A new book celebrates 125 years of rugby league but shines a light on a world that the sport has left behind

Practically all the artists in the book are traumatised in one way or another, and all experienced war

A masterly account of Britain’s fortunes in the Second World War

The women who always walked alone

The controversial South African cricket tour of 1970

MacDonald Gill’s poster for the Empire Marketing Board helped promote a nation at the height of its powers

John Self examines three varied, emotionally satisfying novels that together come in at less than the length of a single Mantel

László Földényi’s essays are a collection that will leave you feeling sharp and more cultured, says Tibor Fischer

There are still plenty of institutions worth mocking

Hart explains why we’re adapted to the environment we evolved in, rather than the one we inhabit