A step too far
The brutal murder by the IRA of the courageous Grenadier Guards officer who took one risk too many is given the fullest treatment yet in Alistair Kerr’s Betrayal
Agony and ecstasy in the garden
Robin Lane Fox has made an intense study of a critical decade in St Augustine’s life when he produced his most famous book — ‘like no other, before or since’
The rarest blend of white and gold
Horatio Clare travels far and wide in the hope of glimpsing the world’s rarest bird but finds only some eccentric birders attempting to do the same
Misprint
Stealth is its policy. It lies in wait. It is no respecter of age. It turns up late Or far…
Best in show
Martin Gayford recommends the exhibitions to visit - and to avoid - over the coming year
Lessons from Utopia
The 1516 classic - which is celebrating its 500th anniversary at Somerset House - is a textbook for our troubled times (once you get past the proto-socialist polemic)
Murder, he wrote
The 16th century composer wrote some of the most alluring music ever written. But his psychopathic biography always overshadows this
Bad manners
It looks nice but is dull, repetitive and lacking in insight — and I wanted to punch Eddie Redmayne
Aural wonderland
Ads aside, Radiolab’s podcast about American ice-cream wars had Kate Chisholm hooked - as did Radio 4’s Truth Be Told podcast about what it’s like to have a Caesarean
Losing the plot
Plus: in Billionaire Boy, David Walliams seems to have learned that childish humour is at its winning best when it’s aimed at children
High life
The time has come for governments to step in — and for me to say that something must be really wrong
Real life
2016 was to be the year of no more principled stands, but that was before I got wind of London’s first toilets for the socially excluded
Bridge
This might be the most beautiful hand I’ve ever seen. I came across it while reading one of the old…
Banking on chess
As the new year begins, I pay a final tribute to the city financier Jim Slater, who did so much to…
Chess puzzle
Black to play. This position is from Wright-Keene, Slater Tournament, Southend 1968. Black’s next move destroyed the white kingside and…
No thanks
In Competition No. 2928 you were invited to submit a thank-you letter for a particularly unenjoyable Christmas visit to relatives…
2241: Customary
The unclued lights, (two of two words), individually or as two pairs, are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer 19th…
To 2239: ITOIX
The unclued lights include the words ONE to NINE which had to be entered as figures 1 to 9 in…
The plot to save our allotments
My dream of growing veg around the corner is fading, but there’s a fight still on
Things we don’t mind paying for
Take parking in central London. I wouldn’t do it more than once or twice a year
