Professor Jeremy Black on how Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire found themselves fighting together in the Crimea

From Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, crime novels invoke the genre’s heritage, sometimes ably and sometimes not

The feminist fix: Legislators must close the loophole that allows men to claim “rough sex” as an excuse for rape and murder

The ENO’s production of The Valkyrie may lack flames, but it is convincing nonetheless

Bernard Haitink, who died last month, was a conducting master

A horrible split is emerging in the English game where one side fears the other is deliberately plotting the destruction of county cricket

Forget cake, it’s Boris’s porkie pies that will cause him problems

Give up writing, men – the world will be a happier place when you do

The first episode of The Critic Books Podcast: in conversation with J. R. Thorp.

“Mandatory duties” under the Equality Act leave employers with little alternative but silent lunches