To the right, he is an apostate; to the left, a sinner who repented. Anthony Dworkin argues that John Gray's intellectual journey is more complex: he is a progressive who does not believe in progress

In the last issue of Prospect, Frederic Raphael declared that anybody recommending The Reader must have a tin ear for fiction and a blind eye for evil. AS Byatt was incensed-The Reader, she argues,...

Gordon Brown has made it up with the IFS and needs help on reforming savings

The end of the Soviet Union has released a flood of new histories of Russia and communism. Edward Skidelsky recommends two-one describes the tragedy of an idea, the other of a people

The international financial markets are suffering another wobble. Ruth Kelly asks whether we should consider a "Tobin" tax on foreign currency speculation - or does George Soros have a better idea?

Who owns Raymond Williams, one of the father figures of the New Left? Fred Inglis tries to understand why his biography of Williams has been vilified by some left-wing reviewers

Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney is adored by the British literary establishment. His old-fashioned lyric voice is bland, self-important, and ignores the modernist revolution

It is usually the generals who carry the blame for the carnage of the first world war. Derek Coombs reconsiders Roy Jenkins's biography of Asquith and argues that the politicians have escaped lightly

Loyalist grievances have been threatening the Northern Ireland talks. But, says Nick Martin-Clark, attention will shift to an old nationalist wound-the unfinished business of Bloody Sunday

Reviewing the extraordinary career of Lord Blair, Roy Denman finds the roots of his failure in the decision-taken just after the triumph of May 1997-to postpone early entry into Emu