Nothing but the truth

Will Fatherhood, Marcus Berkmann's birth manual for dads, spawn a new breed of blokeish guides to daddydom? Vanessa Thorpe finds out.

Long live couch potatoes!

A new book claims that laziness is the key to a lengthy and happy life. But not everyone is convinced, says Ian Sample.

Take a leaf out of the books winners read

Can the written word really turn you into a success story? Anna Tobin and Nick Pandya asked a variety of leaders what they would recommend to help people follow in their footsteps.

Destiny’s children

Natasha Walter: The banalities of astrology have replaced religion in giving young people a sense of purpose and belonging.

Kindling the fire of knowledge

Penguin's new edition of Sigmund Freud's essential Civilization and its Discontents is slim enough to be carried at all times, says Nicholas Lezard.

Under the skin

Mark Honigsbaum on The Life and Death of Smallpox, Ian and Jenifer Glynn's history of a disease that, although eradicated, still causes fear.

A plague on all your houses

Simon Wessely finds Susan Scott, Christopher Duncan and Ole Benedictow at loggerheads over the causes of Black Death.

Who am I?

Paul Bloom proposes biological foundations for the split between mind and body in Descartes' Baby.

No going back

Having a child is an ordeal from which you never quite recover. In Making Babies, Anne Enright confesses to the real trauma of motherhood.