Psappha at Hallé St Peter’s Manchester plus LSO & Simon Rattle & Krystian Zimerman at Barbican Hall

Plus Kai Althoff goes with Bernard Leach at the Whitechapel Gallery

In today's world, intellect has trumped all other measures of worth—with divisive consequences

They've become the new site of the culture war—and the divisive reactions reveal much about post-Brexit Britain

The British-Chinese novelist and filmmaker talks about writing about love in a time of division, why we need more balanced curriculums, and paying homage to an early European hero in her new novel, A Lover's Discourse

A tricksy autobiographical novel feels very familiar

Some of his writing thrills today but too much is second-rate

Long overshadowed by Venice, Ravenna was the meeting point of Byzantium and the west

The absence of formal empires is unprecedented argues a new book

Two authors make the case for conservative liberal democracy

Plus get a grip on American politics in Left, Right, and Centre

"Fake law" offers a powerful corrective to self-serving claims from cynical and incompetent politicians