The popular image of Italian cuisine is as the product of centuries of unchanged tradition. Nothing could be further from the truth. Italian cooking and...

The son of a sharp Welsh trader, Peter Morgan had a reputation among his Lions team-mates for being careful with money. On their tour of South Africa in 1980...

There is a myth about Sigmund Freud, argued Frederick Crews, that holds that the father of psychoanalysis was a man of scientific integrity who was unfairly...

Although at 6ft 5in Paul Darling KC cut a commanding figure in court, he did not enjoy a reputation for knowing precisely where, in a small continent of...

As the US presidential election of 1996 approached, America was convulsed by “Powellmania”: would General Colin Powell seek the Republican nomination to run...

When Chris Hutchins first offered to arrange a meeting with the Beatles, it would be fair to say that Elvis Presley was less than enthusiastic. “You are just...

The 1993 Ashes are chiefly remembered for the “ball of the century”, in which Shane Warne announced his arrival as a genius-grade spin bowler by dismissing a...

Behind most successful football managers there is often a vital second-in-command, who may be a coaching genius, a top spotter of talent, or a crucial link...

Long before Tracey Emin put an unmade bed in a gallery or Damien Hirst a tiger shark in a tank of formaldehyde, Ben Vautier was pushing the boundaries on what...

Auction house specialists may sometimes enrage their clientele, and palaeographers dispute among themselves about ancient writing systems and historical...