city but neither wrote in English

A great writer travelled to Hungary, wrote a single book, and then disappeared. All she left behind was a masterpiece

The artist championing the Arctic’s mistreated, reindeer-raising Sámi people

John Galliano and the shadow of antisemitism

A smoked meat sandwich might not sound like much. But it is the summit of what a sandwich can be: utterly, buoyantly delicious, and wholly inclusive

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s film, TV and art

In the Top Hat dance sequence we see a master dancer at the top of his game

For centuries, the city has had an inclusive relationship what locals call the femminielli, celebrating the joy and glamour of the third sex

We need a Britain that rewards hard work, where so-called tax exiles and clever tax accountants are no longer seen as heroes

Exploring the surprising link between a small town in the shadow of Mount Etna and the most celebrated siblings in English literature

The Human Body, also starring Jack Davenport, is a confused homage to a David Lean classic

What does it say about our politics that justice is now delivered via TV dramas?

An Indian mission to feed hungry British students makes for a bizarre reversal