Despite their falling numbers we ought not to count the yakuza out just yet

Dan, James, Anna and Andy discuss valuable violins, validating vessels & Vincent Van Gogh.

The UK must ban PFAS and hormone-disrupting chemicals in children’s toys, writes author Helen Jukes

A compelling biography of the divine monarch and the vanished world he represented

Brigid Lowe is a tremendously descriptive writer, says David Robinson, but in this absorbing cold-water swimming memoir she reveals surprisingly little about herself

YouTube video by The Social CTV

University of Cambridge academics say reading at any age improves brain and mental health.

In conversation with historian Paul French on his new biography

Hacks from the hidden world of test engineering

It was all very well for the Wright brothers to invent aeroplanes, but someone had to check that they were safe...

The start of autumn brings a bumper crop of books about nature, writes Vikki Reilly

In the early 20th century, public outcry following Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle led to stricter food safety protocols. NASA took them a step further.

From Julia Donaldson to Jamie Oliver and Richard Osman, king of popular fiction in the 2020s, Martin Chilton picks his favourite new book releases for September

Helena Drysdale tells the story of her husband's great-grandmother's battle for fashion emancipation

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan intend their pact to create a new centre of gravity in the region, but it won’t be a war-fighting centre — it’s mostly economic